Rising construction costs are making it difficult for Minnesota counties to maintain their roads.
Policymakers are thinking about new ways to fund transportation. State Rep. Bernie Lieder, DFL-Crookston, who chairs the House Transportation Finance Committee, says the current reliance on the gas tax is an outdated funding mechanism that needs to be replaced, particularly since less revenue is expected as people switch to more efficient cars and drive less.
Keeping roads in good shape is a mounting challenge, said Ottertail County engineer Rick West.
Funding for county road projects is expected to increase 15% over the next decade—while the cost of repairing roads is up 114% in the past three years.
"You hear the saying, 'Do more with less.' Well, we've been working that for a long time now," said West. "We're at the point where we're going to do less with less."
Most of the county’s money will need to be spent on preservation—patching cracks and filling holes—instead of replacing road surfaces, West said, although many roads are already past their lifespan and in need of replacement.
"If we don't have the resources, then some of our lower volume roads, should they go back to gravel?" West asked. "That's a tough question to put before the public, in particular the public that lives along those roads. That's not going to be very popular."
"There are going to have to be some choices made," Lieder said. "Unfortunately, sometimes part of the choice is made based on traffic volume. You don't have much alternative because the money just is not going to be there. A lot of those roads we have that are low volume, we probably can't afford to keep them in the condition they're in."
