An iconic connector between
Superior, Wisconsin, and Duluth,
Minnesota is set to close
early next year.
The Blotnick Bridge opened
in 1961, and now
more than 65 years later, is
scheduled for reconstruction.
According to the governor's office,
more than 33,000 vehicles cross
every day, and more than 265,000
transport trucks traverse the
bridge each year.
In 2024, former President
Joe Biden visited Superior to
draw attention to funding just
over a billion dollars for the
project as part of the bipartisan
infrastructure law.
But now U.S.
Senators in two states and Wisconsin
Governor Tony Evers have written
letters to the U.
S. Department of Transportation to
release that funding so the
project can proceed.
Superior Mayor Jim Payne is
part of the chorus calling for the
grant money to be released.
So the project can get going.
He joins us from Superior, and
Mayor, thanks for being here.
Yeah, of course. Thanks for having
me.
So how critical is it to get this
funding released sooner rather than
later?
Well, at first,
we'll be OK, because there
are some delays built into the
project. The problem is this
the later we start, the later we
finish and the
the effect of the closure
of the bridge is significant.
And that's what we're preparing for.
And any extension
of that closure is
problematic for the economy and
quality of life of both superior and
neighboring Duluth.
So the later it starts, the lighter
it finishes.
What has the USDOT told
you about when that might happen?
Uh, we have had a lot of
coordination with, uh, Wisconsin
department of transportation, of
course, Minnesota department of
transportation.
And until now we had reasonable
assurances that this was going to
happen. There was a lot uncertainty
at the start of this presidential
administration.
Uh, but that was supposed to have
been resolved that that this project
was going forward.
So this is a very frustrating delay.
And Transportation Secretary Sean
Duffy, of course, knows the region,
having represented it and
knows the importance
of this bridge.
I would hope so.
I would think so.
This is a vital
connector, not just for the
cities of Superior and Duluth
or the states of Wisconsin and
Minnesota. This is an international
connector.
The age of the bridge already
limits the freight loads.
There's almost no freight that moves
over it, but it's going to be a
vital connecter for international
shipping between Michigan,
Canada, Northern Minnesota,
really the entire continent.
It's a very vital connection.
The secretary of transportation
should understand that and
recognize this.
Look, one of the most important
things to note here, there is no
question about the fact that this
bridge is closing.
It is at the end of its life.
It is going to close.
The only question in front
of us is whether it's
going to reopen with a new bridge
and when.
So when the bridge closes,
how will people get across?
There's another bridge.
The Bong Bridge is another
major connector which can handle
the load, but it's gonna create
significant bottlenecks.
If you look at even a map of
Wisconsin, you can see Superior
is sitting as a nice little hat
there at the very Northwest corner.
Superior is a triangular peninsula
into the St. Louis Harbor
of Lake Superior.
That means traffic bottlenecks as
it comes from Duluth.
And it already creates
some backlogs when
enough freight is moving through the
city, that will become demonstrably
worse during bridge closure.
So the longer that lasts,
the greater the impacts on
quality of life and commerce.
Meanwhile, your city has already
expended money toward the eventual
replacement of the bridge.
What is the preparation and
that expenditure?
There's been millions and millions
of dollars in
prep. A lot of it has been
relocation of whole businesses.
Some of them as much as
a hundred years old that were
operating at the foot of that
bridge. We cleared it all out.
And look, we did our part.
We spent a significant amount of
public, local money, city of
superior money to help relocate
businesses, to improve
transportation networks, to actually
rebuild streets, improve them, to
mitigate traffic, to make...
To prepare for faster and
more efficient emergency response
during bridge closure.
We have done our part.
The state of Wisconsin, the state of
Minnesota have done their part.
Everything is ready.
We're waiting for the federal
government to live up to
its end of the deal.
And so the new bridge
is supposed to be up and
operating by, what, 2031?
Hope so. This is a transportation
project and any transportation
project involves delays.
And so when you're looking at the
largest transportation project that
anybody up here
has worked on from folks at
the City of Superior all the way to
staff on both Departments of
Transportation, we would
expect some significant delays along
the way. That is the nature of
construction projects.
So an unforced delay
like this, what seems to be a
political delay, only
adds to the uncertainty
and complexity of an already
uncertain and complex project.
So Republican lawmakers
say the funding will be released and
it's not in jeopardy.
You just used
the word political.
What do you think the holdup is?
I honestly don't know.
I've worked with...
Many different state and federal
administrations at this point,
including the Trump administration.
And while there's been
plenty of disagreement on
priorities, I've never dealt
with this level of chaos.
I don't know what the holdup is.
I appreciate that lawmakers are
saying that it'll be released.
Well, then release it.
Sign the document, show us that
we have the money so planning
and preparation can resume.
I don't know if...
If it's so guaranteed, let's hear
that from the secretary of
administration.
Words do not build bridges,
actions do.
Mayor Jim Payne, thanks very much.
Marissa just said that was a great
last line.
Well, you decided it was a lot of
fun. I had to talk the whole day.
Thank you.
That's great.
Well, good luck with all of that,
and we'll check back, of course.
We have lots of years to do so.
Yeah, I'm going to Washington on
Sunday. I'm gonna try and meet with
Okay.
Feel free to call and ask how that
went.
Okay.
We will.
Well, we'll see, we will see.
Thank you, everybody.
Thank you.