By Daniel C. Vock,
Senior Reporter, Route Fifty

An effort to replace an aging bridge connecting Minnesota and Wisconsin received $1 billion from the Biden administration Thursday, as federal transportation officials announced major grants to three dozen big-ticket infrastructure projects across the country.

Other major winning projects include the Cross Bronx Expressway in New York City, the replacement of an interstate bridge between Oregon and Washington state, the rehabilitation of I-70 across Missouri, the building of a new railroad bridge for Brightline trains in Florida and a massive expansion of on-dock rail loading at the Port of Long Beach, California.

California also got money to build a port to support offshore wind projects. California, Florida, Missouri, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin received grants to improve truck parking. Washington, D.C., will use $34 million to improve safety and access to East Capitol Street by improving pedestrian facilities, bicycle lanes and bus stops. Several other states secured money to widen highways, particularly in mountainous terrain.

The president punctuated the news with a return visit to Superior, Wisconsin, where the John A. Blatnik Memorial Bridge connects to Duluth, Minnesota. Biden visited the 60-year-old bridge in March 2022, on the day after his State of the Union speech, to emphasize the importance of the infrastructure law he signed in the first year of his term. The bridge carries 33,000 vehicles a day, but it is in such poor condition that officials said it would have to be shut down by 2030 if not replaced.

Biden appeared for a photo-op on the snowy shores of Lake Superior near a sign that says, “Project funded by President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”

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