A mass-transit route linking Eau Claire and Menomonie is about to become a reality. On Aug. 21, the Eau Claire Transit Commission OK’d an express route that will make three daily trips to the McDonald’s/Greyhound station northwest of Eau Claire, where it will connect with a Dunn County Transit route. Earlier this summer. Menomonie officials had approved their part of the route, which will begin at the UW-Stout clock tower. While it won’t exactly be the Orient Express, the route should be a boon to commuters, students, and anyone else who wants to catch a reasonably priced public-transit route from one city to the other. According to the Chippewa Valley Transit Alliance, the route will begin and end at the bus transfer center on Farwell Street in downtown Eau Claire. It will then run as an express route to Mega West (both inbound and outbound), then follow a loop past the Menards Distribution Center, the park-and-ride lot by Highway 12 and the North Crossing, the Chippewa Valley Airport Service terminal, and Chippewa Valley Technical College’s west campus. The service likely will begin by the end of September.