Creation, alteration, and maintenance of access points and approaches to trunk highways, including responsibilities and conditions when highways are relocated or modified.
Authority for local governments to buy, sell, lease, or otherwise acquire or dispose of equipment, supplies, materials, and real property with the United States, state agencies, or other political subdivisions without regard to local charter or statutory restrictions and to designate officials to bid or pay on their behalf.
Rules governing actions that affect possession or title to real estate establish time limits tied to a recorded source of title. Coverage extends to rights, claims, encumbrances, and liens arising from older instruments or events, with mechanisms for preserving such interests through recorded notices and specified exceptions. Additional provisions address application to registered land, recording and discharge of notices, presumptions of abandonment, and categories of titles and interests that are not affected.
Describes the range of actions that town electors may take at an annual town meeting. The section covers authority to make decisions on local governance matters such as animals, roads, buildings, parks, cemeteries, waste management, community facilities, celebrations, and other public purposes. It also outlines how electors may authorize spending, taxation, ordinances, contracts, and special funds for the general welfare and operations of the town.
Designates authority for units of government to establish bicycle lanes, routes, and paths on roads, sidewalks, and shoulders, and allows such entities to regulate vehicle types, priority, and speed on those bikeways while ensuring accessibility for disability parking and permitting safe speeds of at least 25 mph on streets with bicycle lanes.
Designates authority for local governments to set up and manage bicycle lanes, routes, and paths. Allows specification of permitted uses, prioritization, markings, and signage; ensures electric-assisted bicycles are not unduly restricted; enables setting safe speed limits (not below 25 mph) on streets with bike lanes; and provides a process for preserving or relocating disability parking when a bikeway is designated.
Defines key terms used in the bridge construction and reconstruction parts, including abandonment (of an existing bridge), agency (local governments), bridge (structures over obstacles with specific span criteria, including certain railroad bridges), commissioner (transportation commissioner), construction and reconstruction (of deficient or destroyed bridges), metropolitan council, regional development commission, road system categories (local, state-aid, trunk highway), and urban municipality.
Defines terms related to bridge and culvert construction and maintenance.
Building and construction contract provisions on indemnification, enforceability limits, insurance obligations, and related rights under Minnesota law, plus rules on prohibited contract clauses such as out-of-state law choice, lien waivers, prompt payment, progress payments, retainages, and related payment terms.
City approval requirements for portions of the county state-aid highway system inside city limits, prohibiting construction, reconstruction, improvement, or grade changes without the city governing body’s prior approval. If a city fails to approve under subdivision 7 or 8, establishes a process for the county board to request a dispute resolution board to review the matter and make recommendations to the commissioner.
Creates a state treasury account to receive and manage revenue generated from designated conservation area funds. Provisions direct how money is transferred into the account, appropriated for related conservation purposes, and distributed among state accounts after use. Additional provisions address annual payments to counties where the land is located and prescribe how counties apportion and use those funds.
Establishes responsibilities for contractors and their agents when work could alter public waters, including reservoirs, dams, or waterways. The section requires confirmation that necessary permits have been obtained or are not required and that notice of this confirmation is provided to the Department of Natural Resources. It also treats violations as separate offenses and calls for a standardized compliance form outlining permitting, penalties, and contact information.
Establishes requirements for performance and payment bonds on public work contracts with public bodies, ensuring completion of the work and payment to those providing labor and materials. Scope includes definitions, bond amounts, and conditions under which contracts are considered valid, along with enforcement provisions and potential recovery of costs and attorneys fees. Exemptions address certain manufacturers, selected transportation projects, and routine road maintenance activities.
The section sets out how county boards may enter into contracts for purchases, services, and construction or repair work, including general requirements for competitive procurement and written agreements. It addresses notice, bidding, award standards, bonding, and limited circumstances allowing alternative procurement methods or emergency contracting. An exception is provided for Hennepin county.
