Blaine, Anoka County get $9 million in federal funds for Hwy. 65 upgrades

City leaders in Blaine and Anoka County got a $9 million Christmas present when Congress passed its fiscal 2023 omnibus spending bill just before the holidays. The money will go toward upgrading Hwy. 65.

"Blaine has taken the lead on advocating for change on Hwy. 65," Mayor Tim Sanders said. "We are glad to see this investment that returns federal tax dollars to our community. This project has momentum that it has never seen before and it is time to push to fully fund the project."

Blaine, in concert with Anoka County, has for years been pushing to address problems along the highway that splits the 10th largest city in Minnesota. The highway carries more than 59,000 vehicles each weekday, which is on par with Interstate 35W just a few miles to the east. The high volume combined with five intersections that have stop lights leads to major congestion.

By city estimates, if nothing is done, travel times from County Road 10 to Bunker Lake Boulevard — about 4 miles — will rise from 24 minutes to 45 minutes by 2045.

And the highway will remain unsafe. Police Chief Brian Podany said in 2021 that officers respond to nearly 50 crashes annually at each signalized intersection, making the rate of crashes resulting in serious injuries or death eight times higher than on similar highways across the state.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) has listed four of the intersections as a high priority for upgrades.

Specifically, Blaine got $4 million to make improvements at 99th Avenue. The city plans to put in an overpass and new sidewalks and bike trails to make for an easier east-west crossing.

"This new money keeps the project moving forward," Anoka County Engineer Joe MacPherson said.

Anoka County in December also received a $10 million grant from the Metropolitan Council torebuild the 109th Avenue intersection and put in an underpass at 105th Avenue, a busy road that leads to the National Sports Center.

Both Blaine and the county still need more money to do everything they want between 97th Avenue and 117th Avenue. That includes closing access points to Hwy. 65 from streets that don't have a stop light and building new frontage roads to direct traffic to the new interchanges.

The estimated cost of the entire project is $163 million. So far the city and county have 20% of what is needed. Blaine plans to ask the Legislature for $120 million to fill the funding gap, city spokesman Ben Hayle said.