By Bill Salisbury

Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

After the worst winter in a generation, a House committee on Wednesday tacked $15 million into a transportation funding bill to pay for patching potholes.

Rep. Barb Yarusso, DFL-Shoreview, proposed the appropriation as a common-sense safety measure.

“Sometimes my drive from my district in Shoreview to the state Capitol feels like an amusement ride with the increase in potholes,” Yarusso said, “and I would bet most Minnesota drivers have had similar experiences.”

A Minnesota Department of Transportation spokesman has estimated state roads and highways will have twice as many potholes this year as last winter because of snow, ice and freeze-and-thaw cycles.

The measure would provide $10 million to fill potholes on state highways and $5 million more for city and county road repairs. House Transportation Finance Committee Frank Hornstein, DFL-Minneapolis, said he has been inundated with pleas for funding from cash-strapped local governments.

“Every Minnesotan has a story about running into a pothole,” Hornstein said.

This would be the first time the state has provided money specifically to fix potholes, he said, and it may not be the last. “This is just the start,” he said.

The pothole money was tucked into a $50 million supplemental appropriation bill for transportation that included $5 million for MnDOT to repair and replace its snowplows.

The committee was scheduled to vote on the bill Wednesday night.

This year’s potholes will burn a hole in many community pocket books. Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges said Wednesday that she is looking to spend an additional $1 million to add two additional pothole-filling crews for two months this spring and contract for two spray patching units for that time as well.

—Distributed by MCT Information Services