Commissioners support grant applications for Gunflint Trail improvements

Cook County Highway Engineer Robert (Robbie) Hass appeared before the Cook County Commissioners at the board’s December 20 meeting and made several requests.

First, Hass asked commissioners to pass a resolution allowing the highway department to act as a sponsoring agency for the Gunflint Trail Multi-use Trail seeking TA Program funds. Sponsorship includes that the county would share in the cost of the job and be responsible for getting the work to be completed in compliance with the rules and regulations of the grant and agree to maintain the improvements for the useful life of the improvements.

The project will start at the intersection of the Gunflint Trail and 5th Street by the Sheriff ’s office. The proposed one-mile sidewalk will connect with existing sidewalks running past the County fueling station, turn west and head towards 5th Ave West, and end at the finish at the recycling center, connecting to the existing sidewalk.

Next, Hass asked the board to write a letter of support for the IIJA RAISE grant to the legislature.

Hass said if the RAISE grant is okayed, it will help pay for a 27-mile corridor wide project along the Gunflint Trail Scenic Byway, starting in 2028. The project will involve resurfacing the road, improving safety at three intersections, replacing more than 15 culverts, including pedestrian improvements, and facilitating EV charging for electric vehicles.

“We are submitting a robust application that will positively affect over a dozen lodging/resorts that serve the BWCAW, and all its tourism, our local lumber mill, several primarily locally traveled “neighborhood” roads., as well as introduce environmentally sustainable design and climate-resilient practices,” said Hass.

Hass has been working with the Scenic Byway committee, local lake associations, businesses, the US Forest Service and the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and he said he would have meetings with the public. He said that most of the work, some 95 percent, will be on improving the 27-mile corridor, not making changes to it.

Commissioners voted unanimously to accept both projects.