Large traffic paid the debts 11 years ahead of schedule and the bridge was toll free by 1954.

Prior to this renovation, the bridge was dark green; however, it again was painted a light gray that is currently maintained.

This resulted in both of these highways passing a short distance through Jo Daviess County, Illinois, between Dubuque and Wisconsin.

Now both highways cross the Mississippi on the Dubuque–Wisconsin Bridge, which directly connects Wisconsin and Iowa, and neither US 61 nor US 151 passes through Illinois.

[3] On June 9, 2008, the bridge was struck by a number of runaway barges shortly after 8 p.m. Fifteen barges—which were loaded with corn, soybeans, and iron ore—struck one of the pillars on the eastern side of the main channel.