State Highway 43 serves as a north–south route between Mabel, Rushford, and Winona in southeast Minnesota.

The northern terminus of Highway 43 is at the Mississippi River at Winona, where the route becomes Wisconsin Highway 54 upon crossing the Main Channel and North Channel bridges over the river to Wisconsin.

[2] A major project in the 1980s to rebuild Highway 43 from Interstate 90 to Winona as an expressway ran out of money.

During an inspection, "gusset plate corrosion issues" were discovered in the Main Channel Bridge (Highway 43 / Highway 54), which crosses the Mississippi River between Winona, MN and nearby Fountain City, WI.

MnDOT made a statement this was due to gusset plate corrosion issues similar to those that caused the I-35W Bridge to collapse.