The bridge consists of a pair of parallel, concrete box girder structures over the main river channel and precast concrete girder structures over the back channels.

The westbound I-90 to southbound US 14/US 61 interchange has a fly-under ramp allowing continuous movement with no competing traffic.

Although the previous bridge had no weight restrictions and operated at an acceptable level of service at the time of replacement, there were a number of problems with the 1967 bridge and surrounding roadways:[6] In 2006, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) commissioned a study on ways to rectify some or all of these issues.

Some of the options that were presented included: In addition, the collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge in Minneapolis, on August 1, 2007 led to the effort by MnDOT to replace or modify "fracture-critical" bridges in the state.

[7] A concrete box girder bridge design was ultimately selected.