Biden-Harris Administration Announces More Than $1.32 Billion in Funding to Minnesota and Wisconsin for Transformational Infrastructure Projects

WASHINGTON – Today, President Joe Biden and U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced more than $4.9 billion in funding from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to 37 projects through two major discretionary grant programs, the National Infrastructure Project Assistance (Mega) grant program and the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant program. This includes more than $1.32 billion for three projects in Minnesota and Wisconsin

Selected projects include:

• More than $1 billion in funding for the Blatnik Bridge Replacement Project in the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin under the INFRA program – This project will replace the Blatnik Bridge, a major connection between the cities of Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin, that without this project is at risk of closing within the next ten years due to decaying infrastructure. The updates will help prevent fatalities and serious injuries that are seven to ten times higher than the state averages, and improve employment access for approximately 6,000 daily commuters. Additionally, the new bridge will alleviate current load restrictions and ease lengthy detours that regional freight currently experiences. In addition to other economic benefits, the MnDOT has developed a contract with the Duluth Workforce Center for outreach to groups underrepresented in the heavy construction trades, while also leveraging its workforce development program with Duluth Public Schools, which will create good-paying, union jobs within the area.
• $24.7 million in funding for the US 169 Rural Safety and Mobility Interchange Project in Minnesota under the INFRA program – This project will reconstruct approximately 1 mile of US-169 and approximately a half mile of County Road 4 in Sherburne County, create a grade-separated interchange, install two reduced conflict intersections, construct three roundabouts, remove six at-grade access points, and develop multiuse trails/sidewalks. The project will include grade-separated crossings with three roundabouts, a grade-separated multi-use trail, and reduced conflict intersections that will significantly reduce the risk of crashes for all roadway users.  The project will significantly improve water quality in the area by addressing runoff and improve the region’s resilience profile by incorporating fiber-optics communications infrastructure.  Additionally, it will improve tourism-related travel, non-motorized travel, and local resident travel through access and connectivity along County Road 4, improve the pedestrian environment, and the proposed connections to the Great Northern Regional Trail.

• $8 million in funding for the I-90 WB Safety Rest area – Sparta and Truck Parking Expansion project in Wisconsin under the INFRA program – The project will reconstruct a Safety Rest Area near Sparta, Wisconsin and expand truck parking from 16 to approximately 70 spots, replace deteriorated pavement, and construct a new modernized facility with ADA-compliant restrooms. The project will significantly expand truck parking spaces along I-90, which will address the current overloaded truck parking facility and provide drivers with more options. The applicant estimates that more than 150 trucks per day are diverted from this rest stop due to lack of spaces and must drive an average of 56 minutes looking for parking. The project will incorporate new technologies including integration with the regional Truck Parking Information Management System (TPIMS) which indicates truck parking availability at WisDOT owned Safety Rest Areas in real time.

“With this announcement, we are advancing projects so large, complex, and ambitious that they could not get funded under the infrastructure programs that existed prior to the Biden administration,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Our INFRA and Mega programs are helping build the cathedrals of American infrastructure: truly transformative projects that will change entire regions and our entire country for the better.”

The Mega program, which was created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and provides $5 billion in funding through 2026, is focused on projects that are uniquely large, complex and difficult to fund under traditional grant programs. For this round of funding, the Biden-Harris Administration is investing in 11 different projects that will generate national and regional economic, mobility, and safety benefits.

The INFRA program, for which funding was increased more than 50% by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, also funds large scale, transformational infrastructure projects — for this round of funding the Biden-Harris Administration is investing in 28 projects that will improve the safety, efficiency, and reliability of the movement of freight and people in and across rural and urban areas. Over half of the projects being funded through the INFRA program are in rural communities.

Two projects received awards from both programs, following through on the Department’s commitment to invest in non-traditional, multimodal projects that have been neglected because of complications around how to fund them.

View the full list of Mega and INFRA, as well as the Rural awards announced in December of 2023. Applicants for Mega, INFRA and Rural were evaluated under the Department’s streamlined Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant (MPDG) application, a combined application designed to reduce the administrative burden of applying for grants that allowed applicants to apply for all three programs with the same application.

As with last year’s awards, despite these historic increases in funding, these programs were significantly oversubscribed. The Department received 117 applications requesting $24.7 billion in Mega funding and 190 applications requesting $24.8 billion from the INFRA program, far exceeding the amounts of funding available.

Applications for the MPDG grants were evaluated based on the criteria published in the Notice of Funding Opportunity last summer. The criteria include safety; state of good repair; economic impacts, freight movements and job creation; climate change, resilience, and the environment; equity, multimodal options and quality of life; and innovation areas such as technology, project delivery, and financing. The Department also considered cost effectiveness and project readiness in evaluating the more than 300 MPDG applications received.

More information about the combined MPDG funding opportunity and Mega, INFRA, and Rural programs HERE. The next application period is expected to open in mid-2024.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.

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