A port reconstruction project in Duluth has received a $20 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT).
The $267 million Twin Ports Interchange Reconstruction project was one of 91 projects nationwide awarded a total of $1.5 billion by the federal government.
The Duluth project involves replacing eight bridges at the Interstate 35/Interstate 535/Hwy. 53 interchange and replacing the remaining weight-restricted ramp bridges to the interchange. It also will reconstruct six bridges on Hwy. 53, and four bridges at the I-535/Garfield Avenue interchange.
USDOT officials said the interchanges provide access to the Port of Duluth-Superior, the largest-volume port on the Great Lakes, which serves as a hub for domestic and international cargo and as a primary route for the timber and iron industries in northern Minnesota.
Weight limits on existing bridges curtails movement of trucks serving the port, officials said.
JANET MOORE
