Mayor Anderson Talks Transportation Needs With D.C. Leaders

St. Cloud Mayor Jake Anderson spent some time this week in our nation's capital traveling with the Area Planning Organization.  He says their group met with Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith and Representative Tom Emmer staffs.  Anderson says they talked about regional transportation projects.

Projects

The projects discussed include Benton County Road 1 near the Sauk Rapids-Rice High School, 322nd Street in northwest St. Cloud (which is also in LeSauk township and St. Wendel township), and the 33rd Street South bridge on the southside of St. Cloud.  Anderson says the 322nd Street road has more traffic than it was built for.  He says the 33rd Street South bridge across the Mississippi River has been talked about for quite awhile.  Anderson says the bridge project is in the process of an environmental assessment right now.  He says there is no way the city could afford to fund the bridge project without help from the Federal and State governments.

Federal Policies

Anderson says they also discussed policy concerns.  One of those is the Federal government's policy, which is the Surface Transportation ACT which handles resurfacing projects.  He says the policy only covers above ground utilities and not the below ground sewer and water utilities.  Anderson says the below ground utilities tend to be more expensive.  He would like to see options for cities to reduce property taxes by allowing for Federal options to pay for some of these infrastructure improvements.

Good Feeling

Anderson had a positive takeaway from the meetings that these projects could be included in future bills.  He says this is the time of year politicians could be looking for some wins for the area they represent.

If you'd like to listen to Jake Anderson on WJON's Radio Town Hall, click below.