Minnesota Department of Transportation
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| Agency overview | |
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| Jurisdiction | Minnesota |
| Headquarters | 395 John Ireland Boulevard Saint Paul, Minnesota |
| Agency executives |
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| Parent agency | State of Minnesota |
| Website | http://www.dot.state.mn.us/ |
The Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT, pronounced "min-dot") oversees transportation by land, water, and air in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The cabinet-level agency is responsible for maintaining the state's trunk highway system (including state highways, U.S. highways, and interstate highways), funding municipal airports and maintaining radio navigation aids, and other activities. Carol Molnau, who served as Minnesota's lieutenant governor under Tim Pawlenty, led the department as Commissioner of Transportation from the start of the Pawlenty administration in 2003 until her February 2008 removal in the aftermath of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse. Thomas K. "Tom" Sorel succeeded her as commissioner and was reappointed when Mark Dayton became governor. Sorel has resigned from his position effective December 1, 2012, and his deputy commissioner, Bernard J. "Bernie" Arseneau, was appointed to act as interim commissioner. On December 15, 2012, Governor Mark Dayton announced that Charlie Zelle, CEO of Jefferson Lines, would be MnDOT's next commissioner, effective January 15, 2013.
The agency's history can be traced to the state's Railroad and Warehouse Commission which emerged slowly from 1871 to 1905, and the State Highway Commission created in 1905. However, the Highway Commission was abolished in 1917 and replaced by a Department of Highways. The Minnesota Highway Department has been credited with numerous works listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. For air transport, the Minnesota Aeronautics Commission was created in 1933. Much of the railroad oversight was transferred to the Minnesota Department of Public Service in 1967. Two years later in 1969, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety was established and took over the Highway Patrol and Driver's License Bureau. Mn/DOT finally came into being in 1976 and took over the functions of the aeronautics and highway departments, plus transportation-related duties of the Minnesota State Planning Agency and Department of Public Service.
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