Twin Cities Highway Mobility Needs Analysis

Our region works together to provide reliable transportation options to get people and freight efficiently and effectively where they need to go. In the Twin Cities, the number of vehicles on the road and the miles traveled are on the rise, and the region is expecting to add another 500,000 people between 2020 and 2040. This study seeks to understand how and where we can make highway investments that improve travel times and reliability for Minnesota drivers in our region.

Study goals

The Metropolitan Council is partnering with the Minnesota Department of Transportation to study highway mobility and how best to address congestion on our roadways. This study will:

  1. Review and expand on Met Council research of the negative effects of congestion

  2. Evaluate the risks of failing to adequately invest in highway mobility

  3. Identify how best to measure highway mobility and set targets within those measures

  4. Identify the level of investment needed to meet the region’s highway mobility needs over the next 20 years

  5. Model congestion and emissions results for up to five different levels of regional highway mobility investment

Timeline

The Met Council and MnDOT anticipate completing the study in early 2021. MnDOT will then use the study findings in the update to the Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan and Minnesota State Highway Investment Plan in 2021 and 2022.

Research

Blurry vehicles underneath a carpool rate sign.

The negative effects of traffic congestion on the Twin Cities and the state of Minnesota

Congestion costs the Twin Cities over $2.6 billion each year. Many of those costs can be quantified in lost time and wasted fuel, but there are also costs to the environment, to public health and to the economic competitiveness of the region.

 
Two lanes of heavy traffic next to a carpool lane.

The statewide importance of addressing traffic congestion in the Twin Cities

The negative effects of congestion stretch beyond the boundaries of the region and impact the entire state including weekend travelers and trucks shipping goods come from every corner of Minnesota. In fact, people from nearly every county in the state use several major Twin Cities’ roadways. When we invest in the region’s roads, we are investing in Minnesota and the state’s economic engine.

Contact us

Steve Peterson, Metropolitan Council
Steven.Peterson@metc.state.mn.us
651-602-1819

Paul Czech, MnDOT
paul.czech@state.mn.us
651-234-7785