Corps Extends Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock Comment Period

The St. Paul Engineer District announced October 27 that it is extending the public comment period for its Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam and Lock and Dam 1 disposition study to December 18.

The locks are located on the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minn. Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam is directly below the Interstate 35W bridge, and Lock and Dam 1 is located adjacent to the Ford Dam. 

Corps of Engineers staff have been exploring options for these two sites since the closure of Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam in 2015 significantly reduced their use for navigation. The study will help staff look at a variety of options for these sites, including options of no changes and deauthorization by Congress of the Corps’ federal navigation missions at these sites. 

Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam  closed November 1 for the navigation season. It is one of four that the St. Paul District will close in the coming months for routine maintenance and end of the 2022 navigation season. Locks and Dams 3 in Welch, Minn., and 4, in Alma, Wis., will close to commercial and recreational vessel traffic on December 5 through March 12, 2023, for miter gate anchorage bar replacement.

Upper St. Anthony Lock and Dam closed in 2015, partly because of low barge traffic but also to block northern migration of invasive Asian carp. Barge traffic currently ends at the confluence of the Mississippi River with the Minnesota River, where barges continue to serve terminals in Burnsville and Savage.

In January 2021, a draft disposition study for Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam was published. Under the direction of Congress, lands surrounding the lock and dam will be conveyed to the city of Minneapolis. The draft disposition study report recommends disposal of the remainder of Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam. Comments concerning the scope of the Lower St. Anthony Falls study may be submitted to: District Engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, ATTN: Regional Planning and Environment Division North, 332 Minnesota St., Suite E1500, St. Paul, MN 55101, or by email to MplsLocksDisposition@usace.army.mil.

Additional information on this study can be viewed here.