On Friday, February 23, Federal Highway Administrator (FHWA) Shailen Bhatt will travel to Sparta, Wisconsin, to celebrate two federal grants totaling nearly $1.1 billion that will improve transportation infrastructure across Wisconsin. The projects include improvements to a Safety Rest Area near Sparta, WI and improvements to the Blatnik Bridge, a major connection between the cities of Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin. These investments are just two of 37 projects that received funding through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s INFRA and Mega grant programs funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which President Biden announced last month in Wisconsin.
To celebrate this major investment, FHWA Administrator Bhatt will join the Wisconsin Department of Transportation Secretary and other local leaders from the Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association for a press conference at 10 a.m. Central Time. Additional details about the projects can be found below.
WHO: Shailen Bhatt, Administrator, Federal Highway Administration
Craig Thompson, Secretary, Wisconsin Department of Transportation
Neal Kedzie, President, Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association
WHEN: 10 a.m. CST on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024
WHERE: WisDOT Rest Area 16 – I-90 Westbound, Sparta, WI 54565
Due to inclement weather, the event may move to:
Safety and Weight Enforcement Facilities (SWEF) at I-90 Eastbound between Mile Posts 21 & 22
RSVP: Samantha Keitt Samantha.keitt@dot.gov
I-90 Westbound Safety Rest Area – Sparta and Truck Parking Expansion Project
- The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) is receiving an $8 million INFRA grant to rebuild the I-90 Westbound Safety Rest Area in Sparta and expand truck parking at the site from 16 to approximately 70 spots to address the overloaded truck parking facility and provide drivers with more options. Transportation officials estimate that more than 150 trucks per day are diverted from this rest stop due to lack of spaces and drive an average of 56 minutes looking for parking.
Blatnik Bridge Replacement Project
- The Minnesota Department of Transportation, in partnership with WisDOT, is receiving more than $1 billion under the INFRA grant program to replace the Blatnik Bridge, a vital commercial connection between the nearby ports of Duluth and Superior, the largest ports on the Great Lakes and the largest freight destination in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Blatnik is one of two bridges serving the region and used by 6,000 daily commuters and nearly 265,000 trucks carrying over $3.7 billion in goods each year for critical industries, such as forestry, petroleum refining and clean energy.