The Highway 316 Project has received some good news from the State Department of Transportation. According to the Hastings City Newsletter, MnDOT staff have been working behind the scenes to find other pots of existing funding that could be eligible to contribute to this project. They were successful in obtaining an additional $1 million through a program under the MN Department of Public Safety for safety improvements. Similar to the $710,000 in funding that the City was successful in gaining through MnDOT’s Local Partnership Program last year, this is a massive shot in the arm for the project, and the funding gap has moved down to approximately $800,000. Hastings City Staff will continue to cite these examples of creatively piecing together funding from many sources as part of their effort to garner support for closing the gap from the State Legislature in the upcoming session. Representative Tony Jurgens plans to include funding for the project, along with renovation of City Hall, in the 2020 Bonding Bill.
