Highway 14 group ups funding request

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

OWATONNA -- With Congress now back at work, the Highway 14 Partnership has upped the ante in its quest to get federal funds to speed up work on expanding U.S. Highway 14 to four lanes from Rochester to New Ulm.

"We're now asking for $65 million in transportation funding," said Mayor Pete Connor of Owatonna, Partnership chairman.

That's more than double the $32 million the organization had started lobbying for last year to be included in the 2003 transportation funding bill.

"We have Michael Wegner (Nicollet County Engineer) to thank for that," Connor said. "He was the one who said it doesn't cost any more to ask for $65 million."

The significance of the extra money in pushing the project forward is major. The amount is more half of the projected cost -- $121 million in 2001 dollars -- of widening the highway from Owatonna to Eagle Lake, where it would connect with existing four-lane pavement.

Connor is not confident Congress would appropriate that amount for Highway 14. However, if it does, it will largely because of the efforts of Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Kennedy, who served the 2nd District until reapportionment placed him in the 6th District this year.

Kennedy has a seat on the House Transportation Committee that will consider the funding legislation.

"It's fair to say that I'm disappointed that Congressman (Gil) Gutknecht hasn't made a major commitment to moving the project along now that he has the entire project in his district (the 1st)," Connor said. "He seems satisfied to let Kennedy continue to carry the ball on it, and it's really not Kennedy's responsibility anymore."

Connor, who outlined an aggressive campaign to get more dollars for Highway 14 at the group's 2002 annual meeting in January in New Ulm, said the intent is to continue to press for an accelerated pace. However, there are challenges the group must overcome in order to maintain the pace.

Although the group's annual meeting in New Ulm was held Jan. 14 last year, Connor has yet to set a date and place for the 2003 meeting.

While Connor denies the state's current budget crisis is impacting the partnership's efforts, he admits the possible loss of local government aid might impact some local governments' ability to support the campaign.

However, he's more concerned about having another defection like that of Rochester before last year's annual meeting.

In his view, Rochester's withdrawal of support appears to have resulted from having a plateful of projects to support. "I hope it isn't a case of 'well, we got ours so we don't need to support the overall project anymore.'"

Communities like New Ulm, Nicollet, Mankato and North Mankato have supported the project from the get-go, Connor said, "and it has to be a concern that communities at the other end of the project will drop out after the project has been completed past them. We certainly hope they will continue to support the effort, but it is a concern."

On the bright side, Connor reports Sleepy Eye has joined the partnership.

"For too long, we've been talking about the expansion ending at New Ulm, but now Sleepy Eye is saying, 'Hey, what about us? We want the expansion, too.'"