03-12-2025 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 Congressionally Directed Funding Requests for FY ’26 are now being accepted through the offices of Senator Amy Klobuchar, Senator Tina Smith, and Representative Betty McCollum. The City submitted a $5M request in 2024 that was unsuccessful. That request sought funds for the remaining funding gap on the Little Canada Road project with excess funds going towards advancement of the pedestrian bridge. This year, City staff recommends adjusting the request to focus solely on the pedestrian bridge, with a similar request of $5M. Rationale for the adjusted request includes: • The Little Canada Road project already has several funding sources dedicated to it and any remaining costs will be shared between Ramsey County and the City • A successful Congressionally Directed Funding request would bring $5M of the $7.5M needed for the bridge. Filling a $2.5M funding gap and/or reducing the bridge costs bring this project much closer to fruition • Changing the Congressionally Directed Funding request from the version that was previously submitted in 2024 will hopefully bring a renewed interest from our federal representatives. Additionally, we would note in our submittal that $2.5M of the project would be funded locally or with other program funding to show that we are not relying 100% on Congressional funds to complete this project. City staff recommends making an application to the FY ’26 Congressionally Directed Funding programs through the offices of Senator Amy Klobuchar, Senator Tina Smith, and Representative Betty McCollum. APPLICATION COSTS & SOURCE OF FUNDS Funding for development of this bridge project was included in the 2025-2034 Capital Improvement Plan (PW-88). However, Bolton & Menk will perform the three Congressionally Directed Funding application requests within the 2025 General Engineering Contractual Services budget. The work to apply is anticipated to take less than 20 hours, which at the reduced General Engineering rate of $75/hour, results in an application cost of no more than approximately $1,500. Application costs are not anticipated to be reimbursable. STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff recommends that the City Council pass the resolution authorizing staff to submit FY ’26 Congressionally Directed Funding applications for the Interstate 35E Pedestrian Bridge Project.