Describes the general powers and duties of county boards, including financial management, infrastructure maintenance, and public welfare responsibilities.
Provides provisions relating to county highways. Covers the creation and management of a dedicated fund for road and bridge work; assigns general supervisory authority to county boards over establishment, maintenance, and acquisition of county highways; details procedures for hearing and resolving complaints about impassable roads (including based on petitions from landowners); and addresses alterations to public ditch systems that affect highways.
Describes how a road used, maintained, and worked on continuously by a road authority for at least six years becomes dedicated to the public, unless proper notice to a private road owner was not given. Subdivision 2 clarifies that public use of a road running alongside a railroad right-of-way does not make it a legal highway or obligate the local town, and does not grant any public rights by use.
Designation of minimum-maintenance roads and related posting and liability rules covering how a local road authority can label lightly used roads, what warning signs are required, which roads qualify, and how maintenance duties and liability are handled.
Eminent domain procedures, definitions, and compensation rules for taking private property for public use, covering preemption of local laws, joint acquisition, possession and notice requirements, appraisal and hearings, commissioners' roles, compensation (including for loss of business goodwill), taxes on condemned land, relocation assistance, and related procedural details for condemning authorities and property owners.
Surveys and examinations may be conducted on land in relation to eminent domain proceedings, provided no unnecessary damage is done. State agencies or political subdivisions may enter property for environmental testing—such as investigation, monitoring, testing, or boring—if the entry relates to possible eminent domain and concerns hazardous substances; they must notify the owner at least ten days in advance, offer samples or data, restore the site, and allow owner testing of samples. Those entities may also enter property for geotechnical investigations under similar notice, restoration, and damage-compensation rules.
Establishes a statewide process for giving advance notice before excavation or land surveying activities and describes what information must be included in those notices. Outlines the responsibilities of the notification center, underground facility operators, excavators, and land surveyors for locating, marking, documenting, and coordinating around underground facilities, including use of on-site meetings. Also addresses planning activities before bidding or construction, the duration and renewal of notices, and obligations to protect and verify facility markings during work.
Defines terms related to the management and maintenance of state highways.
Discusses how five percent of the highway user tax distribution fund is set aside and apportioned among town road, town bridge, and flexible highway accounts, and outlines how those funds can be invested and allocated—including the establishment of separate accounts for turnbacks, safety improvements, and routes of regional significance.
Provides exemptions and scope for certain users and equipment. Explains when traffic rules do not apply to those working on highways, the conditions under which exemptions from size and weight limits apply, and clarifies treatment of streetcars, animal-drawn vehicles, and railroad operators when using roads.
Procedures for handling complaints about impassable town roads, including county board hearings on neglect, directives for necessary work or improvements, county completion of work if the town fails, and methods for assessing and collecting the costs through town tax levies and county road and bridge funds.
Discusses regulations and maintenance responsibilities for the preservation and improvement of roads and bridges.
Describes the guidelines and procedures for governmental units in Minnesota to create and operate joint powers agreements, including the authority and responsibilities involved.
Establishes minimum energy efficiency standards for lighting used on streets, highways, and parking lots.
Addresses prohibitions on placing litter or harmful materials on streets, highways, or adjacent lands without permission and dropping such materials from a vehicle. Requires immediate removal of dangerous debris, assigns cleanup responsibility when removing wrecked vehicles, prohibits hurling injurious objects at vehicles or occupants, and sets the offense as a misdemeanor with specified fines, recordkeeping, and possible litter-pickup or jail penalties for repeat offenders.
Creates a fund for local road improvements with money from appropriations, gifts, or grants. Establishes separate accounts within the fund—for trunk highway corridor projects, regionally significant roads, and rural road safety—and provides for an advisory committee to recommend fund expenditures, grant procedures and criteria, and a small allowance for administrative costs.
