Gov. Walz unveils Highway 610 as Hortman Memorial Highway

Well, good morning everyone. Thank you for joining us out here on this November day and for a very important, I think very special, and quite honestly for the folks here and Yeah, yeah, yeah. I would argue millions across Minnesota, a pretty emotional day. We're here to dedicate this piece of highway to Melissa and Mark Hortman and the work they did. Yes, we did. Not just a highway. I was mentioning earlier, and you're going to hear from the folks who made this possible, and a special good morning to the families that are here. Sophie, good to see you. Colin, good to see Mark's parents here. I don't think Harry and Linda made it, but we think of you often, and it's pretty hard to be on the Capitol complex. And Every place holds that memory, every hearing room holds times that we were there, but I went back to think about one of the first times I met a young state legislator, Melissa Hortman, when I had just been elected to Congress and had the privilege of being on the Transportation Committee with the then new chairman, Jim Overstar, from Minnesota. And that new legislature already knew that she came to us and said we need federal money for our highways in Minnesota and there's a special one out 610 that needs to be done. And so That hard work, that capacity to be able to get things done for your community was just another hallmark of the Hortmans. They cared deeply about these communities. They cared deeply about the infrastructure that made communities work. That's highways, water treatment plants, libraries. We spend a lot of time in politics talking about some of the theoretical things or the wedge issues that people come up with. But this kind of stuff is the hard work that makes life better for people, and nobody knew that better than Melissa Hortman. And I think, again, the bittersweetness of an election, who the Hortmans embraced elections with joy, with happiness. They embraced it with, it wasn't a battle against someone else. It was a celebration of democracy. And I always found that So encouraging. I oftentimes said when I would start finding myself getting down into the mud of politics, it was always Melissa that would find a way to bring me back up and talk about the things that we were doing and why they mattered. And this dedication of this piece of road is just one small gesture. But I think you think about it. the people who will drive by here and see those names and remember and connect that work together that about their lives it's about improving their lives that's why she did it that's why the folks standing up here did it so um i'm just really grateful feel a sense of gratitude i uh i treasure the times we work together on these bills i treasure the the legislators who spent the time and know how to get these things through and this was ushered through in a in a totally bipartisan manner to uh to honor this great Minnesotan this great family Mark and Melissa were a team and they worked on it together so um just really excited and a huge thank you you're going to hear from uh representatives Kagle and Tabke who are the authors in that you're going to hear from Senator Hoffman who is a champion of getting these done and also closely tied I think it's going to be a to the tragedy that took Mark and Melissa from us and then you're going to hear next as I turn it over to that which I don't want to get out over my skis on this one but I think it's probably safe to say uh speaker designee of the Minnesota House of Representatives Zach Stevenson. Well thank you governor thank you all uh for being here uh you know this is a very special day and a Fitting tribute, one of many that we deserve to make to the most consequential speaker in the history of the state of Minnesota, Melissa Hortman. You know, I met Melissa Hortman when I was 17 years old. I'm 42 years old now. And when I met her, she had just lost for the first, the second time running for the Minnesota House of Representatives and was about to run for the third time. And when she ran, one of the big things she ran on was finishing Highway 610, which at that time uh only went from Coon Rapids to 169. So there's a lot of ways in which dedicating this highway to Melissa is particularly fitting. It goes right through the heart of her old district, literally connecting the two communities that she represented for 20 plus years, Coon Rapids and Brooklyn Park, but it also is a major piece of her legacy in getting this highway done. She ran on it and it spanned that entire time just like it took her many attempts to get to the Minnesota House of Representatives. It took many steps along the way to complete this highway. In fact, even as late as 2025, we had a provision in the transportation bill to put one last interchange on 610 in Coon Rapids in Melissa's district. So we finished this work right at the end of her legislative career. No highway, no building, no tribute that we could possibly come up with could fully encapsulate the amazing legacy that Melissa leaves behind or the hole that she leaves with all of us. But this is at least one thing that we can do to make sure that her story and Mark's story are remembered for years and years to come. My hope is that many years from now. People will be driving around