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This Hwy 212 sign bears the signatures of a number of elected officials who support the reconstruction of Hwy 212 between Eden Prairie and the city of Carver in Carver County. The groundbreaking for the project occurred Aug. 20. Photo by David Gonzalez |
Hundreds of people gathered Aug. 20 in Chaska to celebrate the beginning of the long-delayed reconstruction of Hwy 212 between Eden Prairie and the city of Carver in Carver County.
Elected officials, community leaders, Mn/DOT officials, contractors and area residents shared stories about the highway’s up-and-down history. The new 12-mile section of Hwy 212 was first envisioned in the 1950s. The project subsequently was delayed because of funding issues, environmental challenges and the city of Eden Prairie’s decision in 1995 to oppose building the new alignment as a toll road.
The open house included maps and documents that presented the efforts by groups, such as the Southwest Corridor Transportation Coalition, that backed the project. Layouts detailing the current project were also displayed.
Hwy 212 will actually be the “new Hwy 212” because the roadway will be constructed on a different route location.
Preliminary work on the $238 million project started Aug. 22. The new section of Hwy 212 will extend from Hennepin County Road 4 in Eden Prairie and connect with the existing Hwy 212 alignment west of the interchange with Carver County Road 147.
Mn/DOT awarded the contract for the project to Zumbro River Constructors, the contractor working on the Hwy 52 reconstruction in Rochester.
Speaking at the dedication, Lt. Gov./Commissioner Carol Molnau said the project ends years of delays and opens the way for better transportation in the Twin Cities metropolitan area’s southwestern quadrant.
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Jon Chiglo (in white), Hwy 212 project manager, talks with one of the hundreds of people who attended the project's groundbreaking on Aug. 20. Photo by David Gonzalez |
The new highway, she said, will support the growing needs of commuters, farm-to-market travel and interstate commerce.
Molnau told the audience that Mn/DOT was able to advance the previously scheduled start of the project.
“When the Legislature approved $900 million in bonds to accelerate projects in 2003, we were able to advance Hwy 212 as a design-build project by eight years from its originally scheduled start date between 2010 and 2015 to this year,” she said.
The start of the current project, she said, is the beginning of an effort to rebuild Hwy 212.
“We will continue to look for long-term funding that will help us extend Hwy 212 further to the west,” she said.
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By Craig Wilkins
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Kelly Lepinski, an auto parts technician at Oakdale, purchases fuel for truck stations and other users on the east side of the Metropolitan District. Photo by David Gonzalez |
Sharply rising fuel prices are hitting Mn/DOT squarely amidships—in the budget and potentially in the department’s ability to achieve some of its performance goals.
Whether it is diesel fuel for trucks, natural gas to heat buildings or gasoline and gasohol for pickup trucks, the boost in fuel prices will affect many aspects of department operations.
Fuel prices have increased rapidly since 2003 when crude oil sold for about $25 per barrel to the current price of more than $65 per barrel, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Mn/DOT doesn’t face this dilemma alone.
Transportation providers from Northwest Airlines to county transit services are dealing with spiraling fuel costs. Oil industry analysts say the rapidly increasing costs stem from several factors, including burgeoning demand from countries such as China, India and Brazil, and oil refineries already being at capacity to produce gasoline, diesel fuel, propane and other products.
For Mn/DOT, that means paying about 30 percent more than last year for gasoline, diesel fuel and other products used primarily for highway maintenance work, according to Jerry Holland, fiscal and administrative services manager. Typically, the department spends about $5.5 million each year to purchase 3.8 million gallons of gas, diesel fuel and gasohol for snowplows and other vehicles.
While costs for asphalt have remained fairly steady, its price and the price of other petroleum-based products may rise sharply in the future.
Mark Wikelius, state maintenance engineer, said Mn/DOT has no other choice than to pay the increased prices in order to provide essential services, which may result in a reduction in other maintenance activities.
Jim Curran, district maintenance engineer for District 2, said maintenance crews at Crookston, Bemidji and other locations will have to keep close tabs on energy consumption.
“We’ll have to monitor our fuel use carefully,” he said. “A lot depends on the winter and the 4,000 lane miles of highway that we have to plow; we’ll adjust for costs by buying fewer patching materials and other supplies.”
