Policy Advocacy Group Pitches MN Transportation Proposal

ST. CLOUD -- A public policy advocacy group is out with the first of its 10 recommendations to make Minnesota a prosperous place well into the future.

The Center of the American Experiment has released the transportation portion of the Minnesota Policy Blueprint. Spokesman Fritz Knaak says Minnesota roads are becoming more congested and deteriorating from a lack of funding.

Knaak says it's time for the legislature to face this issue head-on.  He says unless we start investing in our roads and bridges, the consequences will be felt economically with more motorists sitting idle in traffic and the movement of goods and services slowing to a crawl.

The Minnesota Policy Blueprint's proposal calls for, among other things, a moratorium on future light rail projects, dedicating more existing tax dollars to road projects, allocating more state bonding for roads and bridges and allowing more local control over projects.

The group unveiled the proposal in St. Cloud today.