Local transportation agencies are facing severe challenges in keeping road networks safe and in good
repair, including aging infrastructure, higher material costs, and stagnant or decreasing funding levels.
The LRRB has developed a guide and related tools to help local agencies evaluate their transportation network preservation needs, communicate these needs to elected officials and the public, and select and implement strategies to address funding gaps.
A research team first worked with five pilot counties to define and communicate their transportation system preservation needs and gaps in funding, evaluate and select strategies to address those needs, and then implement those strategies. While each county chose strategies specific to its own needs, all five successfully built consensus among their elected officials and the public to pass either a sales tax or wheelage tax to increase maintenance funding. Each county also selected other strategies to address funding shortfalls based on their specific needs and situations. Based on the pilot counties’ experiences, investigators developed a guide to help other local agencies in Minnesota follow a similar process.
In 2021, an interactive version of the guide was updated and fact-sheets and other training resources were developed to help local agencies implement the system preservation strategies.
Related Materials
- System Preservation Guide (2016)
- System Preservation Guide: Interactive Version (2016, rev. 2021)
- System Preservation Resource Guide (2021)
- System Preservation GAP Analysis Tool (2021)
- System Preservation Fact Sheets (2021)
- Technical Summary (2021)
- PowerPoint (2015 Presentation)
Background information: see the 2016 and the 2021 studies that resulted in this guide.