U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) announced today that the Senate Appropriations Committee has approved his request for over $48 million in federal funding for construction of transportation and other projects.
Sen. Franken requested that the funds be appropriated in the fiscal year 2011 Transportation, HUD, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. These funding requests will now move to the full Senate for approval.
"These projects would bring millions of federal dollars and thousands of jobs to Minnesota," said Sen. Franken. "They'd make it easier for Minnesotans to commute to work or travel to a Twins game. The approval of the Senate Appropriations Committee is a critical step in the process of securing these federal funds."
The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved the following projects that Sen. Franken requested:
-Northstar Phase II Project: $1,500,000 to complete construction of the Northstar Line from Big Lake to St. Cloud.
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-Harriet Tubman Center East: $600,000 for the renovation of a building in order to consolidate family violence prevention work, counseling and community education, youth and family services, and administrative support, and relocate two domestic violence shelters.
-US Highway 212 Expansion: $400,000 to complete safety upgrades to two remaining segments of 2-lane US Highway 212 between I-494 in the Twin Cities and Norwood Young America.
-US 52 Interchange and Overpass: $400,000 to remove the only 2 traffic control signals on US 52 between Rochester and the Twin Cities located at Cannon Falls.
-White Earth Tribal Transit Service Bus Garage Facility: $500,000 to support construction of a bus garage facility to house the buses in operation.
-Highway 14 Project: $250,000 to fund lane expansion of Highway 14 between Owatonna and Dodge Center.
-Central Corridor Light Rail Transit: $42,345,000 to complete final design, right-of-way acquisition, acquisition of vehicles and construction of the Central Corridor light rail line connecting downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul.
-Cedar Ave Bus Rapid Transitway: $500,000 to support construction of the Cedar Avenue Bus Rapid Transitway in the corridor from the Mall of America Transit Station in Bloomington to CSAH 70 in Lakeville.
-RR Whistle Free Zone Project: $400,000 to support construction/installation of four-quadrant crossing arms or medians at five crossings within the cities of Goodview and Minnesota City.
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Interchange CSAH7/TH23: $1,000,000 to support construction of an interchange on TH23 at CSAH 7 in southwestern Lyon County.
-TH 610 - CSAH 81 to I-94: $250,000 to support design, construction, and right-of-way acquisition for the construction of Trunk Highway 610 from CSAH 81 to Interstate 94 in the City of Maple Grove.
-TH 13 and CSAH 5 Interchange: $250,000 to support modernization of the TH-13 corridor through the construction of a grade-separated interchange at TH13 and CR 5.
