About three miles east of the village, barricades stand at both ends of a blackened former railroad bridge on the Great River State Trail. The bridge has been closed since a fire on May 15, 2025. A short distance away, cars on WIS 35 cross the same creek on a highway bridge that the Wisconsin Department of Transportation has already scheduled for replacement.
Both are called the Tank Creek bridge. Two different state agencies own them, and they sit on two different calendars. Since the fire, the trail crossing has been the one in the news. The highway crossing matters more for daily trips to Holmen and Onalaska. Put the two schedules side by side and the gaps don't overlap. The trail bridge is expected back before the highway work begins, and the highway is planned to stay open the whole time.
The crossing that burned
The Wisconsin DNR's bridge page says the Trempealeau, Onalaska and Holmen fire departments put out the fire. The damage was severe enough that the bridge closed to all use right away. Perrot State Park Superintendent Justin Wershofen told WIZM the bridge was a total loss. Even the piers under the old railroad span will need replacing.
Losing the piers is why there's still no quick fix. The DNR says it is lining up the resources to design and build a new structure, and it estimates reconstruction in 2028, "pending available funding and resources." State Rep. Steve Doyle talked about the bridge on WIZM on June 3, 2026. The station's summary says he covered when construction might happen and a possible federal grant toward what could be a couple million dollars in cost. A grant has not been confirmed. The DNR bridge page still says the cause of the fire is under investigation.
The DNR said at the time that there was no reroute because of where the bridge sits. The trail stays open from both the Onalaska and Trempealeau ends, but riders who reach the barricades have to turn around. The La Crosse Tribune reported that before the fire, the bridge provided a continuous 24 miles of off-road riding between Onalaska and Trempealeau. Without it, the only bikeable route into the village is La Crosse County Road XX to Highway 35, riding alongside cars and trucks. That road connection is not a signed trail detour.
The same Tribune report gave a sense of who uses the eastern stretch. Trempealeau Hotel owner Amy Werner estimated that 10 to 20 percent of the hotel's guests are bike tourists who ride into town on the state trail. Robbie Young of Coulee Bicycle Co. in Onalaska said most riders now go out to the bridge and head back toward Onalaska.
The crossing residents already changed
The fire was only the first half of what the Tribune headline called a "double whammy." The other half was the WIS 35 bridge project. The WisDOT project replaces three deteriorating structures on the highway between Holmen and Trempealeau: the Tank Creek Bridge and the East Channel and West Channel Black River bridges.
WisDOT's original preferred plan was a full closure with a detour. During the November to December 2024 comment period, the public objected. The department reopened its traffic options, consulted the bridge construction industry in February and March 2025, and in May 2025 chose a new preferred alternative that keeps traffic moving on temporary structures.
WisDOT's August 2025 handout puts numbers on what that change means for a Trempealeau to Holmen drive:
- Full closure and detour, rejected: traffic sent through Centerville and Galesville on WIS 54/93 and US 53, with an estimated added 16 to 18 minutes per trip. The impact could have run up to three straight seasons if one structure was built each season.
- Temporary bridges, selected: an estimated added 3 to 5 minutes, possibly with temporary signals holding traffic to one lane.
The handout says plainly that keeping traffic open adds significantly to construction cost. The project page now says simply that WIS 35 will remain open to traffic with temporary bridges, and it lists the status as "Design."
The change came with a delay. Construction was pushed from the original 2027 target to 2029 to allow the extra environmental coordination that the new approach required.
The two clocks, side by side
This is where the two projects fit together. Here is each bridge by its latest published status as of October 2026:
| Trail bridge over Tank Creek | WIS 35 bridges over Tank Creek and Black River | |
|---|---|---|
| Owner | Wisconsin DNR | WisDOT |
| Current state | Closed since May 15, 2025 | Open, in design |
| Next milestone | Design and funding, not yet announced | Project design complete, August 2028 |
| Work window | Reconstruction estimated 2028, pending funding | Construction start winter/spring 2029 |
| During work | No through route | Road stays open on temporary bridges |
If both agencies keep to these dates, the trail bridge comes back in 2028 and the highway work starts the following year. Trempealeau would not be without both its off-road link and its full-speed road link at the same time, and WIS 35 is planned to stay open through its own construction. The trail date is the softer of the two. The DNR ties it to funding, and nothing published so far confirms that money has been awarded.
One piece of the highway work does affect people who use the river. WisDOT says the boat landing between the two Black River bridges will likely not be available while those bridges are under construction. Access will be kept open for portaging canoes and kayaks through the work zone.
Everything west of the barricade still runs
The closure cuts the trail east of the village only. The DNR lists trail parking at Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge and at Perrot State Park, and it locates the closed crossing about three miles east of Trempealeau. None of the sources reviewed list a closure on the stretch through Perrot and the refuge.
That stretch covers a lot of ground this month:
- Perrot State Park is open year-round from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Its only posted property alert is the Tank Creek bridge. Bikes can reach the Great River State Trail directly from the park's campground.
- The refuge section of the trail connects riders coming from Perrot. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists a through-ride of about two miles from the Marshland Access to the next refuge parking area.
- The Prairie's Edge auto-tour loop runs 4.5 miles and is open to vehicles, bikes and walkers. The Fish and Wildlife Service describes spring and fall as good wildlife-viewing seasons because of migrating birds.
- The Find Your Calm Trail on the Pine Creek Dike is a self-guided refuge walk open sunrise to sunset from Saturday, October 10 through Saturday, October 17, 2026, according to a refuge notice posted by the Town of Trempealeau. The same notice covers the 2026 Refuge Relay Challenge, which awards an America's 250th anniversary patch to visitors who stop at three of 15 locations.
Two practical details for the rest of the season. Refuge office winter hours begin the week of November 2, 2026: Wednesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., closed Saturday through Tuesday and on federal holidays. The state trail pass is still required for riders 16 and older on the open sections. For 2026 it costs $25 a year or $5 a day, and the annual pass is good through December 31, 2026. The Tribune reported that River Stop, the village's only gas station, sells both trail passes and Perrot State Park passes.
Where to watch for the next update
The DNR posts trail bridge news on its Great River State Trail page and offers email notifications for Tank Creek updates. The trail notice there was last updated August 25, 2025. The next signs of real progress will be a design contract or a funding award. WisDOT's August 2025 schedule set spring 2026 for completing the environmental document and August 2028 for finished design.
Construction schedules shape more than commutes. They affect how a home east of the village fits someone's routine and how a listing describes the drive to Holmen. If you'd like to talk through how the 2028 and 2029 bridge dates line up with your own plans, Jake Ramey is happy to walk through it with you. Let's Connect.
