Minnesota's Road to Recovery: An Analysis of Transportation Recovery Projects
Greater emphasis must be put on transit and fast intercity passenger trains, which are gaining popularity despite fare increases, service cuts and funding shortfalls.
Conrad deFiebre, Minnesota 2020
Creaky old timber bridges are being replaced. Rough roads are getting new pavement. Deteriorating regional airport runways are being rehabbed. Twin Cities transit riders will hop on new diesel-sipping hybrid buses. Suburban drivers will ply new interchanges and a freeway extension. And a rusting Minnesota icon, Duluth's Aerial Lift Bridge, is receiving the final phase of a once-in-a-lifetime paint job.
It's all thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the $787 billion federal economic stimulus package enacted to counter a recession that has obliterated 5.4 million U.S. jobs in past year, 99,7000 of them in Minnesota.
While the plan will support worthwhile efforts from education, health care and unemployment benefits to clean water, housing and senior nutrition, the earliest and most visible impacts in Minnesota are on the roads, bridges, transit services and other transportation assets that put our economy on the move.
Related:
Click here to read the full report (PDF).
Click here for a searchable database of Minnesota's federal recovery projects.
