1. A county, city, or Mn/DOT may initiate turnback discussions. The Mn/DOT contact person is typically the District State Aid Engineer. A common reason a county or city may initiate a trunk highway turnback is that the city or county is interested in improving the roadway. A route on the trunk highway system may play a significant local role, but may be a minor regional or inter-regional transportation route. Turning the road over to the appropriate jurisdiction allows the city or county to control improvements. In some cases, Mn/DOT may initiate an exchange of minor trunk highway segments for higher functioning segments of a city or county system.
2. Eligibility for Turnback Funds: Turnback funds may only be used on released trunk highway routes that have been added to a county's or municipality's State Aid system. After the route has been released from the Trunk Highway system, it is no longer eligible for Trunk Highway funding. Turnback funds may pay for any costs that are eligible for regular state aid funding, such as road or bridge construction, right of way, engineering, utility relocation, railroad adjustment, and locally furnished materials or labor.
3. Eligibility Time Frame:  State Aid Operations Rules Chapter 8820.2900 states "approval of plans for the construction of a turnback project is limited to a period of 15 years from the date of reversion. Each approved project must be advanced to construction status within one year after notification to the county or urban municipality that sufficient funds are available for constructing the project. Payment for repair and restoration or reconstruction and improvement of a section terminates eligibility for repair and restoration or reconstruction and improvement of that section with turnback funds.”
4. Lump Sum Payment: State Aid Operations Rules Chapter 8820.2300; Subp. 6a states "In lieu of contracting work or force account work, the commissioner, with concurrence of the receiving agency, may enter into an agreement to pay a lump sum payment from the turnback account to the receiving agency’s road and bridge account equal to the net value of eligible turnback costs for a project to be constructed within 20 years of the release date”.
5. This allows the receiving agency the option to use the additional funds to construct some other state aid route that may be in greater need than the route turned back. This way the receiving agencies road system reconstruction priorities may be managed in the best possible way regardless of which account gas tax funds come from.
6. Turnback Maintenance Funds: Counties and cities that include a trunk highway turnback receive annual maintenance funds until turnback funds are expended on the route. The annual maintenance payments may continue up to a maximum of 15 years if no turnback construction project is started. The turnback maintenance payment is made each January.

For counties, maintenance is based on average daily traffic (ADT) and lane miles as follows:

      Existing ADT                    Turnback Maintenance/Lane Mile/Lane
        0 – 999                 Current lane mileage apportionment/lane ($1,592)
    1,000 – 4,999                 2 X current lane mileage apportionment/lane
 for each add'l 5,000           Add current lane mileage apportionment/lane

(for example: 6,000 ADT would get 3 times
the current lane mileage apportionment/lane)

For cities, maintenance is based on a fixed amount of $7,200 per mile.

7. Drawing Needs in Lieu of a Construction Project:  State Aid Operations Rules require that turnback projects begin within 15 years of the date of release of the roadway to the city or county. In cases where a road will not need a major repair within the 15 year limit, the city or county may simply add it to their system as a normal State Aid road instead of receiving turnback funds for a construction project. In these cases, no turnback maintenance funds would be included in their apportionment.
8. Long Term Maintenance:  The city or county is responsible for the on going maintenance of the routes.

As provided by Law, a portion of the County State Aid Highway fund is set aside and used for the construction, reconstruction, and improvement of County State Aid Highways, county roads, city streets, and town roads that provide access to public lakes, rivers, state parks, state campgrounds, and other outdoor recreation units as defined in Minnesota Statutes, section 86A.04. These funds may be expended for this purpose only on request from the Commissioner of Natural Resources. Projects so selected will be approved by the Commissioner of Transportation in accordance with the procedure established for other State Aid projects , and must also receive the approval of the appropriate screening board.

Each year the Commissioner, pursuant to law, shall set aside from the County State Aid Highway fund an amount equal to 1% of the county apportionment sum to provide for a Disaster Account.

Each year the Commissioner shall set aside from the Municipal State Aid Street fund an amount equal to 2 percent of the municipal apportionment sum to provide for a Disaster Account; except that the total amount of money in said Disaster Account shall never exceed 5 percent of the total funds currently available for distribution to urban municipalities.

The Disaster Accounts shall be used to provide aid to any county or urban municipality encountering floods or other disasters affecting the County State Aid Highway or Municipal State Aid Street systems.

Damage estimates must exceed 10 percent of the county's or urban municipality's current annual State Aid allotment before Disaster Account funds can be utilized.
Any county desiring aid by reason of disaster shall request such aid in writing, after which the Commissioner will appoint a board consisting of two county engineers or county commissioners from other counties and one representative of the Commissioner. This board shall investigate the matter and report its findings and recommendations in writing to the Commissioner.

Any urban municipality desiring aid by reason of disaster shall request such aid in writing, after which the Commissioner will appoint a board consisting of two city e ngineers or members of the governing bodies of other cities having a population of over 5,000 and one representative of the Commissioner. This board shall investigate the matter and report its findings and recommendations in writing to the Commissioner.

Any disaster appropriation approved by the Commissioner will be promptly paid to the county or urban municipality. The funds so allotted and paid can only be used for the purpose for which they were authorized and within a reasonable time period specified by the Commissioner. Immediately upon completion of the work or the expiration of the time specified for doing the work, whichever occurs first, the county or urban municipality shall file a report certifying the extent of the work performed and the total expenditure made. If the total allotment was not required or used or if federal disaster aid is later received, the remainder shall be promptly returned to the Commissioner for re-deposit into the County State Aid Highway fund or Municipal State Aid Street fund and apportioned by law.