Gov. Tim Walz announced July 11 that the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) will allocate $380 million to fund eight new infrastructure projects through the state's Corridors of Commerce program.

"We're making historic investments in our state's transportation system to improve the safety and connectivity of communities across the state," said Walz. "We depend on our roads and highways to safely get us to our jobs, education, child care and businesses. These projects help grow our economy and support our goal of making Minnesota the best state to live, work and grow up in — no matter where you live."

The projects receiving funding in 2023 include:

• TH 13 (Savage/Burnsville) — grade separations from Quentin to Nicollet Avenues: $96,000,000
• I-94 (Albertville to Monticello) — lane expansion: $78,000,000
• TH 14/CSAH 44 (Byron) — construct a grade separation: $60,000,000
• TH 371/TH 210 (Baxter) — construct a grade separation: $58,000,000
• TH 23/MN 9 (New London) — construct a grade separation: $33,000,000
• TH 65 (Blaine) — grade separations from 103rd to 117th Avenues: $30,000,000
• TH 53 (Eveleth to Virginia) — roadway improvements: $18,000,000
• TH 10 (Coon Rapids) — lane expansion from CSAH 78 to CSAH 9: $8,000,000

"We appreciate the work of our many local partners who submitted Corridors of Commerce funding proposals," said MnDOT Commissioner Nancy Daubenberger. "While transportation funding needs are significant in communities across our state, MnDOT is grateful to the legislature for making historic infrastructure investments this session and we'll continue partnering with proposers to explore other funding options for projects that did not receive funding in this round of the Corridors of Commerce program."

This is the fourth round of Corridors of Commerce funding provided by the Minnesota Legislature and includes a total of $403 million, including $250 million authorized by the Legislature in 2021 and $153 million provided in 2023. $22 million will be reserved for project readiness activities for potential future Corridors of Commerce candidate projects.

The Corridors of Commerce program was created by the Minnesota Legislature in 2013 with a goal of focusing transportation investments on state highway projects that directly and indirectly foster economic growth for the state of Minnesota. The program is outside of MnDOT's regular State Road Construction program and Corridors of Commerce funding is dependent on legislative appropriation. The authorizing statute (161.088) also includes specific requirements for project eligibility and scoring.

In addition to this year's Corridors of Commerce funding, the omnibus transportation bill included $6 billion for transportation and will allow MnDOT and its partners at the Metropolitan Council and local and tribal governments to make investments in the state's multimodal transportation system. Combined with federal resources coming to Minnesota from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, legislation enacted during the 2023 legislative session will result in transformational improvements that maximize the health of people, the environment and the economy.

For more information, visit dot.state.mn.us/index.html.

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