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Duluth reached another milestone today in its ongoing recovery from last summer’s devastating flooding.

One of the last bridges that was wiped out by rushing floodwaters last June—the Jean Duluth Road bridge spanning the Lester River, northeast of downtown Duluth—was reopened to traffic.

The bridge cost about $1 million to build. Like the vast majority of public infrastructure repairs following the flooding, 80 percent of the tab was covered by the federal government (in this case Federal Highway Administration Emergency Relief Funds),with state bonding money covering the remaining 20 percent.

Here are some nice before and after photos, along the lines of the dramatic 

Derek Montgomery took of flood damaged areas.

That leaves just one major road in St. Louis County—Haines Road—that’s still closed due to flood damage. Elsewhere, one major project still remaining is a $2.86 million 

 in Jay Cooke State Park. The state Department of Transportation anticipates that project will be finished in November, although the highway between Duluth’s Fond du Lac neighborhood and the park will remain closed indefinitely.

The recovery process has been much slower for some private homeowners. Many are still struggling to 

Dan Kraker

Author

One of the last remaining damaged bridges from last year's devastating flooding in Duluth was reopened today - a year and a week after up to 10 inches of rain fell across the region, ripping up infrastructure and drowning hundreds of basements.

Duluth reopens another flood-damaged bridge

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