News Release

U.S. President George Bush signed a $286.4 billion six-year transportation reauthorization bill Aug. 10, 2005 that covers federal fiscal years 2004-09.

Although the details of the reauthorization package are still being reviewed, Minnesota state and local governments can expect to receive about $3.5 billion in federal transportation funding through 2009, an increase of about 46 percent (or about $1.1 billion) over the previous six-year bill.

The bill is called SAFETEA-LU, which stands for “Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users.”

Approximately 79 percent of the SAFETEA-LU funding is for highway programs, 18.5 percent for transit programs, and 2.5 percent for other programs such as motor carrier safety, national highway traffic safety, and research.

Lt. Gov./Commissioner Carol Molnau had been urging Congress to act quickly on the bill, noting that the lack of a reauthorization bill and the piecemeal fashion in which funding has been distributed to states under the short-term extensions have led to numerous problems and project delays across the country.

“After nearly two years of extensions, Mn/DOT is very pleased that Congress has finally passed a long-term transportation funding reauthorization bill. The new bill is good news for the country and will be of great benefit to Minnesota,” she said.

Molnau explained that the funding increases have long been anticipated, and Mn/DOT's current and long-range highway construction programs already reflect these higher funding levels.

“Many highway projects under construction throughout the state, and many planned for construction in the near future, are the beneficiaries of the new federal bill,” Molnau said.

• The 1,752-page bill can be found at http://www.house.gov/rules/109textTEALU.htm .

• The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials has additional information on its Web site at http://transportation1.org/aashtonew/.

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