Most of Mn/DOT’s buildings were designed or retrofitted to be fuel-efficient, but Dick Post, Maintenance, said additional conservation methods may be needed to reduce the amount of natural gas used to heat them.
Post, facilities program manager, expects gas prices to increase by 30 to 50 percent this winter. That makes it important that everyday practices, such as closing doors and windows, making sure that weather stripping seals properly and lowering building temperatures during non-business hours, are followed, he said.
“We’re doing the right things right now to conserve energy,” Post said. “That makes doing the little things even more important.”
Maintenance managers, supervisors and employees will have to become more aware of ways to save energy and to follow them, Wikelius said.
“We need to operate as efficiently as we can to provide the levels of service that highway system users have told us they expect,” he said.
By Craig Wilkins
Interest in ride-sharing rises with increasing fuel prices
Twin Cities metropolitan area transit providers report increased requests for vanpool, bus schedules and other transit options as gas prices continue to rise.
At Mn/DOT, Jarvis Keys, Office of Transit, said inquires from employees have risen slightly for carpools, vanpools and bus schedules.
Employees also are asking about working four-day weeks as a way to cut their commuting costs.
The inquiries, he said, are coming from employees in the Twin Cities metro area and in Greater Minnesota.
“As fuel prices increase and we move closer to winter, more and more people are asking about alternatives to driving alone,” Keys said.
Information about options to driving alone can be found on Mn/DOT's Web site at www.dot.state.mn.us/transit/.
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A fair visitor in 2004 models one of Mn/DOT's signature orange "coneheads." Photo by David Gonzalez |
A few hours remain before the official opening of the 2005 Minnesota State Fair, and Mn/DOT crews are feverishly putting the last touches on the department’s annual exhibit.
Some shifts are still open for employees interested in staffing Mn/DOT’s booth at the fair, which begins Aug. 25 and runs through Labor Day.
Current openings are for evenings (3-9 p.m.) and Labor Day weekend. Admittance ticket, T-shirt and training information will be provided. Volunteers will need their supervisor’s permission. For more information, call Donna Lindberg, Communications, at 651/297-8138.
Even Lt. Gov./Commissioner Carol Molnau will do a few shifts at the exhibit, providing visitors with information about transportation in Minnesota. Currently, she is scheduled to be available at Mn/DOT’s booth on:
- Aug. 25 - Noon - 1 p.m.
- Aug. 26 - 12:30 - 1 p.m.
- Aug. 27 - 11 a.m. - Noon
- Sept. 1 - 2-4 p.m.
- Sept. 2 - 10:30-11:30 a.m.
In her role as lieutenant governor, Molnau also will participate in several events throughout the 12-day run of the fair, beginning with driving a tractor in the 6 a.m. opening day machinery parade. Other events in which she is participating include the celebrity milking contest, the Plymouth Playhouse production and the governor’s weekly radio show on Sept. 2.
In addition to Mn/DOT staff answering questions at the booth, State Patrol troopers also will be on hand daily to bring attention to the state’s Toward Zero Deaths program. The program is a multi-agency partnership whose purpose is to raise awareness of traffic safety issues and to develop tools that can be used to reduce the number of deaths and injuries resulting from traffic accidents in Minnesota.
The booth is located on Judson Avenue at Underwood Street, just west of the Empire Commons Building and a block north of Como Avenue.
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David Gonzalez, Business Support Services, received an award from AASHTO for this photograph of a welder working on the Wakota Bridge project in October 2003. The worker is welding sections of 42-inch diameter pipes that would later be sunk into the ground in preparation for constructing one of the bridge piers. Photo by David Gonzalez |
David Gonzalez, photographer, Business Support Services, was one of four top winners of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ “Celebrate the Interstate” photo contest.
The photo contest kicked off a yearlong celebration leading up to the 50th anniversary of the interstate system on June 29, 2006.
Transportation departments nationwide entered a total of 120 photos in four categories: people, historic, scenic and bridges/engineering feats.
Gonzalez’s photo captured the top prize in the “People” category and shows a welder working at the Wakota Bridge project site in October 2003.
A Washington Post staff photographer, Susan Biddle, judged the contest.
The photos will be used in AASHTO’s promotional materials for the Interstate commemoration.
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By Lisa Yang
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