Upon boarding, passengers get their pick from a jar of Tootsie Rolls with a blue sticker that reads, “The Lansing Water Taxi.”

The Lansing Water Taxi was once used for scenic riverboat tours along the Mississippi. Now, it serves as an essential ferry service used by hundreds of residents to go about their daily lives.

Babra owns of Maiden Voyage Tours, a tourism company based in Marquette, Iowa. He was hired by the city to provide the ferry service after the Black Hawk Bridge connecting the communities was closed due to structural issues. Despite the challenges, he said he’s happy for the extra work in his off-season, and to help out.

“The biggest thing has been providing a service that’s really needed. Like the nursing home is down some staff, and you can’t just replace those workers,” Babra said.

The closure of the Black Hawk Bridge turned a short trip from Wisconsin to Iowa across the Mississippi River into a commute of over an hour for many. In response, the Iowa Department of Transportation offered a free water taxi service for those traveling to and from the intertwined communities of De Soto and Lansing, Iowa.

The ferry made its maiden voyage within weeks of the closure and has since become a routine for many residents. Among the regular passengers are bank tellers, teachers, school children — as well as those hoping to visit the hardware store or a favorite restaurant. Some were wrapped up in blankets, despite the sunny weather.

Rachel Hammel is a bartender at The Swede’s Swing Inn in Ferryville. She had to commute over an hour and a half both ways for two weeks before the ferry service started.

“It’s helping save me the drive. It’s getting better now that it’s getting warmer out,” Hammel said as she rode the water taxi across the river.

The Black Hawk Bridge is almost a century old and work on a new replacement bridge has begun. The new bridge is expected to open in 2027.

The Iowa DOT said construction work likely was to blame for shifts in two piers on the old bridge discovered at the end of February. The discovery led to the closure of the bridge. Crews are working to make repairs as they seek to re-open the old bridge.

“It’s a dramatic impact for anyone who needs that bridge on a daily basis,” said Andrew Boddicker, the executive director of Main Street Lansing. “Lansing has the only grocery store for the residents across the river for like 25 miles, so it’s very important that we have this. We have about 2,200 cars a day crossing that bridge.”

As of March 18, the Iowa DOT began fully funding the water taxi service, which is available for anyone at no charge. The service also offers parking and shuttle services at Lansing City Hall and Middle/Kee High School in Lansing and De Soto Community Center on the Wisconsin side. Parking is not allowed at Big Slough Landing, so travelers must make use of the shuttle services offered.

“You’ve got to plan ahead a little bit there to catch the shuttle service,” Boddicker said. “They say plan for half an hour for the whole journey across from parking lot to parking lot, but it’s about a 20-minute ride.”

The water taxi operates seven days a week from 7-10 a.m., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3-6 p.m. The water taxi departs from the Iowa side on the hour, and from the Wisconsin side on the half-hour mark of each service hour.

“There is some frustration about the schedule, but we only have one captain and one boat — we can’t work this guy to the bone,” Boddicker said. “It’s never been proposed as a solution to all the problems… This is the best we can do, given the sudden nature of the closure.”

The bridge is anticipated to re-open at the end of April, but in the meantime, Boddicker encourages people to make the extra effort to help support the struggling economy as a result of the shutdown.

“Make an extra effort to go to these places to eat and shop because it’s making a big impact economically,” Boddicker said. “It’s having a huge impact on both sides of the river economically for our businesses — they are anywhere from 50 to 70 percent down on sales year-on-year. We are just grateful it wasn’t during our high season, but it’s still not having a great effect on local businesses.”