Red Wing asks to use $4 million left from overpass project to fix nearby failing roads

Summary

Sen. Droskowski said about $4 million remained from earlier appropriations for the Sturgeon Lake Overpass; Red Wing officials and the Prairie Island Indian Community asked the committee to allow repurposing those funds for adjacent pavement repairs and safety improvements, and the committee adopted an A1 amendment and laid the bill over.

Sen. Droskowski told the committee that completed Sturgeon Lake Overpass work came in under budget and left roughly $4 million from prior appropriations; Senate File 4861 would repurpose the remaining money to repair failing roads adjacent to the original project and address safety concerns.

"There's about $4,000,000 under budget and they would like to use the money for some failing roads adjacent to the original project," Sen. Droskowski said. The committee adopted an author's A1 amendment by voice vote to enable the reallocation.

Gary Yako, mayor of Red Wing, and Chris Heinemann, city administrator, described the overpass' safety benefits and said pavement on Sturgeon Lake Road (the access road referenced by testimony) shows alligator cracking and raveling; Heinemann said using the remaining funds would allow the city to bring that section to current standards. Blake Johnson, government relations for the Prairie Island Indian Community, said Sturgeon Lake Road is the only reliable access on and off the reservation and urged support for continued improvements.

The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in the bonding package.