The U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) awarded a $5 million grant to the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MNDOT) to complete preliminary engineering and environmental reviews for the Northern Lights high-speed rail project between Minneapolis and Duluth.
The 155-mile project will have station stops in Coon Rapids, Isanti, Cambridge, Hinckley, Boylston and Duluth, Minn., through Superior, Wis., and travel at speeds up to 110 mph.
As part of this grant, the Minnesota Department of Transportation must complete an environmental review for the corridor. The U.S. DOT had already provided grants of $2.2 million and $500,000 for the initial phases of that environmental review. The Minnesota Department of Transportation will contribute $3 million to the preliminary engineering/project environmental review phase of the project.