The Minnesota and Wisconsin Departments of Transportation came together to host a public meeting on the upcoming Blatnik Bridge Project on Tuesday October 15th.

The meeting was held at the Superior Public Library and featured a presentation with the most up to date preliminary schedule, design process, proposed traffic management, and potential impacts on the twin ports.

“As we head through 2025, we’re finishing the preliminary engineering, getting our contract requirements ready, procurement and letting,” said Blatnik Bridge Reconstruction Project Director Patrick Hustom. “What we have so far is a generalized schedule and once we get a contractor on board, things are going to change.”

The closure of the existing Blatnik Bridge is expected in late 2027, and the finished bridge reconstruction is expected to take five years to complete. Expected finish date in late 2032.

Earlier this year the Blatnik Bridge Reconstruction Project received a $1 billion-dollar federal grant, propelling the project forward.

“It’s still a hardship for both Minnesota and Wisconsin financially, but had we not been able to fund this, we were predicting likely closure in 2030,” said Hustom. “So, my point is, it’s going to be hard. Construction is hard, but we’ll get through it together.”

More information on the Blatnik Bridge Reconstruction Project is available here.