By Nick Carpenter

More than 75 transportation stakeholders, including local officials, legislators, consultants and other external partners, met with MnDOT recently to discuss a new approach to corridor-level investment planning aimed at increasing transparency, input and collaboration.

MnDOT introduced the new approach as a way to promote shared understanding of the state’s transportation challenges and facilitate greater stakeholder participation in investment decisions during a challenging and uncertain period for the transportation community.

“MnDOT has developed several corridor plans in conjunction with stakeholders over the years; however, the plans were developed in an era of younger infrastructure, growing revenues and a healthier economy,” said Commissioner Tom Sorel. “This new corridor-level approach reflects a new normal—a time of aging infrastructure, new legislative requirements and uncertain revenue projections.”

Under the approach, districts will meet with local stakeholders to discuss past investments, current conditions and future investments needed to maintain the system in a state of good repair over the next 10 years. These meetings also will invite local stakeholders to identify how the corridor affects their economy and quality of life.

Output from these meetings will be used to identify collaboration opportunities between MnDOT and local partners. This emphasis on stakeholder input and collaboration will enable MnDOT to maximize limited resources.   

“The redesigned planning process will be more transparent and responsive to local input on issues related to transportation, economic competiveness and quality of life,” Sorel said. “Collaboration among MnDOT, local government agencies, as well as public and private stakeholders will focus on identifying cost-effective approaches to improve their economy and quality of life.”

The new approach to corridor-level investment planning is one way that MnDOT is implementing the principles emerging from Minnesota GO—a statewide 50-year vision to better align the transportation system with what Minnesotans expect for their quality of life, economy and natural environment. This effort will continue throughout 2012 with the 20-year State Highway Investment Plan 2013-2032 update, a document linking policies and strategies identified in the Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan with the capital investments made on the state highway system. 

Traffic crashes in Minnesota claimed the lives of 349 people in 2011, according to preliminary reports from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. The figure represents a 38 percent reduction in deaths since 2001, and a fourth consecutive annual decline in fatalities.

DPS projects the final total to be around 11 percent below the 2010 figure, 411, and the lowest since 356 occurred in 1944. The final 2011 number will be available in early summer as additional crash reports are submitted.

“The continuing reduction of preventable traffic deaths is a true Minnesota success story that every motorist has supported and played a critical role in achieving,” said Donna Berger, DPS Office of Traffic Safety director. “This progress demonstrates that the epidemic of hundreds of tragedies does not have to be our annual reality.”

DPS officials note positive driver behavior is propelling the progress. Seat belt compliance is at a record 93 percent, while alcohol-related fatal and injury crashes and DWI arrests continue to drop.

Other factors include traffic safety legislation, such as primary seat belt law; enhanced enforcement coupled with education efforts; effective MnDOT, county and local engineering improvements; and efficient emergency trauma response. Officials also credit safer vehicles for the trend.

Since 2000, the state’s annual traffic deaths have trended downward.

By Mary McFarland

As traffic and travel increase and the demands for transportation improvements rise, the short- and long-term concept for transportation funding is experiencing a shift toward alternative financing methods for construction projects.

MnDOT and other transportation organizations are currently coping with limited transportation funding resources, according to Phil Barnes, Alternative Finance Flagship Initiative leader. This “new normal” is forcing the department to look beyond traditional methods to finance transportation infrastructure.

MnDOT defines alternative transportation finance as any strategy that uses a new or non-traditional transportation funding source or uses existing funding source or techniques in a new way to deliver projects quickly and cost-effectively.

“One of the new revenue-generating strategies is to better align user benefits and costs,” Barnes said. “This means that those who will most benefit from the new transportation system would bear some of the costs.”

One example of this strategy is the Bren Road/Hwy 169 project in the western Twin Cities Metro Area. The project involved a partnership between the city of Minnetonka and UnitedHealth Group, which was interested in expanding its headquarters. The lack of interchange capacity at Bren Road and Hwy 169 also was becoming an issue for other businesses that wanted to expand in the area.

“To address the need for capacity at the interchange, staff recommended an ordinance to manage the development and pay for the improvements based on trips generated by the development,” said Lee Gustafson, Minnetonka city engineer.

The ordinance had three main points:

• No existing residential property will be affected by the ordinance unless the property is redeveloped into non-residential use.
• Only property owners (commercial/industrial/office) who wish to expand their building size will be affected by the ordinance.
• The approach is intended to have new development “pay its own way” where the payment is based on a project’s fair share of trips using the Bren Road and Hwy 169 interchange.

“Based on the ordinance, one of the larger users of the interchange, UnitedHealth Group, paid their fair share of interchange improvements, approximately $3.7 million, in order to proceed with the second phase of their development,” Gustafson said.

Public/private partnership plays role in Hwy 10 interchange project

The Office of Alternative Finance also is looking at new types of partnerships between state, local and private entities.

“The cities and counties in MnDOT districts play an essential role in alternative financing as transportation partners for projects with regional benefits,” said Phil Barnes, Office of Alternative Finance director.

