Blatnik Bridge Reconstruction Project Receives Full Funding

The Blatnik Bridge Reconstruction Project has received all of the federal funding it needs to replace the critical roadway.

The Minnesota and Wisconsin Departments of Transportation have announced that the project has received its full federal request of $1 billion to replace the bridge. In addition to the federal funding, they also noted that officials have completed the environmental assessment of the project and found no significant impact.

Wisconsin and Minnesota Department of Transportation officials had repeatedly petitioned President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to use funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to finally undertake the reconstruction.

Now that the project has been fully funded, officials will turn to choosing a design for the new bridge and hiring contractors to construct it. Officials plan to award a contract sometime in the middle of 2026, and the bulk of construction will likely begin in 2027.

While the bridge is under construction, traffic will be re-routed to the Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge. Officials expect the Blatnik Bridge will be closed for about five years for the reconstruction.

The reconstructed bridge will include a new interchange into the Superior, Wisconsin side of the border and feature a new shared use path. The bridge opened to traffic in 1961 and has undergone a number of repairs since, but the maximum weight limit has been reduced over the years as the bridge has worn down. An interactive map of the proposed changes for the bridge can be found on the Minnesota Department of Transportation website.

The bridge carries around 33,000 cars each day as a major transportation corridor between Wisconsin and Minnesota.