DULUTH — St. Louis County officials found a workaround to avoid being forced to choose between supporting local labor or receiving millions in federal funds for road and bridge construction.
Five projects set to receive $6.5 million of federal funds were at risk of losing that money if the county used project labor agreements, or PLAs, without approval from the Federal Highway Administration. The agency has yet to give the OK and offered no timeline for when it would.
PLAs are pre-hire collective bargaining agreements that establish labor protections like wages and holidays, whether or not laborers are part of a union.
In a memo shared Monday, April 13, the county said it will delay three of the projects and exchange funding with the Minnesota Department of Transportation, so it can continue to use PLAs.
“This is a highly unusual occurrence that is being afforded to St. Louis County and will not be repeated in the future,” the memo stated. “This will extend the time frame for a PLA policy decision to be made by the federal government and the county, without the risk of losing the 2026 federal funding.”
St. Louis County will give MnDOT its 2026 federal funds for this year in exchange for MnDOT’s 2027 federal funds.
The 40th Avenue West reconstruction in Duluth will be defederalized and funded by state dollars because it will be a major route once the Blatnik Bridge closes early next year. The planned Grant McMahan Boulevard/County Road 88 repair and culvert replacement near Ely will also move forward this year, using either federal or county funds, depending on the final bid total. The county only requires PLAs if bids are over $150,000.
According to the memo, projects on county roads 21, 98 (Canosia Road) and 84 will be delayed until 2027.
The three delayed projects will reduce the county’s construction program by over $9 million, according to the memo. The projects could still move forward this year if the Federal Highway Administration approves PLAs.
Along with its approval of the exchange, MnDOT gave a warning.
“If St. Louis County does not deliver on the projects in 2027, it would be setting up all of the partner agencies in the entire district [northeastern Minnesota] for a major loss of federal funding,” the memo stated.
