Minnesota State Highway 43 (MN 43) is a

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

in southeast

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, which runs from its

intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their ...

with State Highway 44 in

Mabel Mabel is an English female name derived from the Latin ''amabilis'', "lovable, dear".Reclams Namensbuch, 1987, History Amabilis of Riom (died 475) was a French male saint who logically would have assumed the name Amabilis upon entering the prie ...

and continues north to its northern terminus at the

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

state line at Winona, where it becomes Wisconsin Highway 54 upon crossing the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. Highway 43 is in length.

Route description

State Highway 43 serves as a north–south route between

, Rushford, and Winona in southeast Minnesota. The route crosses the Root River in Fillmore County. Highway 43 passes through the Richard J. Dorer State Forest. The northern terminus of Highway 43 is at the

at Winona, where the route becomes Wisconsin Highway 54 upon crossing the Main Channel and North Channel bridges over the river to

History

State Highway 43 was authorized in 1920 between Rushford and Winona. The remainder of the route between Rushford and

was authorized in 1933. Highway 43 was paved from Wilson to Winona by 1929. The only gravel section remaining by 1940 was south of Rushford. The route was completely paved by 1953. A major project in the 1980s to rebuild Highway 43 from

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

to Winona as an expressway ran out of money. Only one carriageway was actually paved. There is still visible road bed and bridges east of the roadway in this section. In response to the I-35W Bridge collapse in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

on August 1, 2007, all Minnesota bridges were ordered to be inspected. During an inspection, "gusset plate

corrosion Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials (usually a metal) by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engine ...

issues" were discovered in the Main Channel Bridge (Highway 43 / Highway 54), which crosses the

between

Winona, MN Winona ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Winona County, Minnesota, United States. Located in bluff country on the Mississippi River, its most noticeable physical landmark is Sugar Loaf. The population was 25,948 at the 2020 census. Hi ...

and nearby Fountain City, WI. The Main Channel Bridge (Bridge #5900) was closed to traffic on June 3, 2008.

MnDOT The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT, ) oversees transportation by all modes including land, water, air, rail, walking and bicycling in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The cabinet-level agency is responsible for maintaining the stat ...

made a statement this was due to

gusset plate In structural engineering and construction, a gusset plate is a plate for connecting Beam (structure), beams and girders to columns. A gusset plate can be fastened to a permanent member either by Bolted joint, bolts, rivets or welding or a combi ...

corrosion issues similar to those that caused the I-35W Bridge to collapse.Minnesota Highway 43 / Wisconsin Highway 54 - Mississippi River Crossing at Winona - project status

. Accessed June 5, 2008. The Main Channel Bridge reopened to car traffic on June 14, 2008. Commercial vehicles were still directed to find alternate routes across the river. The bridge was scheduled for replacement in 2017, which has been moved up to 2014. Both bridges were opened o
July 1, 2019
and now are fully accessible.

Major intersections

Gallary

References

{{Reflist 043 Transportation in Fillmore County, Minnesota Transportation in Winona County, Minnesota