Eau Claire–Chippewa Falls metropolitan area
At a ribbon-cutting for the opening of the final stretch of the newly 4-laned section of WIS 29 between Green Bay and Elk Mound, in 2005, Gov.For practical purposes, the Eau Claire–Chippewa Falls metropolitan area extends only as far as those municipalities directly adjacent to the incorporated cities and villages in the core area, with the notable exception of the Eau Claire County town of Pleasant Valley, which is included because so much of its population is suburban rather than rural.Hydroelectric dams within the metropolitan area, one in Eau Claire and two in Chippewa Falls, further limit its ability to be used as a transit route.Among these are: Freight rail traffic to and from the Eau Claire–Chippewa Falls metropolitan area is via lines formerly run by the inheritors of both the SOO and Chicago & North Western Railways.The rail network in the metropolitan area was much more extensive until the late 1980s and early 1990s, when many lines were first abandoned and then slowly converted to a network of biking and recreation trails [1], including the Chippewa River Trail, which follows much of the old route of the Milwaukee Road railbed, from downtown Eau Claire to Durand.