Local Contributions to State and Regional Transportation Facilities in Minnesota

About the Webinar

With federal and state revenue not keeping up with transportation needs, local government contributions for the roadway system have increased in recent years. This includes local spending on trunk highways through cooperative agreements, which can improve trunk highways that are part of local transportation systems but also limit the ability of local governments to address the needs of their own roads.

This webinar reviewed the results of case studies and a survey distributed to Minnesota county and city transportation engineers. These results show that while cooperative agreements can be mutually beneficial for both local and state governments, they can also carry the risk of unexpected costs for local governments. Therefore, local governments should be aware of the risks of entering into cooperative agreements, particularly when state funding totals are capped. In addition, effective communication during planning and construction can mitigate some of the risk of cost increases, as well as uncertainties around cost coverage by MnDOT.

This webinar was held in conjunction with a meeting of the CTS Transportation Planning and the Economy Research Council.

Webinar Recording & Materials

• Watch the webinar recording
• Presentation slides (PDF)

Speaker

Camila Fonseca is the director of fiscal studies at the Institute for Urban and Regional Infrastructure Finance (IURIF) at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. At the Institute, she is engaged with research related to financial arrangements for transportation, capital budgeting for transportation, and impact analysis of transportation investments.