this community and wonder why is this road called the Hortman Highway and they'll look it up online and they'll read the amazing story of Mark and Melissa Hortman and that way their memory will live on for generations to come. So thank you for being here. Thank you governor for your leadership on this. Thank you to everyone else behind me who helped make this happen and I'm happy to turn it over to my friend Senator Hoffman. Thank you speaker-elect and on your way here There was a park and ride on 610 that has all these solar panels on it and the reason that exists it's run by and owned by the Department of Transportation is Melissa. Melissa was all about solar energy and it just this is absolutely something that she would be smiling about. She didn't like having the attention in the lights but one of her first questions she asked me in 2012 when I wanted to run was, so what do you think about finishing highway 610? And on the bridge down the road, Westy here, there's a picture of me holding a 610 sign that she and Denise Dietrich gave me to get a picture of. So this is absolutely fitting to be here today for her and about her and thank you everybody for paying special attention. I miss my kid sister a lot, so thank you everybody for being here. Thank you everyone. My name is Brad Tabke, current co-chair and hopefully future chair of transportation committee. We'll see what happens with that. that. Um but uh Honored to have everybody here today. Just want to say thank you to a few folks, the governor for helping to make this happen, Leader Stevenson for making this happen, Representative Cagle carried the bill and I am honored after Leader Stevenson became our leader to take over the Hortman Memorial work group and we have a lot of ideas some have come to fruition so far and a lot more to come to make sure that every generation of Minnesotans moving forward know the story and know the power of Mark and Melissa Hortman and what they did For the state of Minnesota, that is incredibly important to us, especially in the house that we that we do that, that we make sure that everyone understands just the consequential and amazing things that are happening in people's lives and making people's lives on a better on an everyday basis to get here. And Gilbert, too. We cannot forget Gilbert in this story. So thank you very much, everybody, for being here. Thank you to MnDOT, Commissioner Daubenberger, and all the folks. We went through a lot of iterations to get to this point today, and there was just a ton of amazing work that got done to remember our friends. And so thank you, everybody, for being here. Hey, how are you doing? Hi, I'm Erin Kegel, State Representative for 39A. Just for a few more months I'm retiring, but I grew up in this area and I grew up in Osseo and had lots of friends in Coon Rapids, and so I drove this road even before it was 610, back when it was County Road 30. And I got in my first car accident actually on Winnetka at the four-way stop that used to be there. And so I can't, every time I drive this road I think of Melissa. And now that there will be a sign enshrining that this is the Hortman Memorial Highway, I'm just so happy that every time I will drive this, I will see that sign and think of her. I remember my totaled Nissan Sentra and how that four-way stop isn't there anymore, and this is a safer road because of her. And so I just hope that we can continue to build safety into our roads. I hope that Minnesotans in the future see that sign and realize all the good work that the Hortmans had done over their careers. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. And I will turn it over. Oh, and I do want to mention that Senator Hortman was my co-author, or was the author of the bill in the Senate. And so really excited that he's here as well. And I will turn it over to Colin. Hey, I'm Colin Hortman. My sister Sophia is here as well. I just wanted to thank everyone for coming out on this cold, windy November day. On behalf of my family and all of our friends, I just wanted to say how important this is to us and how it memorializes my parents really properly. Funny story for me and 610, the only picture that I ever took that made it to a lit piece was the groundbreaking ceremony for 610. uh just up the road there past 169 where they were finishing the road to 94 so uh you know this this highway means a lot to me i knew how much it meant to my mom when she ran with her checklist in 04 and when she got to put out her final her checklist where she ticked everything off in 2024 i think that that was probably her favorite lip piece that she ever sent out so i i think this is just uh truly incredible It's incredible. And the amount of hard work that went into making this day possible, thanks to the whole MnDOT team, the state legislators, the governor, the senators, there was just a tremendous amount of work to make today possible. I know, I think someone said it before, that Melissa and Mark weren't necessarily spotlight people, and so I think they would very much appreciate that we're out here today and not tucked away in an office, and we're on their highway remembering them forever. So, thank you very much. All right. Commissioner, line us up, are we ready? Alright, let's do this. Yeah, good to talk to you now.