By Julie Bartkey

Improving and increasing transportation choices for Minnesotans and others took a big step forward as federal, state and local leaders held an event to mark the signing of a $31.8 million grant agreement that will provide capital improvements for a second daily, round-trip Amtrak passenger train from St. Paul to Chicago.

The Twin Cities-Milwaukee-Chicago event was held March 9 at the Amtrak depot in La Crosse, Wis. More than 50 people and multiple news outlets were on hand.

“MnDOT is proud to be a partner in this effort to expand service on the TCMC corridor,” said Nancy Daubenberger, interim MnDOT commissioner. “We are excited about the tremendous benefits that this project will deliver to Minnesotans, including all who work, play, travel or attend a higher education institution along this corridor. This grant is an important piece in our shared goals to enhance our regional economies, from the Twin Cities metro area to our thriving small towns in Greater Minnesota.”

The 411-mile corridor between St. Paul and Chicago will be served by two daily round-trip trains, with departures planned for each city in the morning and mid-day.

“The grant signing event did more than signify the next step in the process,” said Dan Krom, MnDOT’s Freight and Rail Planning Section manager. “It served as a platform to increase excitement that the planning phase is over and the implementation phase begins.”

The first year of operation, which could be as early as fall 2022, is projected to serve more than 124,000 riders. Additionally, improvements to the line are expected to save $34.7 million in freight costs over the next 30 years of operation. Grade crossing improvements will reduce gate-down times, and capacity improvements will increase efficiency.

Slip-and-fall injuries, particularly those occurring on ice, are on the rise around the agency, with 43 percent more injuries recorded from mid-January to early-March this year, compared to the same time in 2021. That’s a slip-and-fall injury occurring at MnDOT on average every other workday.

MnDOT safety experts want to reverse that trend by making personal traction control devices—ice cleats—available at no cost to every employee who wants them, according to Stephanie Raley, MnDOT safety culture director. There is a variety of ice cleats to choose from, from low-profile to more aggressive models, and all are easy to use.

“The best method of dealing with slip, trip and fall injuries is to prevent them from occurring in the first place,” she said. “While the weather may be warming up, it’s important to recognize that the freeze-thaw-refreeze cycles seen in spring bring icy conditions. We are still susceptible to icy parking lots, sidewalks and worksites. Get a pair of ice cleats now and you’ll be a step ahead for next year.”

Employees can contact their District or Office Safety Administrator for more information about ice cleats.

For more information about slip and fall prevention, see the February Safety Alert.

The latest issue of New Library Materials is available. This issue features "Telling the Story with Data," which highlights new resources that illustrate how to display and visualize data to communicate a deeper meaning.

New Library Materials is a compilation of resources added to the library collection during the previous month. Visit mndot.gov/library/stay-current.html and click New Library Materials to sign up. Questions and feedback are welcome at Ask a Librarian.

By Nancy Daubenberger

Greetings MnDOT team!

I am very honored to serve as your interim Commissioner, while Gov. Walz and Lt. Gov. Flanagan are in the process of filling the Commissioner role for our agency. I have been fortunate to have many different job experiences in MnDOT, coming in as a Senior Engineer in the Bridge Office and then working in various engineering and management roles in the Bridge Office and the Metro District, and in Senior Leadership roles in the Central Office. Most recently I have been serving as your Deputy Commissioner and Chief Engineer. Prior to that, I served in other leadership roles including the Assistant Commissioner for Engineering Services, and the State Bridge Engineer. Before coming to MnDOT, I worked in consulting for about six years, in both bridge and road design.

During my 22 years at MnDOT, I've had the pleasure of meeting many of you, but I look forward to opening up our buildings more widely to our employees and the public next month, and getting out to meet and talk with more of you over the course of this year.

We're now upon the two-year anniversary of being in pandemic mode, and I've so appreciated the resilience of our MnDOT employees with the changes we've had to make to continue delivering our services to the people of the State of Minnesota. Also, I look forward to working with the new Commissioner and our leadership team to further refresh and refine MnDOT's Strategic Plan, in alignment with the Governor's One Minnesota Plan priorities, most notably healthy Minnesotans and economic recovery, advancing racial equity and inclusion, and fiscal accountability and measurable results.

Another focus area in the coming year for MnDOT will be successfully implementing the federal funding coming to us through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. IIJA is the bipartisan transportation law that provides $4.5 billion to Minnesota over the next five years in federal formula funding for highways and bridges, and represents an estimated 30 percent increase in Minnesota's highway formula funding. MnDOT, along with our local and tribal governments, are also eligible for new and expanded competitive grant programs as part of this law - including dollars to improve resiliency, invest in carbon reduction, and expand our Electric Vehicle charging infrastructure. We will need to be poised to deliver projects quickly, while being thoughtful about our investments, effectively engaging the public and our stakeholders, and advancing transportation equity.

I'm so proud to work for MnDOT and to lead the department in this time of transition. I appreciate the dedicated service of our entire MnDOT team - it truly takes a team effort to deliver all of our products and services, and every single team member's job is important to our work to plan, build, operate and maintain a safe, accessible, efficient and reliable multimodal transportation system. Thank you for all you do, and for your support of me in this interim role!