This river crossing was built as part of the MN-610 project, a north beltline that runs parallel to and a few miles north of I-694. This highway currently runs from I-35W to US-169. The next project will extend the freeway from US-169 straight west to connect with I-94.
The westbound span was opened in late 1987. It served 4 lanes of traffic, two each direction, until, the second span was completed in 1999. In aerial photos, you can still see the line running down the middle of the westbound span where a concrete divider separated the east and westbound lanes of traffic prior to the new span being completed. The new span is much wider than the original span. That is due to having wider shoulders and a regional tail on the downstream side of the structure.
