SF4055

Purpose

Establishes new requirements for maintaining and expanding Minnesota’s trunk highway system. The bill aims to limit capacity expansion projects in certain cases, strengthen transportation asset management planning, and increase transparency around transportation spending and performance.

Main Provisions

• Limitations on capacity expansion

  • An applicable entity cannot include a capacity expansion project in the state transportation improvement program (STIP) or metropolitan transportation improvement program (MTIP) if the most recent transportation asset management plan indicates a performance gap in pavements or bridges assets.

• Major highway project maintenance plan

  • The Department of Transportation (DOT) must create a maintenance plan for each trunk highway segment included in a major highway project.
  • The plan must cover at least the greater of 60 years or the asset’s service life and analyze the fiscal impacts of maintaining the infrastructure, including:
  • Preventive maintenance, preservation, and rehabilitation to keep asset condition while minimizing life cycle costs.
  • Operational costs and indirect costs.

• Ten-year capital highway investment plan

  • The DOT must annually prepare a ten-year plan identifying trunk highway projects in the STIP and other relevant planned trunk highway projects.
  • At minimum, the plan must:
  • Be based on expected funding and, to the extent feasible, maximize long-term benefits.
  • Estimate funding needed to make optimal life cycle investments for at least 60 years.
  • Identify investments by asset category tied to the transportation asset management plan.
  • Identify trunk highway segments that would need to be removed to meet state transportation goals.

• Transportation asset management plan (risk-based)

  • The DOT must maintain a risk-based transportation asset management plan to guide preservation, improvement, and management of transportation investments and assets.
  • The plan must:
  • Meet federal requirements (e.g., CFR 23 Part 515 or successor).
  • Include an inventory across asset categories (pavements, bridges, culverts, ITS facilities, traffic signals, lighting, pedestrian and transit infrastructure, etc.).
  • Identify local governmental units responsible for pavement and bridge assets on the national highway system.
  • Incorporate performance measures and targets from the statewide multimodal transportation plan.
  • For each performance measure, analyze performance gaps and describe longer-term status (next ten years). Include life cycle considerations and corridor risk assessments.

• Trunk highway performance resiliency and sustainability report

  • The DOT must implement performance measures and annual targets for resiliency, sustainability, and related goals to improve project selection and overall transportation performance.
  • The planning process must include:
  • Asset inventories (bridges, pavements, geotechnical, pedestrian/bicycle, transit, etc.).
  • Establishment of statewide performance measures and targets (and where possible district-level targets).
  • Life cycle and corridor risk assessments as part of district asset management.
  • The DOT must annually report by December 15 to legislative leadership on measures, targets, gaps, and progress toward state transportation goals, with professional engineer certification.

• Fiscal transparency dashboard

  • By January 1, 2027, the DOT must publish on its website a dashboard summarizing fiscal information for the current year and each year in the STIP. The dashboard must include:
  • Total expenditures by funding source, by project, and for pavement/bridge asset management.
  • Expenditures by objective in the statewide multimodal transportation plan and their impact on targets.
  • Expenditures by investment priority area in the Minnesota state highway investment plan.
  • Identification of any performance gaps between targets and projected performance status.

Changes to Existing Law

• Introduces new mandatory requirements for:

  • Capital planning (ten-year plan) tied to life-cycle analysis and asset categories.
  • Risk-based transportation asset management planning with comprehensive inventories and performance gap analysis.
  • Regular performance reporting (including a resiliency and sustainability focus) and annual public reporting.
  • Public fiscal transparency through a dashboard showing funding, project-level expenditures, and progress toward targets.

• Ties project eligibility for capacity expansion to asset management performance (limiting expansions when performance gaps exist).

Timing and Scope

• Effective for projects that first enter the STIP for fiscal year 2031 or later.
• The provision does not apply to projects already included in the STIP or those that have had geometric layout submitted for approval before July 1, 2030.

Practical Implications

• Transportation planning will require longer-term cost and performance forecasting (60-year horizon) and conditional project approvals based on asset condition.
• DOT will need robust inventories of many asset types and closer coordination with local governments on pavement and bridge assets.
• A new public-facing dashboard will make transportation funding and performance more transparent to the public.

Potential Impacts

• Could slow new capacity expansion if asset performance gaps are identified.
• May shift focus toward maintenance, preservation, and life-cycle cost optimization.
• Increased emphasis on data-driven decision making and public accountability.

Relevant Definitions Used in the Bill

• trunk highway system
• capacity expansion project
• major highway project
• transportation asset management plan
• state transportation improvement program (STIP)
• metropolitan transportation improvement program (MTIP)
• ten-year capital highway investment plan
• risk-based transportation asset management plan
• life-cycle costs
• performance measures and targets
• fiscal transparency dashboard
• corridor risk assessment

What Would Change for Minnesota Residents

• A potential shift in how highway projects are chosen and funded, with more emphasis on asset health and long-term costs.
• More public information on how state transportation money is spent and what results are being achieved.
• Longer planning horizons for highway investments, possibly affecting near-term project timelines.

Relevant Terms - trunk highway system - capacity expansion project - major highway project - transportation asset management plan - asset categories (pavements, bridges, culverts, ITS, signals, lighting, pedestrian, transit) - state transportation improvement program (STIP) - metropolitan transportation improvement program (MTIP) - ten-year capital highway investment plan - risk-based transportation asset management - performance measures and targets - life-cycle costs - corridor risk assessment - fiscal transparency dashboard - annual reporting (by December 15) - funding sources and expenditures - statewide multimodal transportation plan - investment priority areas - capital program adjustments (removal of segments)