Bridge closing stokes gas tax politics at Capitol

On the day the Minnesota Department of Transportation closed a bridge on the Red River talk of a gas tax hike ramped up at the State Capitol.

MnDOT announced it had closed the Drayton Bridge in Kittson County, which carries Highway 11 over the Red River into the city of Drayton, North Dakota. While carrying out inspections ordered by Governor Pawlenty after the 35W bridge collapse, inspectors found that a cracked weld in a support beam had gotten worse since May.

The bridge, which carries 1,400 vehicles a day, will be closed for a week while the weld is repaired and other beams are added.

"And a crack in a weld again is not an uncommon item in a steel bridge," said MnDOT's chief bridge engineer Dan Dorgan.

Dorgan was quick to note that MnDOT had been watching the crack for years, checking on it from time to time. And, more importantly, there was no danger of collapse.

The beam in question was not on the "fracture critical" truss span over the river, but rather on one of the bridge approaches where there are back-up girders or built-in redundancy.

"It would not have resulted in catastrophic failure. Had the crack progressed we would have seen signs from the bridge."

And while the crack was not posing an immediate threat it became symbolic, at least for a few hours Wednesday, of the post-collapse soul searching in a state where the worlds of engineering and politics have collided.

Fueling the fuel tax debate A half hour after Dorgan spoke at MnDOT headquarters in Roseville, Congressman Jim Oberstar was defending his proposed national bridge fund.

"Rudy Perpich didn?t have committees and commissions and councils. He said this is what we need to do. Do it!"

Rep Oberstar, who heads the powerful House Transportation Committee, wants to create a $25 billion pool of money and a national priority list of bridge repair projects.

He would fund it with a temporary five cent hike in the federal fuel tax, which he says would be dropped after three years. Oberstar also strongly urged Minnesota lawmakers to boost the state fuel tax for the first time since 1988.

"Get over it, this no-tax mindset. Look, these dollars stay here in Minnesota, in America. Highway trust fund dollars don?t go to OPEC."

The Republican Party of Minnesota handed reporters a news release immediately afterwards calling his proposed federal tax hike unwarranted. The statement criticized Oberstar for signing off on special earmarks which are also known as pork barrel projects.

But Governor Pawlenty, who twice vetoed gas tax increases in the past, has said he may sign one this fall in a special session. And Wednesday the Governor hinted such a session is more likely.

"While there?s still some details to be worked out I think it?s headed in the right direction," Governor Pawlenty told the Capitol press corps.

The Governor spent the afternoon in private negotiations with legislative leaders trying to hammer out an agreement on exactly what will be on the table during the session. The consensus is that it will be held in mid-to-late September and will last one to two days.

"We think Minnesotans are waiting on us and we want to get to business here," House Speaker Margaret Kelliher, a Minneapolis Democrat, said upon exiting the Governor's office.

Lawmakers of all stripes agree that disaster response is the first priority, both the bridge collapse and the southeastern Minnesota flooding. The closed-door debate will continue on the question of how to do it and just how much to do.

Republican Minority Leader Marty Seifert came up with a one-liner to sum it up the sentiment of his caucus.

"If you want a special session to be speedy don?t be greedy."

Murphy vs Molnau Later, during a legislative session, State Senator Steve Murphy squared off with Lieutenant Governor Carol Molnau, who also serves as Transportation Commissioner.

"Lieutenant Governor, you're supposed be the spokesman for safe transportation in this state," Murphy told Molnau.

"Go to the Governor and tell him we need a special session with real money so that we can fix real problems. These are real problems!"

"We can take the keys, throw them out in the streets, leave the lights okay. Everything's not okay Lieutenant Governor!"

Senator Dick Day defended Molnau and MnDOT, telling Murphy, "The last three years are the largest construction years we've ever had in Minnesota year after year after year!"

Murphy shot back, in a reference to the bonding that financed it, "And our grandkids get to pay for it."

Molnau responded, "I know you don't like borrowing. I will tell you today my grandkids today, all five of them, use the roadways. Their moms, their dads, and they're comfortable with that."

On the issue of the investing in infrastructure, Molnau said, "What I heard you say is we need more resources for transportation and I have never rejected that. What I think we do also have to do is prioritize where we spend our dollars."

The Lieutenant Governor told the committee same thing she told them in May, which is that the fuel tax can't be relied upon in the future to finance roads. The theory is that more fuel efficient vehicles and electric engines will make the gas tax obsolete eventually.

"The other side of it is the cost savings we have, inflationary savings, when we're looking at 12 to 13 percent increases in costs per year. That?s to say nothing of the fact that we have that infrastructure today rather than waiting."

If this is a preview of the debate that awaits lawmakers in a special session Minnesota could be in for a wild ride in September.

By John Croman, KARE 11 News

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