“It’s a critical piece of infrastructure not only for the city of Blaine but for three counties to our north,” said Blaine Public Works Director Jon Haukaas.
The familiar refrains about more cars per day than Interstate 35W and the highway dividing “two Blaines” came at the Minnesota House Capital Investment Committee at National Sports Center on Tuesday from state and local leaders.
“It’s a safety problem, it’s a congestion problem, (and) it’s an enforcement problem,” said Rep. Nolan West (R. District 37B). “It’s in desperate need of state investment.”
“It’s creating a more affluent Blaine and a less-affluent Blaine,” said Mayor Tim Sanders, also a former house member. “We want to see that eradicated.”
Blaine worked to do environmental impact studies and found state grants to pay for prep work at two intersections (99th and 117th Avenues). It is essentially asking for $18 million and $25 million, respectively, to complete the construction on the intersections by 2025.
“These legislators may see construction while they’re still in their seats before they even try to get re-elected (in 2022),” said Haukaas. “So, it’s good for the area, it’s good for the region, it’s good for the legislators.”
Representatives from National Sports Center also presented possible bonding bill projects to both a senate committee and the house group and took both groups on tours of the facility to show off a new maintenance facility paid for in the most recent bonding bill from St. Paul.
