MnDOT: No federal help for DeSoto bridge

The Minnesota Department of Transportation will not seek congressional help in building a replacement for the DeSoto bridge in St. Cloud according to a report by Lawrence Schumacher in The St. Cloud Times. The information was revealed on Wednesday in a letter from Rep. Michele Bachmann (pictured), R-Minn., to Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Bachmann, who is the congressional representative for St. Cloud, has pledged not to sponsor legislative earmarks.

Schumacher quotes MnDOT spokeswoman Lucy Kender as stating, “if we were to receive federal funding in some fashion, we would use that funding as efficiently as possible, but waiting for earmarking from the 2009 appropriations process, the timing would be off.”

In the letter to Pawlenty, Bachmann writes, “Rather than relying on the whims of Congress, you have streamlined the process and assured my constituents that you will get the job done, and you have recognized that once the design and construction of the DeSoto Bridge has proceeded with state dollars under state regulations, receiving a federal earmark subject to federal regulations so late in the game would create significant setbacks — that is, if one was appropriated at all.”

Schumacher notes that Bachmann’s letter did not mention her prior pledge to seek federal grants in order to offset the cost to the state for rebuilding the bridge.