Barnes cited the Hwy 10/Otter Tail County Road 34 interchange project in District 4 as one example of a successful public/private partnership. 

The city of Perham, with a population of under 3,000, needed to build a community hospital. The chosen site was near Hwy 10; however, there was no direct access to the highway, so the city of Perham requested an at-grade crossing be constructed near the proposed hospital site. Since the section of Hwy 10 that bypasses Perham was designed to interstate standards, an at-grade crossing in this section was considered unsafe, according to Les Bjerketvedt, District 4 project engineer.

Another option was County Road 34, which bridged Hwy 10 and from which ramps could be constructed to provide access between County Road 34 and Hwy 10 to the hospital site. The estimated $3 million project cost forced the city of Perham to look for alternative funding sources, according to Bjerketvedt. Additional funding proved unworkable until the creation of the 2010 Transportation Economic Development Pilot Program—a collaboration between MnDOT, the Department of Employment and Economic Development and the Public Facilities Authority. Funding from the Transportation Economic Development program was used to leverage both public and private resources, including $270,000 from local businesses that directly benefit from the new interchange.   

Matt Shands, MnDOT’s alternative transportation finance staffer and coordinator of the 2010 TED pilot program, said the Perham interchange project is the type of project that the Alternative Finance Office hopes to be able to promote in the future with another round of TED funding or other funding sources.

“One of the keys to completing projects that otherwise would take years to program, is to leverage funding from our private and public partners who derive a direct benefit from these types of transportation improvements,” Shands said. “The TED program is an effective tool for doing that.”

The city of Perham, with the cooperation of local businesses, Otter Tail County and MnDOT, also applied to another DEED funding program for elements of the project located off the state right of way on the local road system.  The two projects together extend from the west ramps on County Road 34 to the intersection of County Road 80.

“The projects, which require coordination between the state, county, city and consultants will be let as one project in April 2012,” Bjerketvedt said. The Perham hospital will be fully operational in January 2012.

Barnes said he plans to visit MnDOT’s district offices soon to learn more about successful alternative finance projects, and also explore which upcoming projects would benefit from alternative financing options.

“It is critical that we establish a framework to identify potential alternative financing projects and have measurement criteria in place to evaluate the results of these new approaches,” Barnes said.

By Jessica Wiens

The Diversity Council invites all employees to participate in the Australian Leaders in Transportation brown bag event Monday, Jan. 9, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.  

Gary Dirlam, District 3A Area Maintenance engineer and Diversity Council member, and Cassandra Isackson, Traffic Data and Analysis director, will discuss Australian transportation networks and culture.

Dirlam has spent time in Australia to studying roundabouts.

“I’m a real advocate for the safety roundabouts provide, and Australia has quite a network to learn from,” Dirlam said. “Australia is also a melting pot of many cultures, similar to the United States.”

Employees can participate in person at Central Office rooms G13-G14 or via Adobe Connect.

Instructions for joining the event via Adobe Connect are available at ihub.dot.state.mn.us/diversity/monthlyevents/australian.html.

By Libby Schultz

Employees from every corner of the state donated food, toys and money to different charities this holiday season. Here’s a look at some of the charitable efforts:

District 1 – Duluth employees held a Toys for Tots drive.

District 2 – Bemidji employees held a fundraiser potluck and silent auction that raised $1,026. The proceeds were donated to Evergreen Family and Youth Services, a local non-profit.

District 3 – St. Cloud employees held their Fifth Annual Toys for Tots Holiday Dinner. Employees sponsored a raffle and accepted donations of money, toys and food. They donated 145 toys and $1,352. Baxter employees also held a raffle and raised $1,203 for the local Toys for Kids Drive.

District 4 – Members of the Hospice Committee had a successful year raising $3,363, bringing the grand total since 1995 to $17,651.

Metro District –Employees at the Waters Edge Building in Roseville held a food and clothing drive.

District 6 – Employees set up Toys for Tots barrels at the Owatonna, Rochester and Winona offices.

District 7 – Employees held a food drive and sent Christmas cards and care packages to two employees who are soldiers currently based in Kuwait. They also helped support the Mankato State Patrol Toys for Tots drive.

The Office of Materials and Road Research – Employees adopted two families through Volunteers of America again this year.

“The response was fantastic,” said Lisa Bilotta, Office of Materials and Road Research. “While they mostly asked for very practical items, we had enough donations to get both the practical and something fun for the kids.”

The Hiwayan Club is accepting memberships starting this month and employees are encouraged to join anytime throughout the year.

Membership is open to MnDOT, Department of Public Safety, and Hiway Federal Credit Union employees and retirees. The annual membership fee is $5.

Members can get discount tickets to the State Fair, Minnesota Zoo, Renaissance Festival, Valley Fair and Como Town at Como Zoo. The club sponsors activities such as luncheons, holiday parties and charity events. The club also sponsors a coed softball league in St. Paul.

Hiwayan Club meetings are held on the second Tuesday of every month at 10 a.m. in Central Office and via video conference.