Defines standards and financing for local state-aid routes, including operation by county and municipal highway departments, route selection and designation, and distribution and use of state-aid funds. Covers construction and maintenance funding, hardship and disaster accounts, and research support. Sets minimum design standards, allows for variances, and addresses natural preservation and technical specifications for projects.
Establishes standards for the installation and support of mailboxes located along roadways under the authority of the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
Provides authority for a county to reconstruct or repair a town-road bridge when the responsible town fails to act, and outlines the process for notice and hearings. Details the county's obligation to prepare an itemized cost statement after performing repairs, and how that cost is shared among towns involved. Explains the procedure for levying a special tax by the town board to pay half the cost, and the county auditor's authority to levy the tax if the town fails to do so. Outlines how the tax is collected, enforced like other town taxes, and credited to the county road and bridge fund.
Maintains responsibility for keeping roadway-railroad grade-crossing surfaces safe and in compliance with federal standards. Outlines how repair or maintenance costs may be shared, how disputes are resolved (including department intervention and cost allocation), and penalties for noncompliance.
Authority for local governments to record informational maps or plats showing the location of streets, roads, highways, transportation corridors, and related rights-of-way is described. Requirements address how such maps or plats are prepared and recorded, limit when certain jurisdictions may file them, and clarify that filing does not transfer property title but serves as notice of a claimed interest.
Engaging acquisition and disposal of road-building materials via road authority agreement.
Creates and funds a dedicated state transportation capital account sourced from bonds, appropriations, and federal grants. Establishes eligibility and certification requirements for grants to local subdivisions, includes funding criteria and rulemaking authority for projects like bridges, and defines special provisions for small-city, fracture-critical, and major-local bridge grants.
Identifies categories of motor vehicle purchases and uses that are exempt from the motor vehicle sales and use tax imposed under the chapter. Coverage includes exemptions based on the purchaser, the purpose or use of the vehicle, and certain organizational, governmental, charitable, or interstate circumstances. The provision outlines the overall scope of tax exemptions without addressing procedures or enforcement.
Roadside vegetation management rules for mowing and tilling along highway rights-of-way, including general timing limits and exceptions.
Particular authorized and prohibited uses of highway rights-of-way, including placement of public notice billboards, benches and shelters (with advertising limits), customs inspection facilities, and micromobility/shared EV facilities with permits, removal of unauthorized structures, and authority for trunk highway closures and related safety notices, temporary field-use permits, and liability rules.
Contains information about the subdivision and platting of land, including requirements for land surveying, official plat approval, and recording processes.
Grants certain metropolitan area towns expanded municipal powers when population or location criteria are met, and outlines how additional towns may adopt those powers by voter approval. The section broadly authorizes town boards to govern local affairs through ordinances covering public infrastructure, health and safety, commerce, services, land use, and general welfare. Administrative authority, enforcement mechanisms, financing options, and procedures for exercising and continuing these powers are also addressed.
Establishes the county board's authority to create, modify, vacate, or revoke county highways—including taking over public roads (excluding trunk highways and state‐aid routes) by resolution. Specifies what must be included in such resolutions, authorizes acquisition of property by purchase, gift, or eminent domain, and details procedures for vacating, revoking, designating former highways as limited-use cartways, transferring jurisdiction, extinguishing old highway interests, and providing notice when vacating roads that abut public water.
Establishes a process for municipalities to create and adopt official maps that identify land reserved for future public uses such as streets, transportation, and community facilities. Sets out how these maps are adopted, recorded, and used to guide permitting decisions and future land acquisition without immediately transferring property rights. Provides a framework for appeals and limited relief when map designations restrict reasonable use of private property.
Covers how state agencies procure and manage professional or technical services, including what qualifies as those services and when outside contracts may be used. It sets statewide requirements for competitive solicitation, contract management, commissioner review, reporting, and oversight, with special rules for enterprise and single source procurements. The section also addresses transparency, filing of contract products, limits on contractor claims related to disclosures, and specific exclusions from its application.
