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

>> In other news.

Imagine you're running late for work, but you have to take a water taxi or ferry over the river instead of driving over a bridge.

That's what will confront people in western Wisconsin when the bridge over the Mississippi River that connects De Soto to Lansing, Iowa, is removed this fall and replaced in 2027.

As Erika Ayisi reports, the Lansing bridge, also named the Black Hawk Bridge in Crawford County, has been under repair while still in use, but soon it will close altogether for replacement.

>> Closure, demolition and rebuilding are the new plans for the Black Hawk Bridge.

>> The initial plan for the new bridge was that the old Black Hawk Bridge would remain open until the new bridge was completed.

>> But that plan has changed.

The village of De Soto President Timothy Gillespie says the announcement of the upcoming bridge demolition has residents worried about crossing the Mississippi River into Lansing, Iowa.

>> Unfortunately, the Black Hawk Bridge will have to be closed in October, and so it'll be about two years before the new bridge is ready.

>> The new bridge is being constructed along the existing bridge.

According to the Iowa and Wisconsin Departments of Transportation, the east side of the existing bridge is posing a risk to the new bridge's completion.

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

And they have to continue to drive the pilings down.

And so it's going to weaken.

They think the existing bridge.

And that'll become a safety issue a hazard.

>> The livelihood of local businesses on both sides of the river are at stake.

>> There's just going to have a very negative effect on a lot of businesses, not only in De Soto, but certainly in Lansing, Ferryville, Genoa, Harpers Ferry, New Alvin, Iowa.

All of those communities are going to be affected by this.

>> The bridge has been closed temporarily, briefly in the past.

How were passengers impacted during those times?

>> Well, they had a people ferry that they started and that was working pretty well.

It you know, it's still pretty difficult for people to use a people ferry to, to, to get to work.

>> A people ferry and car ferry like this one could help business owners like Erwin Buckmaster sustain his Lansing restaurant with Wisconsin customers.

and more people would want to be involved and indulge in that car ferry, as opposed to just shuttling, busing and getting trucked across the river.

>> Transportation officials are exploring a car ferry service, but Gillespie says it will not meet the daily demand of cars crossing the bridge.

able to bring 1214 cars at a time over, and that's certainly not going to take the place of the traffic that was on the Black Hawk Bridge.

>> Justin Shepherd of Shep's Riverside Bar and Grill says customers need multiple crossing plans for businesses to stay afloat, especially through winter.

>> As far as business goes, you know they'll run a shuttle hopefully until the ice comes through and then after the ice is in, you know, we don't really know how that's going to work because they don't have a plan for in place for that either.

closest bridge is U.S. Highway 18, connecting McGregor, Iowa, to Prairie du Chien, about 45 minutes away from the Lansing De Soto Bridge crossing.

>> And there's also a medical clinic over in Lansing.

And so if we can't get over there, then the people are going to have to go to Prairie du Chien or La Crosse, which is 30 miles in either direction.

the new bridge's signature singing sound, wider width and indigenous name reference to Chief Black Hawk will remain the same as Gillespie and other area village presidents seek government aid.

>> Going to be looking for some kind of a federal or state aid to help support the loss of revenue that's going to occur.

So hopefully we can get some some assistance.

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