DULUTH – Ask a local for the quickest route between Duluth and Superior, Wis., and they'll probably tell you to take the high bridge. What will they say in the future? The John A. Blatnik Bridge has spanned the harbor for 60 years, but in another 10 it may be gone.
The Minnesota and Wisconsin transportation departments (MnDOT and WisDOT) will be replacing the Blatnik, or giving it a massive restoration, as it approaches the end of its intended life span.
"We are building the foundation blocks," Pat Huston, the assistant district engineer for major projects at MnDOT, said during a two-hour virtual public meeting on the project last week to update the community. But he was using a metaphor.
Construction isn't expected to begin until 2028, and plans are still taking shape. It's so early in the process that there isn't a full cost estimate yet.
"We can't estimate what we don't know we're doing," Huston said, though the agency has pegged the cost of just replacing the center span at $400 million. Minnesota and Wisconsin would split the cost of the work.
At a minimum, the next bridge would improve the structural condition, increase safety and better accommodate heavy trucks. Pedestrian and bike access, which the Blatnik currently lacks, has been identified as a "secondary" need.
The bridge carries Interstate 535 and is the second-longest in Minnesota after the Richard I. Bong Bridge — the other span connecting Duluth and Superior, which opened in 1984. The 1.5-mile Blatnik carries about 33,000 vehicles per day on average, and wear and tear has been compounding.
Inspections, typically performed every other year, are now required annually. Major work is expected every four years to keep the bridge open, with another $9 million round due in 2022. And the Blatnik hasn't been able to handle oversized trucks since 2016 — the weight limit is now 80,000 pounds — driving up fuel costs for truckers who are detoured to the Bong Bridge.
