MnDOT policy omnibus (Senate File 2136) clears several technical changes; committee lays amended bill on the table

Sen. Johnson Stewart presented Senate File 2136, described as MnDOT's policy omnibus, to the Minnesota Senate Transportation Committee on March 10, 2025. The author said the bill contains primarily technical updates to state statutes governing trunk highway turnbacks, the definition of an intersection, signal indications, crash reporting, and certain aircraft registration procedures.

Key provisions discussed in the hearing included:

- Modifications to statutory-designated trunk highway routes and turnback agreements to allow more coherent local-state transfers for specific segments (sections 1, 2 and the A2 amendment).

- Revision of the state statutory definition of an "intersection" to align with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), removing the need for frequent legislative fixes when national guidance changes.

- Clarification that the meaning of a steady yellow signal should reflect current practice (section 4) and that the law should accommodate the increasing use of flashing yellow signals.

- Reversion of crash-reporting language so that peace officers report crashes involving bodily injury at the scene (section 5), restoring the prior reporting standard that the committee and MnDOT staff said yielded more usable intersection crash data.

- Authorization for electronic attestation or online registration for certain aircraft transactions and a technical update to the definition of an unmanned aerial system (sections 6'10).

MnDOT staff, represented by Jennifer Witt and Tory Hunkus, said the agency supports the technical clarifications and explained the agency would analyze which inspector or enforcement disciplines might be most effective where staffing is authorized. Witt told the committee the turnback adjustments were vetted with affected local governments.

Sen. Johnson Stewart moved and the committee adopted the A2 amendment. Senators raised questions about how "bodily injury" would be captured in crash reports and whether officers would have information about injuries discovered after the initial report; the author and MnDOT staff said the change reverts to the prior statutory definition focused on injuries identified at the scene and that traffic engineers rely on that aggregate data to prioritize intersections for safety improvements.

After discussion and the brief amendment vote, the committee laid Senate File 2136, as amended, on the table for possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill. No final passage vote was taken at the March 10 hearing.