Will shutdown slow down commuters?

Posted at 12:24 PM on June 28, 2011 by Paul Tosto (0 Comments)
Filed under: Roads and transportation

The Star Tribune reports that a state shutdown July 1 could crimp the use of MnPASS Express Lanes in the Twin Cities.

The state will have to stop collecting those quarters and sometimes dollars from solo motorists who use the pay-to-drive carpool lanes in the metro area starting Thursday should the state budget impasse lead to a government shutdown, transportation officials said Tuesday.

E-mails were sent to the thousands of motorists whose transponders allow them to pay to drive solo in the high-occupancy lanes of Interstate 394 between downtown Minneapolis and the west metro, and between downtown Minneapolis and the south metro.

In the event of shutdown, the lanes will only be available from 6-10 a.m. and from 2-7 p.m. to vehicles with more than one person, motorcyclists and buses, said Christine Krueger, spokeswoman for the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Here's a link to the story.

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