Winona set to celebrate completion of yearslong bridge project
After nearly five years of work, on Monday the city of Winona will celebrate the completion of construction and repairs on its bridges over the Mississippi River.
Traffic is set to start flowing again over the historic Highway 43 bridge that has been closed since 2016 for renovations.
It'll join a new span that's been open since 2016. One span will carry two lanes of traffic into Winona; the other will carry traffic leaving town.
"It's a big day, to finally get this job done. It's a $150 million project. But I think in the end it will give the community a lot of assurance," said Winona Mayor Mark Peterson. "We have the redundancy of having two bridges. We know things can happen to bridges, either below or on it, and if something ever happens we'd still have a second bridge to carry traffic over the river."
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Something did happen to the old span in 2008: It was closed for more than a week after inspectors found safety issues with gusset plates. It reopened after repairs, but that spurred what eventually became the five-year project starting in 2014 — first building a new span, then completely rehabilitating the old one.
Peterson said it was important to maintain the old bridge, which dates back to 1942 — and not just for the redundancy.
"It's an important bridge; it's historic. And it's really an iconic feature for our community," he said. "When Minnesota was featured on a sesquicentennial (postage) stamp, that was the bridge in the foreground, representing the state."
The city and the Minnesota Department of Transportation will hold a ceremony and ribbon-cutting at noon Monday at the foot of the bridge.