Novel Scheme of a Farmer
Wants to take charge of Water street bridge, repair and control it.
Eau Claire Weekly Leader | January 2, 1902

Wm. Brown, a substantial farmer of the town of Washington, has conceived a novel plan, which, however has its drawbacks. His idea is to lease the Water-street bridge, repair it and charge toll for traffic. He is confident the farm traffic over the bridge would make it a profitable investment, for, he says some farmers don’t like to cross Grand-avenue on account of the trolley-cars. He would charge ten cents for a team and five cents for pedestrians.

Chad’s Take: Eau Claire budget troubles solved

I am a big advocate for taking road trips. The feeling of the open road coupled with the endless possibility for adventure make the road trip a timeless American ritual. However, the road trip does contain a few drawbacks, and tolls are certainly at the top of that aggravating list. Have you ever enjoyed a nice trip to Chicago only to have the frustration of having to stop and pay $1.60 every ten miles diminish your fun? Last summer I was able to travel along Route 66 from Illinois to California without paying one single toll, and I must say that they were certainly not missed.

Tollways can have their fees, but what about the idea of a toll being setup inside the city of Eau Claire? I wonder what kind of condition the Water Street bridge was in during this time. It must have been a bit dilapidated if the city was considering letting a private citizen fix it up and operate it. Needless to say the idea would not have received my support. Yet in today’s world of quickly shrinking city budgets, maybe the Water Street bridge toll idea’s time has come.

What really excited me about this article was not the toll suggestion, but the Eau Claire trolley-cars. How amazing would it be to still have trolley cars operating in the city? Many tourist cities like San Francisco, Deadwood (SD), and Branson (MO) still have functioning trolleys to ride on, why not Eau Claire? I know Eau Claire already has a fantastic bus system, but I have always considered buses a poor man’s trolley, at least in the summer time. Rest assured I do not suffer from the disillusion that Eau Claire will get some trolley-cars anytime soon, or that they are even really necessary for the city, but it is nice to dream. Until that dream comes true, you can always travel over the Grand Avenue bridge knowing that the trolleys of the past were once there too.

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