Members of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, state and local government representatives and other community members witnessed history on Nov. 18 when – for the first time in state history –MnDOT conveyed land back to a tribal nation outside of the reservation boundary. Commissioner Nancy Daubenberger and Grand Portage Chairman Bobby Deschampe signed the deed, conveying nearly two acres of land to the Grand Portage Band, during a ceremony held at the Grand Portage Casino.

Stonebridge Singers opened the ceremony with drums, followed by the Honor Guard posting the flags and Billy Blackwell giving a blessing in Ojibwe and English. John Morrin and Staci Drouillard shared historical aspects of the property and their family ties to the land. Deschampe and former MnDOT Commissioner Margaret Anderson Kelliher also spoke during the ceremony. The mood of the historic day was both somber and celebratory, hearing the history of the land and recognizing the significance of the event.

“Our team at MnDOT understands the moral responsibility we have to ensure that our actions today are always grounded in honoring the treaties, respecting tribal sovereignty, and working collaboratively with tribal nations and their leadership,” Daubenberger said.

The site of Chippewa City is located northeast of Grand Marais on Hwy 61. Settlers cleared the site and built homes beginning in 1854, with the signing of the Treaty of LaPointe by the Chiefs of the Indian Peace Commission. The community was thriving by 1895 with the building of St. Francis Xavier Church, intended to convert local Ojibwe residents to Christianity. When the priest wasn’t there to give sermons, locals would stand and give lessons in Ojibwe, combining Catholicism and Ojibwe teachings. The last official Mass at St. Francis Xavier was held in 1936.

Along the scenic shores of Lake Superior, Chippewa City was once a bustling community of 200 people. During the Great Depression, Indigenous people lost much of their property as the state began taking land for the construction of Hwy 61. Drouillard documented the history of Chippewa City in her book, “Walking the Old Road,” which tells how the many properties in Chippewa City became tax delinquent after Cook County tax policy in 1930. A local businessman, Leslie Johnson, offered to pay the high taxes for the Ojibwe landowners and later convinced them to sign over their land because he had paid the taxes for them. Other parcels were taken through eminent domain for the Hwy 61 construction. By the late 1930s, the city was abandoned. The state used the land, known locally as Passion Pit, as a gravel pit before it eventually became a public park area for people to access the shore.   

Over the years, St. Francis Xavier Church fell into disrepair until the Cook County Historical Society received it in 1998 and restored it. In 1985, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

A few years ago, MnDOT looked into transferring or selling the land and first approached the DNR, which was not interested. Adjacent property owners were interested, so the state began the process of putting the land up for bid for private sale. Cook County then expressed an interest and formed a task force, which eventually assisted Grand Portage Band with acquiring the land.

“There were competing uses between public and private interests, quiet enjoyment of private property and use of the public space (near) Lake Superior, and with the importance of the preservation of this historic area which connected with the St. Francis Xavier Church along with its identification in its connection with former Chippewa City,” Cook County Commissioner Ann Sullivan said. “It was the task force’s consensus to establish a more formalized committee to proceed with a longer-term visioning of the site, which should include input from the public and all interested parties.”

The committee gathered support for returning the land to Grand Portage. The Tribe chose a new name for the property, “Nishwaakwaansing,” which translates to “at the edge of the forest” or “where the standing forest begins,” depending on the perspective from which it is seen.

In spring 2021, the Grand Portage Band officially requested the transfer to preserve the culturally significant site as an interpretive area. It will continue to be open to the public, since most of the Band’s leadership lineage can be tied to Chippewa City.

By Anne Meyer

The winter season has officially begun and MnDOT’s snowplow drivers have already had several busy days on the job. Here are a few photos from plow cameras during the snowstorm on Nov. 28. Statewide, MnDOT has more than 800 snowplows and more than 1,600 drivers. To track road conditions (and plow locations) in real time or plan driving routes, keep an eye on the 511mn app or the 511mn.org website.

We received a few compliments on Social Media after the snow:

“Compliments to the MNDOT crews on the condition of 694 and 35E this morning. It was a breeze getting to Vadnais Heights.”

“Many thanks to plow drivers & staff-35W to 94E was mostly smooth”

“These folks are heroes”

“Was a smooth drive in, thanks!”

