Kevin Gray, chief financial officer, and Wendy Frederickson, from Virginia's maintenance office, converse during the Women's Transportation Seminar, held in the Twin Cities May 15-17. Photo by Craig Wilkins

More than 300 members of the Women’s Transportation Seminar met in the Twin Cities May 15-17 to examine ways to improve the nation’s constantly evolving transportation system. They also came to celebrate the organization’s 25th anniversary of advancing opportunity, diversity and access for women in the transportation industry.

Guided by the conference’s theme of "Advancing Access," participants explored areas such as linking land use and transportation, using the design-build process and increasing transportation access for low-income, disabled and elderly people. They also visited Twin Cities area facilities related to context-sensitive design, airport development and security, and intelligent transportation systems, and saw how art can be used in the design of public transportation infrastructures.

Participants also had access to leaders in the transportation industry who stressed finding transportation solutions by bringing together people at all levels.

Session leaders included Carol Flynn, a retired state senator and former transportation committee chair from Minneapolis; Lorrie Louder, senior vice president of the St. Paul Port Authority, and Margo LaBau, Mn/DOT’s chief of staff.

During the conference’s opening reception, participants heard St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly emphasize the need for planning to meet future transportation needs and using transportation to connect people with affordable housing and access to jobs and shopping areas.

Commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg helped open the conference by facilitating a panel discussion of key transportation leaders. The panelists included Mary Peters, administrator of the Federal Highway Administration; Lynn Sahaj, associate administrator for program management with the Federal Transit Administration, and Cecelia Hunziker, regional administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration’s Great Lakes Region.

The panelists responded to a report, "A New Transportation Agenda," published by the National Center for Intermodal Transportation after the terrorist attacks last September. The report calls for new ways to address transportation issues related to security and underscores the importance of coordination and cooperation.

Each panelist described her agency’s experience during and after the attacks and cited the role technology and communication play in future transportation planning. 

The conference helped widen the view of many participants, including Vickie Johnson, a Mn/DOT employee development specialist at Duluth.

"This conference gave me a much more global look at the industry," she said. "It provided an opportunity to meet with women from other states to find out what’s going on in their areas and to learn about other aspects of transportation. And the conference will help me set up training for people because I now have a greater understanding of what they do and what they will need to know in the future."

By Craig Wilkins

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The Senior Management Team decided May 13 to move the bicycle and pedestrian programs to the Office of Transit from the Office of Environmental Services. This means that some employees whose focus is bike and pedestrian transportation modes will soon join the Transit office.

"I think this move is appropriate," said Dick Elasky, director, Environmental Services. "It heightens the visibility of sustainable transportation as a viable transportation choice. We as an agency need to present a variety of transportation options."

Employees whose focus is on environmental programs such as the Scenic Byways Program and the Great River Road Program will remain in Environmental Services, Elasky said, adding that the details of which activities get transferred will be worked out in the transition plan. The Cultural Resource Unit will remain as well, he said, and may need enhancement to handle an ever-increasing workload.

Signing authority for project memoranda that do not require approval from the Federal Highway Administration will be distributed to the districts and Metro Division.

These changes are part of the Mn/DOT’s ongoing Shaping Our Future effort, which strives to adapt the department to changing state and national priorities, economic climate, new technology and customer needs. For more information, see the Shaping Our Future Web site, which includes decisions, timelines and previous Mn/DOT Newsline articles.

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Drivers won’t be seeing an increase in their gas tax next year, but down the road they may see greater congestion and limited transportation choices resulting from the Legislature’s failure to pass a transportation-funding bill this session.

The Legislature adjourned Monday, completing a session that went "from bad to worse" when it came to transportation, Commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg said.

"Incredibly, a handful of legislators prevented Minnesota from moving forward by refusing to address what is one of the most pressing issues facing our state—a long-term, reliable source of transportation funding," he said. "There was broad support from the public and the business community for increasing funding for transportation, and legislators chose not to address it."

The Senate’s transportation finance bill included a six-cent per gallon gas tax increase, but the House version had none. In April, the Minnesota Transportation Coalition—a group of business, labor, local government and transportation organizations—recommended a five-cent per gallon gas tax increase as a transportation finance compromise.

Capital improvements

Besides trying to secure new transportation funding, Mn/DOT also sought money for capital improvements. However, there will be no new Mankato headquarters building nor a consolidated operations support facility in Oakdale soon. These projects, and the Northstar commuter rail, were omitted from the capital improvements bonding bill the Legislature passed in the waning hours of the session.

In January, the governor had asked for $120 million for the Northstar commuter rail, which would connect Minneapolis and St. Cloud. This was the amount the state needed to contribute in order to receive $147 million from the federal government. Local governments also would contribute to the project.

The Legislature’s failure to fund the Northstar commuter rail will likely result in federal transit dollars going to other states and not to Minnesota, Tinklenberg said. He said more than two dozen cities—including Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas and Denver—are competing with Minnesota for federal transit funds for commuter rail.

"Minnesota missed a great opportunity here to have the federal government help pay for nearly half of the Northstar project," he said.

‘Tough session’ for state employees

Also in the file of "what did not happen this session" is the ratification of state employee contracts because the House objected to contract language that provides for health insurance coverage for same-sex partners of state employees.

"It’s been a tough session all around—especially for state employees," Tinklenberg said. "I realize that it has been difficult to focus on the day-to-day activities supporting the delivery of safe and efficient transportation systems for our citizens when so many issues are unresolved. I appreciate the effort Mn/DOT workers have demonstrated trying to maintain their motivation and morale to provide what citizens need."

