Bob CollinsFor many people in the East Metro, commuting to work means taking a deep breath and doing this: trying to cross the St. Croix by the “ice road.”
The Pioneer Press’ Mary Divine reports today that the man who has regularly plowed the ice road has retired.
You’re on your own, people.
The ice road is a short cut for Wisconsinites who work on the Minnesota shore, such as Bayport’s Andersen Corp. It saves about 25 minutes.
It’s not for the faint of heart anymore, though. There’s open ice near the Xcel plant and the construction of the new bridge has made for thin ice as the currents change.
It also hasn’t been a great year for ice as the cancellation of the pond hockey tournament on Lake Minnetonka has proved.
“I’ll be honest with you, I did just ice fish last year, but I would not drive all the way across on the main channel,” St. Croix County Sheriff John Shilts tells the PiPress. “I just would not trust that ice enough.”
