After less than a year in operation, the new Amtrak Borealis train from downtown St. Paul to Chicago will receive a cash infusion of $38.6 million to support passenger service over the next six years. That’s one of nearly $146 million in newly-awarded federal grants intended to boost transportation, infrastructure and economic growth in Minnesota.
Most of those dollars will land in St. Paul and the east metro. Among the recipients, an effort to build a “land bridge” over several blocks of Interstate 94 in the Old Rondo area of St. Paul will get $2 million toward further study and planning, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation will receive $25 million to rebuild 1.5 miles of Robert Street on the city’s West Side with pedestrian-friendly improvements.
In addition, the Metropolitan Council, the metro’s regional planning agency, will receive $15 million toward deploying 1,875 electric vehicle charging stations across the seven counties.
The nine grants, announced this month by the office of U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., come from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that was passed when Democrats controlled Congress and signed into law by then-President Joe Biden in 2021. McCollum, the dean of the state’s Congressional delegation, is a longstanding member of the House Appropriations committee.
The grants
• Amtrak Borealis: The Amtrak Borealis intercity passenger rail service will receive $38.63 million from a Federal Railroad Administration grant to keep the train rolling through a second year of operation. The federal grant dollars are expected to supplement existing state funding from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois in the first six years of operation. The Borealis, which offers a midday train from St. Paul to Chicago, has drawn a healthy passenger fan base since launching daily round-trip departures in late May and has been a far more reliable service than the Empire Builder, whose eastbound trains sometimes arrive hours late, delayed by freight travel along the Empire route from Seattle or Portland. By late October, or five months into operation, the Borealis had served more than 100,000 passengers.
• Robert Street: The Minnesota Department of Transportation will receive $25 million in a “Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity” (RAISE) grant toward rebuilding a 1.5-mile stretch of Robert Street, or Minnesota 3, on St. Paul’s West Side. A goal of the “Robert Street Complete Streets and Viaduct Replacement” project is to add pedestrian and bike-friendly improvements to the current road, where the deteriorating pavement in some areas is more than 100 years old and not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Infrastructure to be replaced includes a decaying viaduct.
• Lower Sioux Indian Community: A $25 million Tribal RAISE grant to the Lower Sioux Indian Community will support improvements to Redwood County Highway 2 through the Lower Sioux Indian Reservation, including a “shared-use” off-road path for pedestrians and cyclists.
• Red Lake Band of Chippewa: A $25 million Tribal RAISE grant to the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians will fund rehab of Red Lake Road, including a shared-use path.
• EV charging stations: The Met Council will receive $15 million from a “Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary” grant to deploy $1,875 electric vehicle charging ports. The locations will prioritize renters, rural areas, low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, and communities designated as overdue for “environmental justice.” The goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase access to electric vehicles and related jobs.
• Hmong American Partnership: The St. Paul-based nonprofit will receive a $7.3 million “Digital Equity” grant for digital literary training, working with immigrant clients through workshops and mentoring on skills such as cloud computing, cybersecurity, financial literacy, digital civic engagement and basic Internet navigation. Funds also will support device distribution and Internet access through digital hubs such as libraries and community centers.
• Digital literacy in higher ed: The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system will receive $7.3 million to support and expand digital literacy instruction in its college curriculums, as well as train-the-trainer activities, device distribution and vouchers to help connect students who do not have home access to the Internet.
• ReConnect Rondo: The Rondo African American Cultural Enterprise District will receive $2 million from a “Reconnecting Communities” planning grant toward studies related to the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act, otherwise known as a “Section 106” study. Both studies are to be added to a master planning document for the future land bridge. Proponents have pitched a highway lid that will add some 12 to 21 acres of buildable land over I-94, possibly between Chatsworth Street and Grotto Street, or alternatively from Lexington Avenue to Rice Street. The end goal is to revive aspects of the Old Rondo neighborhood, which was cleaved by interstate construction in the 1960s.
• Southport River Terminal: The St. Paul Port Authority will receive a $636,000 “Railroad Crossing Elimination” grant to study the feasibility of replacing an existing highway/rail grade crossing at the intersection of Barge Channel Road and Union Pacific Railroad tracks. The ultimate goal is to add a grade-separated crossing at the Southport River Terminal, where travel in and out of the terminal is currently impeded by freight traffic on the mainline railroad tracks, resulting in shipping delays and safety concerns.
Related Articles
It’s a snowplow-naming smackdown in Washington County. Here are the finalists.
Metro Transit launches ‘Metro micro’ bus service in Roseville, Woodbury
St. Paul, MnDOT look to revive Riverview Corridor planning along West 7th Street
Section of Minnesota 36 gets higher speed limit, for safety reasons
Yes, Minnesota, it’s another snowplow naming contest. Whad’ya got?
Leave a Reply