“Big shoutout to @MnDOT this morning. The roads were in fantastic shape. Thanks to all the crews who worked long hours to clear the way!”

By Pippi Mayfield, District 1

There are many amazing views to take in around Duluth. There are the massive ships coming and going at all hours, the aerial lift bridge, the shores of Lake Superior, the view of Duluth and Superior, Wis., and city lights as drivers crest Thompson Hill and head down Interstate 35.

One lesser-known but impressive view: Watching truck drivers maneuver enormous wind turbine blades from the Port of Duluth-Superior through city streets and out of town.  

The Port of Duluth-Superior is an international gateway for shipping cargo to and from all over the world – even cruise ships. Commodities such as coal, iron ore, grain and limestone are typical shipments, but the thing that creates more coordination than other shipments is the oversize, overweight load. That’s why MnDOT is working on reconstructing the Twin Ports Interchange – including I-35, I-535 and Hwy 53 – to ensure that loads entering and leaving the port have the safest, most efficient route to the interstate system.

On Oct. 31, the longest turbine blade to date left the port and the truck made its way through Duluth seamlessly, beginning the five-day trip to the Jenner Wind Farm in Alberta, Canada. The blade weighed 54,508 pounds and stretched 239 feet, 5 inches, the longest blade ever (by about 50 feet) to be moved out of the port. In total 18 such blades are planned to go through the port, with the last one scheduled to leave the facility Dec. 12.

The 1,100-mile trip to Alberta warrants detailed planning and coordination. There are 27 turns between the port in Duluth and the Alberta wind farm, and the hauling company, Western Mechanical, has a 106-page document showing how each turn will be handled. Every turn must be analyzed and documented. Police escort must be in place.

In the Duluth area alone, this process involves traffic services, permits, maintenance, construction, the freight office, the City of Duluth, Ames-Kraemer Joint Venture, MnDOT District 2, the state patrol, Western Mechanical, North Dakota permitting and others to help plan to move the shipment to Alberta. There are also work zone modifications, sign base modifications and no-parking zones required to move these loads out of the Duluth area.

“It takes a lot of coordination between all the parties involved to get these enormous loads out of the port and to their final destination – often in a short period of time. It boils down to communications, coordination and execution,” said Pat Huston, assistant district engineer – major projects. “The freight office does a great job pulling us together and making it happen. The rest of us come to the table to help with solutions. It’s very rewarding to see these loads leave the port and hear that they made it to their destination. When the TPI project is complete, the loads will have direct access to the interstate, eliminating the need to use local roads.”

Tiffany Dagon is new RTMC director

The Regional Transportation Management Center has a new director as of Nov. 28. Tiffany Dagon returns to Metro as the RTMC director after three-and-a-half years as the building services director in the Office of Maintenance. 

Dagon previously worked in the Metro office for 10 years in a variety of other positions, including maintenance operations engineer, work zone engineer, and signing and pavement marking engineer. 

Prior to joining MnDOT, she worked as a consultant in the areas of highway design and traffic engineering, after graduating from Marquette University with a degree in civil engineering.

Landscape architect Andrea Weber has a knack for keeping history alive. She has worked for MnDOT for four years as a program manager for the agency’s Historic Roadside Properties and Waysides. She previously worked for the City of Shakopee, Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board and Dakota County.

How has your job changed since you started at MnDOT?

One change to my job is that I now manage all the Class IV Waysides as well as historic properties. Class IV Waysides are those that do not have buildings. The Rest Area Program in my unit, Site Development, manages the larger rest areas with actual restrooms, unless they are historic, in which case we overlap.

What are your day-to-day tasks?

My days vary a lot as I do everything from program management items (STIP plans, project ranking, condition assessment) to project management (scoping through design and construction). I also work on multiple projects at a time, all in different phases, so I have a lot of demands and also choices on how to spend my time.

What are the most challenging and rewarding parts of your job?

The most challenging is really that the work we do in Historic Roadside Properties is different from most other projects at MnDOT. We work under federal historic guidelines, called the Secretary of Interior Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties (often referred to as simply “the Standards”). We work closely with the Cultural Resource Unit and State Historic Preservation Organization and work with specialized consultants qualified in the Standards. We use different bidding processes and also negotiate construction contracts.  We also handle construction differently — we stay involved with our historic architect as the resource for materials and methods to match the original construction and preserve historic integrity.

