State Aid for Local Transportation

State Aid Rules

The state aid rules were established to provide counties and cities minimum standards for roads and bridges on the state aid system. They carry the force of law. These rules cover many items from designation and revocation of state aid routes; contract bidding requirements; variances from the standards; local road research; minimum maintenance requirements; geometric standards; pavement structural strength; natural preservation routes, bicycle path standards and more.

The rules were first adopted in 1957 and has since been revised numerous times by local agency engineering and government representatives. These revisions are typically done to adapt to changing environmental, economic, social and/or engineering conditions.

The last revision to Minnesota Administrative Rules under Chapter 8820 by the Rules Advisory Committee was adopted on October 30, 2017 and printed for distribution on February 2018. In 2021, the 8820 Rule was republished electronically with one minor error correction (PDF) and is the current version.

• 2021 version (PDF)
• 2017 version (PDF)

To request a copy of the printed rule book or submit a questions on the state aid rules, please send an e-mail to State Aid Operations.

Want to learn more about how Chapter 8820 standards are used with State Aid projects? A supplemental visualization tool is available to help guide a user through the initial process. Click on the Visualization Tool to learn more.

Review Process

The State Aid design standards review process was developed with local agencies in 2020 as part of a broader effort to be proactive on the review of standards, improve lead and response time, and provide clarity on design revisions.

The Committee meets monthly to review, prioritize and vet State Aid Design revision requests to determine what kind of additional research is required to properly respond to the requestor. Once the research is completed, the Committee will review the research findings and pass on potential changes they see to the Rules Advisory Committee.

Additional information about the State Aid Design Advisory Committee and review process is available on the Redefining the State Aid Design Standards Stakeholder Input Process (PDF) handout.

For more information about the State Aid Design Advisory Committee and the review process, contact Mark Vizecky at mark.vizecky@state.mn.us.