Purpose of the Bill

The bill aims to improve transparency and community involvement in the development of trunk highway projects in Minnesota. It seeks to establish a set of requirements for project scoping and development, mandate the creation of a transportation project activity portal, and adjust legislative reporting to ensure public engagement and access to information.

Main Provisions

• Community Notification: The bill requires the Commissioner of Transportation to provide public notices for each major highway project before they are included in the state transportation improvement program. This ensures that communities are informed about upcoming projects that may affect them.

• Project Information Accessibility: As part of the notification process, information about the nature and scope of each project must be summarized and made available through a dedicated transportation project activity portal. This portal is intended to make accessing project details easier for the public.

• Language Accessibility: If at least ten percent of residents in the project area primarily speak a language other than English, the notification must be translated into those languages to facilitate better community understanding and involvement.

• Distribution of Notifications: The bill specifies that notifications should reach all reasonably identifiable residents, property owners, businesses, and nonprofit organizations within at least a half-mile of the project. Various methods like mail, flyers, in-person communication, and electronic means can be used for distribution.

Significant Changes to Existing Law

• Amends existing statutes related to transportation to incorporate new requirements for public notifications, access to information, and community engagement procedures.
• Proposes coding for new laws in relevant Minnesota statutes to institutionalize these changes, ensuring they are a formal part of the legislative framework.

Relevant Terms

• Trunk highway projects
• Community engagement
• Transportation project activity portal
• Public notices
• Legislative reports
• Language translation
• Transportation improvement program