Trunk Highway 243 and State Trunk Highway 243 (MN 243, WIS 243) are two short

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...

s in the U.S. states of

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 ...

and

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 ...

. They connect MN 95 in Franconia Township, Minnesota with WIS 35 in

Osceola, Wisconsin Osceola ( ) is a village in Polk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,765 at the 2020 census. Located mostly within the Town of Osceola, the village sits on the border with Minnesota, separated by the St. Croix River. It is ...

. The two highways meet at the state line on a bridge across St. Croix River. The combined highway is in length, in Minnesota and in Wisconsin. The two highways were designated in 1949. The bridge across the St. Croix River dates to 1953.

Route description

Highway 243 serves as a short route between Franconia Township and the village of

Osceola Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838, Vsse Yvholv in Muscogee language, Creek, also spelled Asi-yahola), named Billy Powell at birth, was an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. His mother was Muscogee, and his great-grandfa ...

. The highway starts at MN 95 on Osceola Road and runs southeasterly for a short distance before it turns northeasterly and parallel to the St. Croix River. Then it turns back to the southeast near some ponds along the riverbank to the bridge across the river. The highway crosses the state line into Wisconsin continuing to the southeast. Before the highway ends, it turns to the east to intersect WIS 35 in Osceola.

History

Trunk Highway 243 was authorized in 1949 in Minnesota, at the same time State Trunk Highway 243 was designated in Wisconsin. Dr. L.O. Simenstad was responsible for both highways being designated as part of their state highway systems. In 1952, the state of Minnesota reconstructed part of the roadway after a section of it washed out. This project lengthened the highway by at the time. The current bridge was built in 1953 and rebuilt in 1980 by the

Wisconsin Department of Transportation The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Wisconsin responsible for planning, building and maintaining the state's highways. It is also responsible for planning transportation in the sta ...

(WisDOT). The bridge went through a month-long structural rehabilitation between late April and late May 2010. This project was being undertaken by

Minnesota Department of Transportation The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT, ) oversees Transportation in Minnesota, transportation by all modes including land, water, air, rail, walking and bicycling in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The Cabinet (government), cabinet-lev ...

(MnDOT) because the bridge is of similar design to the Interstate 35W Bridge over 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 ...

that collapsed on August 1, 2007. At the same time as the closure, MnDOT repaved their stretch of Highway 243. WisDOT also repaved their segment of the roadway, and they removed some rock from a bluff near the highway overlooking the river. The project was completed on May 28, 2010, when the bridge reopened to cars and passenger trucks.

Major intersections

Footnotes

References

External links

Highway 243 Bridge, Osceola, WI

at the Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page

at Wisconsin Highways {{DEFAULTSORT:State Highway 243 (Minnesota-Wisconsin)

243 __NOTOC__ Year 243 ( CCXLIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Arrianus and Papus (or, less frequently, year 996 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominat ...