A new report titled, Major Highway Projects, Trunk Highway Fund Expenditures and Efficiencies, has found that the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) saved state taxpayers as much as $83 million in 2017, thanks to new and revised practices.
The savings stemmed from efficiency in management of construction projects funded by the state’s road construction budget and in the administration, maintenance and operations of the transportation system in general. The cost reductions that stemmed from this were then used to balance out MnDOT’s road construction program.
“Minnesotans expect and deserve good government,” Gov. Mark Dayton said of the news. “Since 2015, MnDOT has saved $217 million and reinvested it back into road construction and maintenance projects across Minnesota. Building on this success, our Administration will continue to make state government work even better for the people of Minnesota.”
Evaluations of projects were based on how well the state road construction business process improvements were instituted. The biggest of these reached more than $39 million simply from greater scrutiny of fun usage, which led to the elimination of nonessential project design elements. A further $17.9 million was saved through analysis of project designs to improve their functions or reduce their costs. The use of the new Maintenance Decision Support System, blowing snow control program, and even questioning how much salt to apply to the roads all contributed as well.
Unfortunately, a year of savings has not offset an annual transportation funding deficit. While it, and additional funding from the Legislature, will reduce a $600 million funding gap by $200 million over each of the next four years, it has been reported that funding gap will resume at the same level again in 2022.