Mission Creek Updates from MnDOT

Community Members Voice Concerns at Meeting

DULUTH, Minn.- 387.

That was the magic number from the Minnesota Department of Transportation to the community.

They say it will take 387 days to finish burial recovery at the grave site unearthed by Mission Creek Bridge Construction. It is the first time they have had a measurable timeline for the project.

After burial recovery, crews move to cemetery restoration, in close connection with the Native American Community of Fond Du Lac.

Once the cemetery is restored to the satisfaction of the natives, who say their ancestors are among the bodies disturbed, MnDOT will finally move to restoration of the Mission Creek Bridge.

This time around, they hope to be extremely careful to respect the Native American community, while hurrying construction along to respect the time and space sacrificed by other members of the community.

“We want to sit down and look for efficiencies to get that timeline down in an effort to shorten the time the neighborhood, and everyone involved, has to go through this process,” said Project Manager Randy Costley.

Time is definitely of the essence. One participant in the meeting at the Trophy Cafe on Wednesday insisted that if the timeline is at all lengthened, community members should be compensated.

That eventual bridge work is being done to allow more water and debris to flow through, which was clogged up and flooding many homes in the Fond Du Lac neighborhood during the 2012 flood.