The best part of my job is being able to travel throughout the state on different projects and feel like I am contributing to the communities I am working in by preserving our shared heritage. A lot of people love the historic markers and waysides, and our state is unique in having so many of them and committing to their stewardship. I have always loved old places and old things — the craftsmanship is just beyond what we can build and make today, and it is so inspiring!

Do you have a favorite past project or MnDOT-owned landscape?

My favorite project is always the one I am currently working on! But a couple stand out. I have been fortunate to connect with a community of people who have been advocates for the old “Lilac Way” properties in the west Twin Cities metro. While most of the original Lilac Way features are now lost to the reconstruction of Hwy 100, there is one site, Graeser Roadside Parking Area, that is largely intact and there is a dedicated group of volunteers working to preserve it. I have been working with them for two years. I first had to find ways to keep them involved in the site in an authorized and supported way. Community involvement in historic properties can be tricky, because the Standards don’t allow many changes, but when a community group understands the importance of a site and what will help preserve it and they are willing to do that, it is truly a win-win.

I am also really excited about the New Ulm Spring project. The construction is complete but it won’t officially be open until next year, after Hwy 14 is completed. This site was just a messy-looking, puddle-ridden widening of the road with a small stone wall. Now we have cleared the overgrown vegetation, reinstalled the curbed island, restored the beautiful stonework, and replaced picnic tables, also adding a new accessible picnic table. It looks amazing.

Is there anything about your job that might surprise other people (either inside or outside MnDOT)?

There are some misconceptions about our work in MnDOT. People often are confused by what office we are in. There is another group of landscape architects who work in the Office of Environmental Stewardship, but they work on road corridor projects. Our group, the Site Development Unit, works on specific defined places/sites. We are part of the Office of Project Management and Technical Support in the Design Services section.

Our unit is actually derived from the original group that designed and constructed the early highway waysides in the 1930s, the Roadside Development Division. Most of the work of the RDD was designed by Arthur Nichols, a pioneering landscape architect in the state. I would bet all Minnesotans have experienced one of his designs but few know his name. He designed most of our depression-era waysides, but he also did so many other public places, such as state college and university campuses, state parks, and the St. Paul Capital Mall.

Also, our profession is not as well-known as other design professions. Landscape architects are licensed professionals like engineers and architects. We work on the design of places and systems in the built environment and we are also often generalists – we know a lot about many aspects of design and are skilled at creatively putting things together. Our tools include plants, water, structures, circulation and how they are all aesthetically and functionally linked within a site. It is a broad field and challenging work, but please don’t call us landscapers!

Are there any upcoming projects that you’re particularly excited to begin?

I am working on our first two projects that are historic “modern” sites, which sounds like an oxymoron! They are Oak Lake Rest Area in District 2 near Erskine and Burgen Lake Rest Area in District 4 near Alexandria, both of which were built in the early 1970s. Most people don’t think of modernist design as historic, but the National Register of Historic Places says sites over 50 years old can be considered, and these two were found to be eligible for the National Register. It’s been fun to learn about these sites and what makes them special because it feels more connected to contemporary design.

Do you or a co-worker have an interesting job to share with readers? Send us your ideas, and we’ll contact you for more information.

Recent employee profiles:

• Christian Lawien maintains traffic infrastructure
• Nancy Boeve manages bidding, contracting for highway construction
• Abdullahi Abdulle works toward transportation equity

By Jesse Johnson, Metro

On Nov. 8, MnDOT’s African American Employee Resource Group sponsored and staffed a booth at a virtual career fair for students and alumni from Historic Black Colleges and Universities and minority-serving institutions.

The event attracted 254 current college students and graduates from across the world interested in seeking internship and employment opportunities in the United States. The event provided an opportunity for job candidates to interact with MnDOT staff in real time, submit resumes and connect with the agency outside of the fair. The AAERG sent emails to 248 candidates with information on how to apply for jobs at MnDOT and the State, the types of jobs available and the benefits of working for the State of Minnesota.

The AAERG supports MnDOT’s mission, vision, and values through recruitment and retention of employees who self-identify as Black, African-American, West Indian, or of African descent. The AAERG is specifically focused on recruitment efforts on attracting HBCU graduates, many of whom identify with the group.  

To learn more about the AAERG, visit their iHUB page.