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MnDOT plans a public meeting at 5 p.m. at Lake Park Lodge to outline the process and timeline for planning and building the bridge. The Winona City Council requested the meeting as a pre-lude to MnDOT’s predesign bridge study, which should begin next year and determine where the bridge will be located.
Thursday’s meeting isn’t intended to collect public comment; those forums will be held later during the predesign process, MnDOT spokeswoman Kristine Hernandez said Tuesday.
MnDOT announced in June that the bridge’s construction date would change from 2018 to 2014 after lawmakers increased gas taxes and license-tab fees to fund transportation improvements. But with the state contemplating major budget cuts in 2009, city council members wonder if the 2014 date will remain firm, Mayor Jerry Miller said Tuesday.
“There’s a lot of anxiety about what’s going to happen three or four years from now,” Miller said. “We just want an update on the process.”
