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I'm Marisa Wojcik for "Here&
Now".

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>> In other news. Imagine
you're running late for

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work, but you have to take a
water taxi or ferry over the

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river instead of driving
over a bridge. That's what

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will confront people in
western Wisconsin when the

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bridge over the Mississippi
River that connects De Soto

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to Lansing, Iowa, is removed
this fall and replaced in

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2027. As Erika Ayisi
reports, the Lansing bridge,

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also named the Black Hawk
Bridge in Crawford County,

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has been under repair while
still in use, but soon it

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will close altogether for
replacement.

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>> Closure, demolition and
rebuilding are the new plans

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for the Black Hawk Bridge.
>> The initial plan for the

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new bridge was that the old
Black Hawk Bridge would

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remain open until the new
bridge was completed.

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>> But that plan has
changed. The village of De

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Soto President Timothy
Gillespie says the

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announcement of the upcoming
bridge demolition has

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residents worried about
crossing the Mississippi

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River into Lansing, Iowa.
>> Unfortunately, the Black

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Hawk Bridge will have to be
closed in October, and so

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it'll be about two years
before the new bridge is

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ready.
>> The new bridge is being

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constructed along the
existing bridge. According

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to the Iowa and Wisconsin
Departments of

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Transportation, the east
side of the existing bridge

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is posing a risk to the new
bridge's completion.

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>> And they said it's
becoming a safety issue. And

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they have to continue to
drive the pilings down. And

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so it's going to weaken.
They think the existing

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bridge. And that'll become a
safety issue a hazard.

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>> The livelihood of local
businesses on both sides of

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the river are at stake.
>> There's just going to

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have a very negative effect
on a lot of businesses, not

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only in De Soto, but
certainly in Lansing,

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Ferryville, Genoa, Harpers
Ferry, New Alvin, Iowa. All

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of those communities are
going to be affected by

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this.
>> The bridge has been

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closed temporarily, briefly
in the past. How were

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passengers impacted during
those times?

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>> Well, they had a people
ferry that they started and

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that was working pretty
well. It you know, it's

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still pretty difficult for
people to use a people ferry

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to, to, to get to work.
>> A people ferry and car

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ferry like this one could
help business owners like

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Erwin Buckmaster sustain his
Lansing restaurant with

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Wisconsin customers.
and more people would want

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to be involved and indulge
in that car ferry, as

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opposed to just shuttling,
busing and getting trucked

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across the river.
>> Transportation officials

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are exploring a car ferry
service, but Gillespie says

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it will not meet the daily
demand of cars crossing the

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bridge.
able to bring 1214 cars at a

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time over, and that's
certainly not going to take

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the place of the traffic
that was on the Black Hawk

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Bridge.
>> Justin Shepherd of Shep's

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Riverside Bar and Grill says
customers need multiple

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crossing plans for
businesses to stay afloat,

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especially through winter.
>> As far as business goes,

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you know they'll run a
shuttle hopefully until the

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ice comes through and then
after the ice is in, you

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know, we don't really know
how that's going to work

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because they don't have a
plan for in place for that

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either.
closest bridge is U.S.

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Highway 18, connecting
McGregor, Iowa, to Prairie

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du Chien, about 45 minutes
away from the Lansing De

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Soto Bridge crossing.
>> And there's also a

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medical clinic over in
Lansing. And so if we can't

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get over there, then the
people are going to have to

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go to Prairie du Chien or La
Crosse, which is 30 miles in

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either direction.
the new bridge's signature

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singing sound, wider width
and indigenous name

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reference to Chief Black
Hawk will remain the same as

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Gillespie and other area
village presidents seek

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government aid.
>> Going to be looking for

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some kind of a federal or
state aid to help support

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the loss of revenue that's
going to occur. So hopefully

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we can get some some
assistance.

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>> Reporting from De Soto
>> Reporting from De Soto