Mississippi River bridge reopens after safety scare

A Mississippi River bridge connecting Wisconsin and Iowa reopened Monday following a three-week emergency closure.

Iowa Department of Transportation officials determined the Black Hawk Bridge was safe for traffic to resume based on an inspection and engineering analysis. The 94-year-old bridge connects communities in rural Crawford County to Lansing, Iowa, and it is the only river crossing along a 60-mile stretch of Highway 35 between La Crosse and Prairie du Chien.

Officials had abruptly closed the crossing on May 17 after a sensor detected movement in one of the bridge’s support piers. That movement coincided with nearby construction crews driving piling into the riverbed for a replacement bridge, according to Clayton Burke, project manager for the Iowa DOT.

“We can’t see under the sand and know exactly what’s happening, but the movement did line up pretty well with construction activities that were occurring next to the bridge,” Burke said.

This is the second time the existing bridge has been shut down since construction started. The crossing was closed between February and April in 2024 after construction caused two piers on the Wisconsin side of the river to slide out of place.

After the most recent closure, Burke said construction on the new pilings has been paused until July. The Iowa DOT has committed to keeping the Black Hawk Bridge open through the July Fourth weekend, but will close it later in the month as a precaution while crews continue driving piling for the new crossing.

“We’ve come up with some ways to install those piles differently that should have a lower impact on the existing bridge,” he said. “It’ll just take longer to do so.”

Burke said the changes could end up extending the timeline for the new bridge opening, which is scheduled for 2027. But he said it’s critical that his agency is able to keep the crossing open for local residents.

“You can’t just assign a dollar value to that, to dislocating people from their jobs and their families and access to medical services across the river,” he said.

Josh Petzel owns Great River Roadhouse in De Soto, a village north of the bridge. He had announced to his staff on Sunday that he would be reducing the restaurant’s operating hours because of the bridge closure. But he quickly scrapped the plan Monday morning after hearing the bridge was reopening.

Petzel said his sales have been down between 30 and 40 percent over the last three weeks, a decline that was especially disappointing over the typically busy Memorial Day weekend. 

“Like most of the businesses around here, we make hay when the sun shines — May through October. And so it’s kind of a tough way to start the season,” said Petzel, who also sits on the De Soto Area Tourism Council.

Petzel said one of the biggest impacts was scheduling staff members who went from having a 20-minute commute from Lansing to an hour and 20 minute trip through La Crosse each way. He tried giving people longer shifts and even let some staff stay at his rental property to avoid commuting back and forth over the weekends.

“You can do it for a couple weeks, maybe even a couple months,” he said. “But wear and tear on the vehicle, gas, time, all become factors that deter you from doing that long term.”

The lack of a timeline for reopening the bridge was the hardest part of the most recent closure, Petzel said. He’s less worried about a planned closure in July, and said the advanced notice will allow him to better adjust to decreased traffic.

The Iowa DOT began operating a free water taxi and shuttle service across the river Wednesday. That service will remain open through the planned bridge closure in July as long as residents continue to use the service, according to Burke. An estimated 50 riders a day, many of them commuting for work, used the service last week.