A new environmental report on a planned high-speed train from Minneapolis to Duluth didn’t expose significant barriers to its construction, though future funding for the $820 million connection remains undetermined.

The Environmental Assessment released Monday by the Minnesota Department of Transportation says that bridge work, wetland crossings and station construction for the Northern Lights Express would have limited impact along the 155-mile corridor.

Adding passenger trains to the freight rail corridor would likely mean building new tracks near BNSF’s Northtown Yard, in Fridley, between Isanti and Hinckley and near Superior, Wis. Nearly two dozen bridges may also need to be replaced or rehabilitated.

Bob Manzoline, executive director of the St. Louis and Lake Counties Regional Rail Authority, described the report’s largely positive findings as an “absolutely huge” milestone for supporters of the high-speed connection.

“Many projects get mired down in some of the effects the project would have, but they really haven’t found anything here that would be a real detriment,” Manzoline said Monday. “Nothing is rising to the top, so we’re pretty happy about that.”

Officials from several communities along the corridor said they were still reviewing the report but that there were no glaring, immediate concerns.

“I think the city is just happy to have the project moving forward,” said Mark Perry, Hinckley’s planner and zoning administrator.

Still, building a high-speed connection would not come without its impacts.

An estimated 120 acres of land along the corridor could need to be acquired to accommodate passenger and freight rail operations and noise from the train would affect more than 300 homeowners, according to the environmental report.

With travel speeds of up to 110 miles per hour, the report also said safeguards would have to be put in place to protect the public.

Manzoline said those issues would be addressed during a two-year engineering phase of the project that could begin as early as this summer.

Under the current proposal, the high-speed line would run from the Interchange, opening in downtown Minneapolis next year, to Duluth’s Union Depot, which is due to undergo a $25 million overhaul later this year.

New stations are planned for Cambridge, Hinckley and Superior, Wis., though specific sites have yet to be identified. A stop on Foley Boulevard, in Coon Rapids, could also be built to serve the Northstar Commuter Rail line and Northern Lights.

Updated ridership forecasts are expected later this year, but a previous study suggested that, by 2020, 938,000 riders would be using the service every year. Plans call for eight daily trips that would take roughly 2 hours and 17 minutes, just 13 minutes less than average travel time on the Interstate 35 corridor.

Before more detailed engineering can begin, supporters need to come up with more money.

A $6 million state bonding request that would cover further engineering is being considered by lawmakers now. The request is part of a larger, $26 million request advanced by the Minnesota Department of Transportation that would also put money toward study of high-speed rail lines linking the Twin Cities to Chicago and Rochester.

Dan Krom, director of MnDOT’s passenger rail office, said lawmakers who heard about the proposals during testimony last week were receptive to the idea. In the House, the request has now been advanced to the Capital Investment Committee; a Senate bill is before the Finance Committee.

Construction funding is expected to come largely from the federal government, which typically covers 80 percent of passenger rail projects.

A public hearing on the Northern Lights Environmental Assessment will be held at 6 p.m. April 4 at the Cambridge Armed Forces Reserve Community Center, 505 S. Spirit River Dr., Cambridge, Minn. MnDOT will accept comments on the study through April 17.