The Minnesota Department of Transportation awarded $61 million in funding for 13 highway infrastructure projects that will improve freight mobility, safety and first- and last-mile freight connections throughout Minnesota.

The awards are part of a second round of transportation funding offered to Minnesota cities, counties, ports, airports, MnDOT Districts and railroads through the competitive Minnesota Highway Freight Program. The first round of MHFP funding was awarded in 2017.

"The projects selected through this program represent some of the highest freight needs in both Greater Minnesota and the Twin Cities Metro Area," said Andrew Andrusko, MHFP program manager. "We are excited to work with state and local partners to improve freight efficiency and support commerce and jobs throughout the state during this critical time."

The MHFP encourages Minnesota cities, counties, ports, airports, railroads and other government entities to apply for funding for transportation projects that benefit freight movement. MnDOT received 34 applications requesting a total of $178 million during this second round of MHFP funding. Each project was scored using freight data such as truck counts, truck travel times, proposed crash rate reduction, facility access and project readiness. The highest scoring projects were selected from the Twin Cities Metro area and Greater Minnesota.

Funding for the MHFP comes from the federal Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, commonly known as the FAST Act.

For more information, visit mndot.gov/ofrw/mhfp/.