On October 29, 1959, drivers started making a shorter, and safer trip between the Chippewa Valley and the Twin Cities.

That's when the Department of Transportation opened a near-60-mile-stretch of I-94 for the first time.

A retired engineer who was part of the effort to built the stretch of I-94. Marty Beekman says crews celebrated the opening of the freeway for two days. He says there was a TV program, ribbon cuttings at a half-dozen interchanges, and a visit from the governor.

The two years of work that led up to that celebration was much different than you'd find at a construction site today.

Beekman says 10-foot sections of concrete were laid in place by hand, and it took 40 or more contractors and sub contractors working year-round.

"I've likened it to an anthill," Beekman said. "It was just a very busy, busy time."

Traffic headed to the Twin Cities from Eau Claire in those days sometimes spent four hours on U.S. Highway 12, and Beekman says more and more traffic made that route unsafe.

"The two-lane facility that was laden with semis at that time. Passing opportunities were few, if any," Beekman said.

That all changed with the new four-lane freeway from Menomonie to the state line.

The stretch from Eau Claire to Menomonie opened shortly after the celebration.

"It has added significantly to the economy of the area and not only just the area but the region and the state," Beekman said. "It's an opportunity I had to leave a footprint, a footprint that served the public well."

The bulk of the work that's gone into that stretch of freeway during the years to follow was resurfacing, outside of some expansion near Hudson.

Right now, the D.O.T. is mapping out a plan to eventually expand the mostly four-lane stretch to six-lanes, but the legislature has yet to approve a study on that project.

When the stretch of freeway first opened, the department says about 8,200 vehicles took I-94 over U.S. Highway 12 in Eau Claire per day. Today, it says more than 50,000 vehicles travel I-94 between Eau Claire and Hudson daily.