October 10, 2025

By Lane Kimble

The Blatnik Bridge replacement project will hit a lot of major milestones in the next year, most notably the start of construction.

MnDOT and WisDOT plan to cover those facts and more during their next public information meeting on Monday, Oct. 20. The meeting will be held at the Superior Public Library at 5 p.m.

Topics include a review of what’s been done in 2025 in terms of engineering, environmental permitting, and developing contract documents for bidders.

MnDOT, the lead agency on the project, plans to announce its selected contractor through the Design Build process in summer 2026.  They’ll then work on installing temporary traffic signals and changes before construction starts in earnest in late 2026, with the old bridge fully closing in early 2027.

About 33,000 vehicles use the aging Blatnik Bridge daily to get between the Twin Ports of Superior and Duluth, Minn.  Many of those will be detoured over the Bong Bridge during construction.  Crews have been busy upgrading that bridge in preparation for the added traffic.

The $1.8 billion project will replace the 64-year-old bridge with a new one along the exact same alignment.  The replacement will include a shared bike and pedestrian path, better support for heavy cargo and freight loads, a safer design, and an improved interchange on the Wisconsin side.

The federal government is providing more than $1 billion, with Wisconsin and Minnesota both committing $400 million.  Construction is scheduled for completion in 2031.