Red Cliff Receives $5.8M BUILD Transportation Grant

Transportation center will increase access to essential services, improve roads

September 24, 2020 – The Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa have been awarded a $5.8M grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation BUILD grant program. The Red Cliff Transportation Renewal Project will greatly increase community access to essential services and will better preserve tribal roads.

The grant includes a new multi-purpose transit building, two new snowplows, a new grader, and other much needed road maintenance equipment along with two new Miskwaabekong Transit buses in order to meet community needs for access to medical facilities, schools, and other essential services.

“This award is very exciting as the Tribe will be able to better serve the transportation needs of the community,” said Red Cliff Transportation Director Jeff Benton. “This new transportation center will protect the Tribe’s maintenance and transportation equipment from our harsh winters.”

The transportation center will consist of storage and maintenance bays to contain a road grader, front-end loader, tracked backhoe, plow trucks, and Miskwaabekong Transit buses. As Highway 13 crosses through the reservation boundaries, this grant will also help the Tribe better maintain stretches of the National Scenic Byway for both community members and the general public to access the National Lakeshore.

“This grant will spark a much needed revitalization of Red Cliff’s roads and transportation system,” said Red Cliff Chairman Richard Peterson. “Community members need to be able to access essential services. This transportation center, along with new maintenance equipment, will help the Tribe provide that for its members even in our harsh weather conditions.”

“This project has been a long time coming and will greatly benefit the Tribe’s road system on a long-term scale while increasing the longevity of the current equipment,” said Vice Chairman Nathan Gordon. “We’d like to thank everyone that helped make this happen as well as the BUILD Grant Program for awarding this grant to Red Cliff.”

Questions can be directed to the Tribal Administration Building at 715-779-3700.

For information regarding the U.S. DOT BUILD grants, visit www.transportation.gov/BUILDgrants