Loading...
City Council Resolution 2013-55CITY OF MONTICELLO WRIGHT COUNTY, MINNESOTA RESOLUTION NO. 2013-055 REQUESTING INCLUSION OF I -94 WEST CORRIDOR EXPANSION IN THE MINNESOTA STATE HIGHWAY INVESTMENT PLAN (MNSHIP) WHEREAS, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) is in the process of finalizing a new Minnesota State Highway Investment Plan (MnSHIP) that will serve as a guide for investment on the Minnesota State and Interstate highway system through the year 2033; and WHEREAS, this new financially constrained plan proposes to focus the majority of future MnDOT highway investment on system preservation, with limited major expansion projects included in the Twin Cities Region and no major expansion projects included in Greater Minnesota, including the Interstate 94 West Corridor; and WHEREAS, MnDOT has numerous existing and recent plans, including the I -94 Interregional Corridor Plan (2002), the Central Minnesota Regional Freight Study (2011), and the 2028 Statewide Highway Investment Plan (2009) that all identify performance -based expansion needs for the Interstate 94 West Corridor; and WHEREAS, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has identified the Interstate 94 West Corridor currently as "highly congested" from the Twin Cities to St. Cloud, with high freight congestion levels forecasted to extend to North Dakota by the year 2040; and WHEREAS, the new federal transportation bill, "MAP -21," requires State Departments of Transportation to address freight bottlenecks such as Interstate 94 using performance -based planning and investment criteria; and WHEREAS, the Interstate 94 West Corridor from St. Michael to St. Cloud has 40 percent of the congestion on MnDOT's "Interregional Corridor" (IRC) system, yet accounts for only 1.6 percent of this system; and WHEREAS, crash and severity rates along Interstate 94 between Rogers and Albertville are nearly twice the statewide average; and WHEREAS, the Interstate 94 West Corridor is critical to the tourism industry in Minnesota, accommodating 1.85 million visitor trips annually to the Alexandria and Brainerd Lakes Regions; and WHEREAS, at the request of Governor Mark Dayton, MnDOT is embarking on an advocacy campaign leading into the 2014 Legislative session to educate Minnesotans about the need for additional funding to construct many of the documented unmet state transportation needs. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City of Monticello does hereby request the Minnesota Department of Transportation to specifically include the Interstate 94 West Corridor from Rogers to St. Cloud as an unmet performance -based need for major capacity expansion in its year 2033 Minnesota State Highway Investment Plan (MnSHIP). ADOPTED BY the Monticello City Council this 8th day of July, 2013. CITY OF MONTICELLO lei '/ Y_' /� Clint erbst, Mayor ATTEST: Jeff , City Administrator F