This area was once the Minnesota River crossing for US-169. US-169 now bypasses Shakopee and crosses the river on the new Bloomington Ferry Bridge. MN-101 also used this crossing, but the state turned this section of MN-101 back to the county. MN-101 now runs as far south as US-212, which is about 2 miles north of the river. As a result, the new bridge and the retired section of US-169 south and west of the river crossing are now a county road with the designation CSAH-69. Minnesota has two tiers of county road, the higher class is known as County State Aid Highways, and are nearly as good as a state highway.
The bridge itself is a rather graceful concrete girder bridge. The bridge is dressed up with antique style lighting, some lines cast into the concrete, and it features a curved deck. The bridge uses the new style solid guardrails. This helps keep debris and runoff contained and out of the river.
This river crossing is closed due to flooding every 3rd or 4th year. While the bridge itself is built to withstand very high water levels, the causeway north of the bridge is only a few feet above normal water levels. The water has been as high was 20 feet over the road in past floods.
