SUPERIOR — The next bridge that will cross the St. Louis Bay will follow the alignment of the existing Blatnik Bridge.
In Wisconsin, the interchange will have a direct connection from Interstate 535 to U.S. Highway 53 with realigned local road connections to Hammond Avenue and Wisconsin Highway 53 and changed access to Highway 53. Access points to Highway 53 at Grand, Clough and Catlin avenues in North End would be closed.
The new bridge would have a shared-use path to accommodate pedestrian and bicycle traffic between Duluth and Superior.
“We’re going to demolish and reconstruct the new bridge,” said Pat Huston, major project manager for District 1 with the Minnesota Department of Transportation. “The new bridge will accommodate all the travel lanes that are required, shoulders that meet industry standards. The bridge will be constructed to industry design standards for heavy and wide trucks … The vertical profile — how we climb up and over the channel and back down — will either maintain or improve the existing grades. We have steep grades, and we’re going to try to better them.”
The new bridge substructure, which holds up the girders, would be in a similar arrangement to the existing bridge, and navigational clearances would meet or exceed current clearances, Huston said.
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Huston said the preferred alternative for bridge construction was selected despite a longer anticipated closure because the overall duration of the project is shorter. The choice will also have fewer wetland impacts; require less permanent right-of-way; and has a better cost-benefit ratio and a lower cost estimate. The cost is estimated at $1.72 billion, about $220 million less than the option that would have put the new bridge west of the Blatnik's alignment.
Construction of the replacement bridge would result in the relocation or impacts to seven businesses at eight locations. Businesses impacted include All-State Peterbuilt Group; Halvor Lines; Twin Ports Testing; Great Lakes Equipment; Great Lakes Electrical Equipment; Halvor Logistics; and Superior Lidgerwood-Mundy Corp.
“Halvor Lines has been in proactive discussions with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation for over a year now. Although portions of our property will be impacted, we are optimistic that we will be able to remain on our current site,” said Halvor Lines President Ryan Fraley.
Marc Bowker, WisDOT project manager, said officials have had a lot of communication with the business owners through the process so far. Efforts will be made to minimize those impacts and a relocation plan will be developed for each, Huston said.
“The goal is to start in 2026 with a major portion of the project,” Huston said.
Funding for the project still hasn’t been secured. Minnesota and Wisconsin each authorized funding $400 million for their respective shares of the project, but federal funding hasn’t been determined.
U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Tina Smith, D-Minn., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis. and U.S. Reps. Pete Stauber, R-Minn., Betty McCollum, D-Minn., Angie Craig, D-Minn., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Dean Phillips, D-Minn., and Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., sent a bipartisan, bicameral letter urging President Joe Biden to support the states' application for federal funding to rebuild the Blatnik Bridge.
The almost 8,000-foot bridge over the St. Louis Bay opened to traffic in 1961 and is currently limited to 60% percent of the capacity of a standard highway bridge, Huston said.
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“This bridge gets inspected every year,” Huston said. “It is safe. I want to emphasize that, but it is nearing the end of its life.”
Public comment on the environmental assessment will be accepted through Oct. 19. For more information, go to the Blatnik Bridge project website at www.dot.state.mn.us .
This story was updated at 8:45 a.m. Oct. 9 with a statement from Halvor Lines. It was originally posted at 3:40 p.m. Oct. 4.
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