Biden visits Superior, Duluth to trumpet bridge money

SUPERIOR, WIS. - Two years after he last visited the Blatnik Bridge to tout his $1 trillion infrastructure package, President Joe Biden returned Thursday to the aging span set to undergo a massive rebuild thanks to a $1 billion federal grant.

The high-traffic connector between Duluth and Superior is one of 37 projects of similar size and scope that Biden announced $5 billion worth of funding for during his visit. His "Investing in America" agenda has led to new legislation meant to create jobs and rebuild old infrastructure — and the key over-water artery between the port cities is among the projects that will benefit.

"For decades, people talked about replacing this bridge. but it never got done, until today," Biden told a crowd at Superior's Earth Rider Brewery, a local favorite with a view of the 63-year-old bridge.

While protesters outside called for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, Biden spoke in a large manufacturing room at the brewery backed by pallets of Earth Rider craft beer and barrels. He told those gathered and watching on YouTube that he's investing in jobs for American workers. The iron and steel to build the new bridge will be made in America, he said.

"This bridge is important. But the story we are writing is much bigger than that," Biden said. We are rebuilding "pride in America," he said.

Construction on the bridge, built in 1961, could start as soon as next year.

The $1 billion for reconstruction is the largest grant of its kind, said U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., at the event.

The entire project is expected to cost $1.8 billion. The Blatnik Bridge carries 33,000 vehicles per day — traffic moving along Interstate 535 and Hwy. 53. About 265,000 trucks carrying $2.6 billion in domestic goods and more than $1 billion in international goods travel the route every year. Its deterioration would mean closure by 2030 if not addressed, according to the White House.

Transportation officials in Minnesota and Wisconsin have recommended that the bridge be rebuilt with more weight capacity for freight and along a similar alignment, with roundabout interchanges and a path for cyclists and pedestrians along the side. Transportation departments on both sides of the bridge have committed an equal amount of funding to the project — $400 million each.

"This is one of the most important pieces of infrastructure in the entire Midwest," U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., said at the brewery, noting that the Duluth-Superior port is the largest inland port in the world. "Without the Blatnik Bridge, none of this port works."

Earth Rider founder Tim Nelson, who wrote a letter last summer to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in support of bridge funding, said his brewery draws inspiration from Lake Superior and the ships, trains, trucks and grain elevators that surround it.

"Simply put, the bridge is critical to my business," he said, with workers, customers and suppliers living on both sides of the bay. "The rebuilding of the bridge will be critical to ... the growth of the local economy. That matters to people here and it matters for our future."

Air Force One wasn't affected by the morning fog over the city, landing late Thursday morning at the Duluth International Airport. Biden's stay on the tarmac was just long enough to greet Gov. Tim Walz, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert and Superior Mayor Jim Paine. Smith, Klobuchar and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., who also played key roles in securing the funding, trailed Biden off the plane.

This marks the second presidential visit in less than two years to the northwestern Wisconsin city. And Biden's visit this week to the battleground state, which he narrowly won in 2020 and former Republican President Donald Trump narrowly won in 2016, highlights its significance. A November New York Times/Siena College poll showed Biden favored only slightly more by Wisconsin voters, with 47% supporting the president and 45% supporting Trump. Vice President Kamala Harris also visited Wisconsin this week.

Biden poked at Trump a couple of times Thursday. Despite an improving economy, Biden said, Trump told the Wall Street Journal this month he expects an economic crash and hopes it comes under Biden's watch. Biden also criticized Trump's economic policies.

"He stripped good-paying jobs and shipped them overseas, buying cheaper labor," Biden said. "Import the product, denying American jobs."

Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman David Hann said Thursday that Biden's economic policies aren't resonating in the Midwest.

"In Minnesota, as in Wisconsin, families and businesses are enduring the harsh consequences of what we term 'Bidenomics.' With inflation soaring and economic growth stalling, the burden on families living paycheck to paycheck has become increasingly heavy," Hann said in a statement.

GOP U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, who represents northeastern Minnesota, did not make an appearance at Earth Rider.

Thousands of online commenters, the White House and Gov. Tim Walz called Stauber out this week for taking credit for the bridge funding, which was part of the infrastructure package he voted against.

At the time of the 2021 vote, Stauber said in a statement that the package was not about "real infrastructure," but part of a "bloated" tax-and-spend package.

Stauber, a third-term Republican, wrote in a newsletter Tuesday that he got involved in project advocacy with Sens. Smith and Klobuchar "when it became clear more work needed to be done" to prioritize the bridge.

He said he wouldn't vote for bills that contain "harmful provisions," but when "a bill becomes the law of the land, I am going to fight to bring federal dollars back to Minnesota projects."

Biden's visit to the Twin Ports also included stops to talk to construction workers near the bridge, to the brewery's taproom and a Superior fire station to deliver coffee and baked goods.

The Blatnik Bridge is one of two major spans connecting the cities. The Richard I. Bong Bridge sits farther south over the St. Louis Bay. Both are needed to keep traffic flowing during closures and blockages.