Authorizes state department and agency heads to enter into contracts for professional or technical services as part of their operations, subject to approval by the commissioner of administration. Establishes that contracts made under this authority are not required to follow standard competitive bidding procedures.
Requires monthly progress payments as work progresses unless the contract specifies otherwise. Allows withholding up to 5 percent as retainage, with conditions for release and subcontractor payments. Specifies limits and timing for withholdings after substantial completion, and provides restrictions on indemnification provisions.
Progress payments and retainage limits in building and construction contracts, requiring monthly progress payments as work progresses and capping retainage at five percent with rules for reducing or releasing retainage based on satisfactory work and timelines for release to contractors and subcontractors.
Establishes requirements for timely payment of bills by local governments to vendors and contractors. Sets a general framework for payment periods, handling of invoice issues, and consequences for late payment, including interest obligations and dispute considerations. Applies broadly to municipal purchases and contracts for goods, services, and construction, with limited exceptions.
Describes property transfers from a city, town, or school district to another public entity.
Responsibilities of the town board include enforcing legal and financial obligations owed to the town and pursuing actions related to bonds, penalties, forfeitures, and property violations. Enforcement and collection activities are carried out on behalf of the town, with resulting funds directed into town finances through the treasurer.
Addresses what constitutes a public nuisance and the legal implications associated with it.
Definitions and parameters related to telecommunications rights-of-way management.
Use of public roads by utilities and pipeline carriers to install and maintain lines, conduits, and related infrastructure with rules to avoid interfering with travel and to comply with local and state regulations on construction and crossings.
Addresses the timing of printing public notices in newspapers, including issues released on Sundays or legal holidays. The section explains how required multiweek publication periods are satisfied regardless of the specific day of the week used, as long as the notice appears the required number of times. It clarifies when such publications are considered legally valid.
Facilitates recording of maps or plats that outline land to be acquired for highway right-of-way, detailing certification requirements, how they're recorded without formalities, correction procedures, and how such documentation may be used in describing acquisitions or conveyances.
Discusses the procedures and regulations surrounding the conveyance of real estate by the commissioner of transportation, including conditions and considerations for transferring property rights.
Describes the ability for a town to make repairs to a street when the statutory city within the limits of the town fails to do so.
Addresses limits on public access to certain wetlands to protect public health and safety. Authority is given to local governments to restrict access to public waters wetlands adjacent to roads, and conditions are established under which privately created or restored wetlands posted by a landowner are not open to public access.
Prohibits certain activities on trunk highways, including littering, unauthorized advertising, and interference with ditches and culverts.
Establishes a comprehensive set of exemptions from state sales and use taxes for a wide range of goods, services, and transactions. The section identifies categories of exempt items and activities, along with conditions, limitations, and cross references to related provisions that affect eligibility. Administrative aspects such as documentation, refunds, and interactions with other tax provisions are also addressed.
Prevents local governments and school districts from preparing specifications that are overly restrictive when seeking bids for supplies or equipment.
Speed regulations and limits including basic requirements, exceptions, and specific conditions under which different speed limits apply.
Provides standards governing the physical format and legibility of documents submitted for recording or filing with county recorders or registrars of titles. The section covers page size, paper quality, margins, reserved space for recording and tax information, document titles, and overall readability. It also notes limited exceptions for certain types of plats, surveys, and common interest community documents.
States the policy framework for fair and uniform use of public rights-of-way by telecommunications providers while allowing local governments to manage those areas. The section describes the authority of local government units to require permits, registration, and coordination for construction, maintenance, and placement of telecommunications and small wireless facilities, along with limits on moratoria and zoning treatment. It addresses responsibilities related to restoration of rights-of-way after excavation and sets general rules for permitting and collocation of small wireless facilities.
Requires employers to allow, without retaliation, time off—paid, unpaid, or made up—for elected officials to attend necessary public office meetings.
