Stop Micro-managing MNDOT
05/19/2005
Paul Munnis
A lot of the reason that Minnesota is way behind in transportation is that there is too much meddling with issues that are in fact technical matters and best left to engineers. That includes cost engineering. Two examples are now in the headlines.
One is a Senate Bill that will determine when the tolls can and can’t be charged. Leave it alone. Queuing theory and the application of it should left to Highway Engineers. They are professionally trained in the application of it. They will apply it to best effect to prevent congestion when the roads are crowded and they can manage the system when off-peak hours occur, really.
Another example is our Senate wanting to decide the mix of money to be applied to roads and bridges as a percentage of the budget. This is pork fat in disquise. That is a technical consideration and it should be left as an engineering responsibility.
Playing politics with roads and bridges is a bad idea as New York State can attest to when politics diverted money away from a NY Thruway Bridge repair to something more politically expedient. The bridge collapsed and ten vehicles, including a bus, plunged into a river killing all of the occupants. The lawsuits that followed cost the taxpayers of NY a small fortune and there was no end of family grief.
We are witnessing an attempt to micro manage MNDoT engineers and it should be avoided. They are professionals. The legislature should be setting long term goals for them and giving them the needed authority to accomplish those goals.
What really needs to happen is that MNDoT should be given full authority to implement toll roads and bridges and then given the bonding authority to accomplish it. They should be able to borrow (up to specified limits) and to payoff outstanding bonds using toll revenues. If that were done and the MNDoT treated like it was staffed, manned, and equipped by professionals, then Minnesota would go from having a failed transportation system to having a high quality one.
Come on Minnesota—join the rest of the country in this new Millennium and strive for excellence in transportation. We have people who can and will deliver.