This bridge once carried US-169 across the Minnesota River. In 1993, a new prestressed concrete girder bridge was built just downstream. US-169 was moved to this new bridge. Later, a bypass was built around Shakopee, along with the new Bloomington Ferry Bridge, and US-169 was moved to this new freeway. The old bridge at Shakopee was set aside to be used as a regional trail bridge.

Local officials have long known that this bridge would eventually require some level of repairs and refurbishment. That cost is well above what is normally budgeted for upkeep of a regional trail. The urgency of these repairs came to light after the I-35W bridge disaster. Like the I-35W bridge, this is a steel deck truss bridge, complete with lots of rust, areas that are hard to inspect, and gusset plate issues. A deck truss bridge has the metal latticework of beams under the highway roadway. There are very few bridges like this remaining, and only one other in use in the state of Minnesota, so it would be a historical disaster to lose it.