There always has been an inextricable link between the quality of transportation infrastructure and economic health. In Minnesota, that link will continue to be highlight-ed as a result of the I-35W bridge collapse.
The 2008 Legislature has made transportation a marquee issue, and the state’s business leaders appear equally concerned that investments in the state’s roads, bridges, public transit, commuter rail, and air transportation help Minnesota keep pace with domestic and global competitors. The legislature pushed a $6.6 billion transportation plan through in February, overriding Governor Tim Pawlenty’s veto. The bill promises improved roads and bridges, and Minnesota’s regional economies depend on them.
In a poll of state businesses commissioned by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce in 2007, the number of employers that named transportation as one of their top-two issues increased three-fold over a similar poll in 2004. The challenge, of course, has been agreeing on the appropriate revenue source to fund much-needed improvements.
Congestion Takes a
Toll
You’ll get little argument from business leaders that traffic congestion is a real threat to the economic health of the Twin Cities metropolitan area. According to a 2005 study by the Texas Transportation Institute, a transportation research organization at Texas A & M University, the Twin Cities ranked third nationwide for the rate of growth in its traffic congestion.
“I think there is a growing realization and acceptance of the fact that congestion is a hidden cost to business,” says Peter Bell, chairman of the Metropolitan Council, a regional planning group serving the seven-county metro area.
Some area businesses have begun documenting the toll congestion takes on their bottom line. General Mills, which spends approximately $650 million a year trucking millions of cases of food to market, estimates that for every one mile-per-hour reduction in average speed of its shipments below posted limits, it sees $2 million in higher annual transportation costs. That’s according to a report issued in January by Minnesota 2020, a think tank based in St. Paul that focuses on the state’s key public policy and business issues.
