WASHINGTON – Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Tina Smith (D-MN) and Representative Pete Stauber (R-MN) sent a bipartisan letter urging Transportation Secretary Buttigieg to support Minnesota and Wisconsin’s application for federal funding to rebuild the Blatnik Bridge.
“We write to reiterate our strong support of the Minnesota and Wisconsin Department of Transportations’ application for federal funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” wrote the lawmakers. “By replacing the Blatnik Bridge, the project would exemplify the type of critical infrastructure project that was envisioned by Congress.”
“As noted in our previous letter to President Biden in September 2023, the Blatnik Bridge, located over St. Louis Bay on Lake Superior, is one of two bridges that connects the cities of Duluth, Minnesota with Superior, Wisconsin,” the lawmakers continued. “It is an essential economic engine in the region and a key link in the global supply chain.”
In September, Klobuchar, Smith, Baldwin, and Representative Stauber sent a letter to President Biden urging him to fund this project.
In August, Klobuchar and Smith sent letters to Secretary Buttigieg in support of the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT)’s applications for funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, including the U.S. Department of Transportation National Infrastructure Project Assistance Program and its Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) Program.
In 2022, Klobuchar, Smith, and Baldwin sent a letter to President Biden urging him to fund this project.
President Biden visited the Blatnik Bridge in 2022 with Klobuchar, Baldwin, and Smith, to discuss how the bridge could benefit from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
In 2021, Klobuchar, a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, highlighted the importance of the Blatnik Bridge and its need for safety improvements at Secretary Buttigieg’s nomination hearing to be Secretary of Transportation.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, passed into law in November 2021, is the single largest dedicated investment for the repair and reconstruction of bridges since the construction of the Interstate Highway System.
The full text of the letter is available HERE and below.
Dear Secretary Buttigieg:
We write to reiterate our strong support of the Minnesota and Wisconsin Departments of Transportation’s application for federal funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This federal funding will improve the condition of major bridges across the country. By replacing the Blatnik Bridge, the project would exemplify the type of critical infrastructure project that was envisioned by Congress.
As noted in our letter to President Biden in September 2023, the Blatnik Bridge, located over St. Louis Bay on Lake Superior, is one of two bridges that connects the cities of Duluth, Minnesota with Superior, Wisconsin. The Bridge carries Interstate Highway 535 and over 33,000 vehicles per day. It is an essential economic engine in the region and a key link in the global supply chain. Each year, 265,000 trucks transporting nearly $4 billion in goods pass over the bridge. Many businesses and industries in the region also rely on the bridge to reach the Port of Duluth-Superior, the largest U.S. port on the Great Lakes and North America’s farthest-inland freshwater seaport.
However, the bridge is over sixty years old and has reached the end of its useful service life. It is in poor condition with significant structural deterioration, creating serious capacity, mobility, and safety concerns. Funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law would be used to replace the Blatnik Bridge. Specifically, the project would replace all structural elements of the bridge, address safety concerns at bridge interchanges, and restore the bridge to its original operational condition. These improvements to the bridge would significantly enhance the safety, efficiency, and reliability of this key regional connection. Completing this project would support the needs of Minnesotans and Wisconsinites by improving and modernizing the regional transportation network in northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin.
Thank you again for your attention to the Minnesota and Wisconsin Departments of Transportation’s application for funding.
###
English