This past July, the Iowa and Wisconsin Departments of Transportation (DOT) determined that the Blackhawk Bridge, or as it’s also called, the “Lansing Bridge,” due to its age and deteriorating condition, would need to be demolished to allow for the construction of a replacement bridge.
The replacement bridge construction started in 2023, with the new bridge being built next to the existing one, but the near century old bridge was deemed unsafe for traffic to continue, with periods of bridge closures during that time due to “unsafe conditions.”
The bridge officially closed this past October, and with the bridge as the only passage across the Mississippi River between La Crosse and Prairie du Chien, a roughly 60-mile stretch, the Iowa DOT and WisDOT decided to initiate a free car ferry service that began last month and would run until the new bridge opens Spring 2027.
For that service, the ferry, “Pride of Cassville” has been in use since last month transporting cars across the river beginning at 5:30 a.m., until 9:15 p.m., hauling up to 12 cars at a time.
Currently there are four ferry captains rotating shifts on the Pride of Cassville, and one of those four is a former Fennimore resident.
Zach Novinska, a towboat captain the past 12 years, and a 2004 graduate of Fennimore High School, decided to “take the opportunity to use his skills in the field,” and help out members of the surrounding communities.
Novinska, son of Martin and Lesa Novinska of Fennimore, who had his normal duties of pushing barges on the Mississippi River end for the season, took the opportunity because he didn’t want to see those area small towns and small businesses “dry up.”
“I’m excited for this opportunity to lend my talent to this cause,” Novinska stated. “Being from a small town I was afraid towns such as Lansing, Ferryville, De Soto, etc., would dry up.”
“I had no idea the amount of traffic the area gets until I ended up hauling cars on the ferry,” Novinska went on to say.
According to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article, Lansing, Iowa, businesses reported drops in sales and foot traffic during temporary bridge closures over the past two years.
Some Lansing businesses reported that one-third to one-half of their customers come from the other side of the Mississippi.
The hope is the ferry service will provide some relief to the communities and small businesses there until the new bridge’s completion in Spring 2027.
During the many seven-minute trips across the river daily Novinska makes, he said that maybe only once has he had an empty ferry, with most trips being near or at the ferry’s 12-vehicle capacity.
Novinska stresses it was important to him to keep small business afloat and keep the “old fashion way” of supporting local, small businesses alive.
“A lot of small businesses would have been lost if not for the ferry,” Novinska explained. “Again, being from a small town I like to see things stay old fashioned and keep small businesses.”
Novinska will continue to be part of the Pride of Cassville ferry’s driver rotation until March when he’ll resume his tugboat captain duties.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this story.
