County Highway Department receives MnDOT funding for future project

The Minnesota Department of Transportation recently announced that the Cook County Highway Department will be receiving funds from the Local Road Improvement Program (LRIP). MnDOT awarded $75 million in funding to seventy-five projects in the state and Cook County was one recipient.

Cook County will be receiving $835,000 for construction work on 5th Avenue West, or County Road 15. This money will go toward the project that the county has been saving for. The work is scheduled to be completed in 2023.

Projects were selected through a competitive solicitation process that started on Dec. 2, 2020. The agency received 425 applications worth $344 million in funding requests. The LRIP Advisory Committee used specific criteria, including the regional significance of the route and effectiveness of the project eliminating transportation system deficiencies, to determine funding recipients.

WTIP’s Rhonda Silence spoke with Cook County Highway Engineer Robbie Hass about that funding, as well as to get an update on summer projects for the highway department—including the application of calcium chloride.