The Rock County Star-Herald ran a story Thursday, December 27 about one of the bridges that I often cross. It appears that the bridge built by the WPA in 1931 that crosses the Rock River is ranked fourth in the state. Normally for Luverne and Rock County to be recognized would be a good thing but this ranking is for fourth worst bridge in the state!
The Worthington Daily Globe also ran a story about its neighbor to the west and the trouble with the bridge. It seems we have a total of 47 bridges that are rated structurally deficient in Rock County. County Engineer Mark Sehr doesn’t seem to be excited about it and seems pleased about the progress they have made on bridge replacement. The suspect bridge (no. 5050) is scheduled to be replaced in 2008.
Nobles County engineer Stephen Schnieder has no immediate concerns for his county bridges but is worried about the future and has a couple of bridges that will need to be replaced soon.
Here is a quote from Schnieder from the Daily Globe article:
“Right now, there is no bridge money,” he said. “The last bonding bill was in 2006, and the next one is in 2008 for bridges. If they don’t provide us with any money or not enough, we may end up waiting until 2010 or later to replace these two bridges.”
The New Year is fast approaching and soon after the Minnesota State Legislature will convene. Hopefully they will address our transportation and other important infrastructure needs.
Peace & Solidarity,
CHC
It’s one of those Good News / Bad News stories. The Good News is that the public is finally being informed of the Bad News.
And to make matters worse, the Strib reported that Minnesota could lose $20 million next year, and more in the future, as a penalty for its inadequate system for licensing truckers.
So if my math is correct, we have :
Less money to work with + a Governor that doesn’t want a gas tax + crumbling bridges = RE-election of Legislators !
Sadly, the best weapon the Republicans have is the threat that the Dems will raise taxes and the Dems seem to be unable to counter the argument that it’s investing money where it needs to be spent.
The question is how will the Chamber of Commerce respond when they want monies spent on the roads … Oh, I know … endorse anti-tax Republicans.
Be safe out there !
FYI – Just a quick note, to let you know that I referenced your posting in a commentary today.