Allows damages and litigation costs from town-ordered work on a private road, mistakenly treated as public, to be treated as a claim against the town when a court makes that finding. Payment as a town charge depends on approval by a majority of electors at a properly noticed town meeting where the question is presented for a vote.
Traffic regulations governing operation of vehicles on Minnesota roads, including basic traffic rules (right-of-way, speed limits, vehicle movement, accident procedures), authority of local and emergency traffic control, and definitions for traffic enforcement. Also covers vehicle equipment and safety standards (lights, restraints, tires), signs and signals, parking, towing, pedestrian and bicycle interaction, and miscellaneous traffic offenses and procedures.
A list of statutes on Minnesota's transportation-related laws, including roads and bridges, vehicle registration and titles, traffic rules and impaired driving, driver licensing, highway funding and patrol functions, and regulations for carriers, signage, and delivery fees.
It establishes a state transportation revolving loan fund, detailing definitions, purpose, and administration by the Minnesota Department of Transportation and Minnesota Public Facilities Authority. Links cover eligible transportation projects, application requirements, evaluation criteria, and the certification process for financial assistance. Procedures for project eligibility, submission, review, and approval are outlined.
Vegetation management along rural highways, authorizing road authorities to plant and tend trees and shrubs for snow protection, set consent rules for removal, acquire vegetation, and regulate cutting, hearings, notices, appeals, and disposal of trees and hedges that interfere with highway safety or maintenance.
Defines rules for managing the trunk highway system, including controls on outdoor advertising, sign types, spacing, permits, and zoning along highways. Regulates utility equipment placement, work permits, and changes to highway access. Establishes procedures for bridge construction and reconstruction, including eligibility, application, review, and priority setting.
Prohibits placing or displaying anything on or near a highway that mimics official traffic-control or railroad signs, directs traffic, obscures official devices, or contains commercial advertising, while allowing clearly distinguishable directional signs on adjacent private property and limited temporary auction signs. Declares any such prohibited item a public nuisance and grants highway authorities the power to remove it without notice.
Limits enforceability of indemnification in construction contracts. Specifies that such provisions are only valid if the indemnifying party—or its agents, contractors, or delegates—has caused the injury or damage through negligence or wrongful act, or if indemnification is required for environmental strict liability and agreed to by an owner, responsible party, or government entity.
Describes a uniform framework governing how municipalities enter into contracts for goods, services, and construction work. The section defines key terms and outlines when competitive bidding, quotations, negotiation, or alternative procurement methods may be used based on contract size and type. Additional provisions address specialized contracting situations and establish recordkeeping and compliance expectations for municipal contracting practices.
Establishes the time limitations for commencing various types of civil actions, including contract disputes and property recovery.
Requires approval by town voters before a town may require owners or occupants of property adjoining a town road to remove snow or ice placed on the road right-of-way by that property.
Requires approval by town voters before a town may require adjoining property owners or occupants to destroy weeds and remove rocks along town roads.
Establishes how political subdivisions may publish advertisements for bids on transportation projects using their official websites. The section covers when website publication may substitute for or supplement newspaper publication, along with expectations for format, timing, and public notice. Requirements for maintaining a permanent, publicly accessible record of such online publications are also set out.
Establishes where public notices must be published and the circumstances under which publication in a qualified newspaper is required, modified, or not required. Provides an exception allowing certain metropolitan fourth-class cities to use city-prepared printed notices when no suitable local newspaper exists. Permits political subdivisions to use approved alternative methods for disseminating bids and requests, with conditions governing notice, format, and transition.
Requires permits for construction, alteration, or other work that affects public waters, including changes to waterways, dams, and obstructions. Provides general categories of activities that are exempt from permitting and outlines how permit applications are submitted and administered. Regulates the placement, repair, and replacement of boathouses and boat storage structures on public waters and allows delegation of permitting authority to local government units under specified conditions.
