Greater Minnesota Transportation woes continue

Several local media outlets are covering the spin post legislative session, with the majority of spin coming from Republicans justifying their failure to support strong transportation legislation.

Dean Urdahl is at the forefront of the spin, offering excuse after excuse in the Annandale Advocate.

I'll comment more later on the Urdahl flop and his Bachmann like attempts at changing his story with regards to the Transportation veto.

The West Central Tribune had a story today that really caught my eye and raised my dander a bit.

Recall that both the Transportation Bill and Tax Bill got vetoed. These bills would have provided much needed property tax relief and transportation funding in Greater Minnesota.

The Willmar paper paints a disturbing picture regarding the impact of these veto's in Greater Minnesota.

If Kandiyohi County is going to complete just the minimum maintenance on its
roads during the next five years, property taxes will need to increase 8 percent
each of those years.

Minimum maintenance! It gets better!

Never mind reconstructing roads that are too narrow, don’t have shoulders or can’t bear the weight of farm and commercial trucks. Most of those roads have been taken off the county’s five-year reconstruction plan. At best, they’ll get an overlay to buy time until more money is available.

Raise your hand if you have ever travelled down one of these narrow county or township roads.

It can literally be a precarious jaunt.

Needless to say, County Commissioners across Greater Minnesota are not pleased with their Republican legislators.

We also recall no need to account for inflation in the budget process as well...

Inflation and the high cost of asphalt is part of the reason for need to budget $2 million each year, Danielson said. The lack of new state transportation funding means that if county roads are going to be kept in shape, local taxpayers will have to pay more.

While I was disappointed at how the session ended, the reality of what obstructionists like Dean Urdahl have caused are starting to come to light. If it's bad in Kandiyohi County, it's going to be bad in Wright and Meeker Counties as well.

I wonder what people like Wally Strand and Amy Wilde think of the mess Urdahl helped create. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for those conversations!

2008 cannot come soon enough. Holding Dean Urdahl and others accountable is my top priority.