For more information:

• Read Mn/DOT Newsline from Jan. 16 to see what was in the governor’s original budget request

• View Mn/DOT’s Government Relations site for the latest legislative summaries

• See the Department of Employee Relations Web site for the latest state employee contract information

By Chris Joyce

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Capitol area workers participated in the B-BOP Walk Around the capitol sponsored by Mn/DOT’s Central Office wellness committee. Steve Zvonar, health and wellness coordinator, said 193 state employees walked a total of 441 miles, combining a healthful activity with support for B-BOP Day. Photo by Terri Betsch

On Thursday, May 16, LeSueur’s Don Straub passed on a $5 Subway coupon for riding the bus to keep on doing what he always does—biking or walking to work.

Although Straub, a transportation generalist at the LeSueur Truck Station, didn’t change modes, thousands of other commuters did by taking the bus, carpooling or biking to observe the annual Bike Bus or Pool Day to promote alternatives to driving alone.

B-BOP Day represents efforts by Mn/DOT, transit agencies, private employers and other entities to encourage commuters to leave their cars at home and get to work another way.

Mn/DOT and other state employees who B-BOPed to work lunched on hot dogs, pop and chips at the Capitol and heard remarks from Doug Weiszhaar, deputy commissioner. Weiszhaar said carpooling is the "single, easiest way" for people to reduce their dependence on single-occupant vehicles.

He also cited recent expansion of service by the St. Cloud Metro Transit Commission to Sartell and a new facility in Willmar that supports Kandiyohi Area Transit as examples of improved service that will attract more commuters to use the bus.

"Moving Minnesota also includes other travel choices," he said, "including transit, walking and bikes."

Weiszhaar noted that 20 percent of Minnesota cyclists report they bike for transportation as well as for recreation.

Capitol area workers also participated in the B-BOP Walk Around the capitol sponsored by Mn/DOT’s Central Office wellness committee. Steve Zvonar, health and wellness coordinator, said 193 state employees walked a total of 441 miles, combining a healthful activity with support for B-BOP Day.

Highlights of B-BOP day for 2002 also included organized bike rides in the Twin Cities and Rochester and events such as the Subway transit promotion in LeSueur and in other smaller Minnesota cities.

Rochester’s observance included remote radio broadcasts from the downtown area to promote the event as well as a prize drawing for a mountain bike and a trip by Amtrak to Glacier National Park.

Connie Donaldson, director of LeSueur’s Heartland Express, said the city’s buses doubled their usual passenger total with publicity and the gift certificates on B-BOP Day, even with the holdout by Straub.

Straub said he’s been doing his 1.5-mile walk or ride to work since he transferred from the Mankato bridge crew to the LeSueur shop 22 years ago.

"I got used to having that half-hour drive time, so I decided to walk or bike and save the upkeep on a pick-up," he said. Straub estimates he’s saved thousands of dollars by walking or biking instead of driving.

"The walk or the ride gives me time to get my head together before work. They help keep my heart going, too," he said.

By Craig Wilkins

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Paul Stack (left), from WJON-AM radio in St. Cloud, interviews Commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg last week about his decision on the Sauk Rapids bridge project. Photo by Mike Travis

Although expressing some reservations, Commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg last week upheld a state Dispute Resolution Board’s decision that allows Benton County officials to proceed with the Sauk Rapids bridge construction project.

The project, which would replace a bridge across the Mississippi River in Sauk Rapids, has been a source of contention between Benton County and the city of Sauk Rapids, involving citizens and public officials alike. The Dispute Resolution Board—including elected officials and engineers from other cities and counties, as well as a Mn/DOT representative—stepped in and recommended that the project proceed.

"While I am upholding the decision of the Dispute Resolution Board, I do have concerns both about the cost of the bridge and the fact that the two sides are so far apart in terms of design," Tinklenberg said at a press briefing May 15 in Sauk Rapids.

"I strongly recommend that the county not proceed with the project until it identifies the source of and secures all funds necessary to complete the bridge," he added.

The commissioner also recommended that representatives from both the city of Sauk Rapids and Benton County try to come closer in agreement on a design.

"This is the principle behind interregional corridors. Each community along a corridor must fully understand the impact it has on all the others. This bridge may seem like a local project, but in the future it will have regional significance," he said.

The commissioner’s role in the dispute was to ensure that the process followed to resolve it was fair.

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Chad Fowlds, resident engineer for the Mankato District, recently was named Young Engineer of the Year by the Minnesota Society of Professional Engineers.

The Minnesota Society of Professional Engineers named Chad Fowlds its Young Engineer of the Year at the society’s annual meeting, held May 16-17 in Rochester.

Fowlds serves as the resident engineer for the Mankato District, where he is charged with coordinating and overseeing all of the construction projects out of the district office. Fowlds is the youngest individual to hold the position of resident engineer within Mn/DOT.

Nominees were judged on the basis of engineering achievement; professional experience; educational and collegiate achievements; technical and professional society activities; civic and humanitarian activities; and continuing competence.

Fowlds has been an active member of MSPE’s for many years, serving on the executive committee of the Traverse Des Sioux chapter and contributing to the chapter’s educational and scholarship efforts.

Fowlds is a 1995 civil engineering graduate of South Dakota State University, where he graduated fifth in his class. While in school, he was a student member of the National Society of Professional Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers.

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