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Cable median money better spent on roadways

Subhead
For What It's Worth
Lead Summary
By
Rick Peterson, general manager

If you have wondered about the purpose and cost of that cable that Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) has installed between the east- and westbound lanes on Interstate 90 from the South Dakota border to Worthington, you’re not alone.
The Star Herald reported on the project prior to the start of cable installation, and we even did stories as the work progressed.
The project was finished last fall. Now the question I hear a lot is how much did it cost and why does the location of the cable switch from one side of the median to the other and every once in a while it runs down the center of the median.
To get the answers to your questions, I sent an email to MnDOT and here is what I found out.
First the cost: For materials and installation for the cable median barrier, the cost is $125,000 to $150,000 per mile. The distance from the South Dakota border to Worthington is roughly 45 miles. So for discussion’s sake I’ll say the cable cost falls on average $135,000 per mile. Simple math shows us 45 miles times $135,000 = $6,075,000. In addition to that is the annual maintenance cost at $3,600 per mile, so another $162,000 each year.
As far as placement of the cable, that is a little less clear. Sometimes the placement is determined by the ability to maintain the cable — in other words, avoiding the bottom of a steep or wet ditch. Considering that the median between the east- and westbound lanes doesn’t seem all that steep, wet conditions may apply more often than not. Also placement may be determined by crash history along those stretches of highway.
There has been a lot of discussion about the proposed 20 cents per gallon gas tax increase this legislative session.
Here are few more numbers for you. At 20 cents a gallon extra tax, it would take 30,375,000 gallons of gas to be sold to cover the cost of the median cable.
I know this is a bit on the selfish side, but personally I would rather have seen that money spent on Highway 75 from Luverne’s Main Street as far north as $6 million would take you.
 

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