Northerly Island path collapse

I rode to Northerly Island last night for the first time since last year and the path on the lake side has completely collapsed in a couple of spots.

Does anyone know of the Parks department's plans about this?  This would be a major reconstruction and would probably require an effective breakwater off the shore to prevent it from being washed out every few months.

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Permalink Reply by curt(is) locke on April 4, 2019 at 9:16am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muUZjovOFRg

"History shows again and again

how nature points out the folly of man" -- Blue Oyster Cult

Permalink Reply by Jim Reho on August 1, 2019 at 5:58pm

Meigszilla!

Permalink Reply by Tooscrapps on April 4, 2019 at 8:34am

Cyclo-cross Worlds are coming to town!

Permalink Reply by Carter O'Brien on April 5, 2019 at 7:12am

I think the last thing I heard was CPD and the US Army Corp were in negotiations about it, as it seems kind of obvious the US Army Corp needs to make the fix, but they may be considering a new design or user strategy. It really is a bummer, I love taking a spin over to Northerly.

Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on April 6, 2019 at 5:07pm

It was a nice park after they closed Miegs field then the park district had a great idea to make it better by re doing it and putting a lagoon in the middle then party tents and Urban camping which essentially turns public space private.

Permalink Reply by Carter O'Brien on August 1, 2019 at 6:26am

Just hoping they back far, far away from the comment one of the Army Corp staff made recently where they had the audacity to claim that the trail was never meant to be recreational, but was just to enable maintenance. That was bewildering, maddening, and downright delusional.

Permalink Reply by Tricolor on August 1, 2019 at 10:45am

So it's going to be a dead end instead of a loop. They may as well close the whole southern end and make it a bird sanctuary.

Permalink Reply by Phillip Hutchinson on August 2, 2019 at 7:04am

Frankly I'm surprised no one has raised safety concerns about this already. It's a long, secluded and often sparsely used dead end trail with lots of blind corners, hiding spots and no lighting.  

Don't get me wrong... I like riding it, and it's a beautiful view of the city and a quiet respite from downtown, but I am always a bit on-guard when I'm out there. 

Permalink Reply by ketoguychicago on August 1, 2019 at 4:28pm

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-northerly-island-par...

One solution is a catch basin on the lake side of the path in low-lying spots, then a culvert running under the sidewalk to the other side to let the water run through the culvert instead of finding it's own way via erosion. Such designs exist all over the county, especially near boat launches, riverside walkways, even under private driveways to allow water to travel without running over the structure or eroding everything.  They are strong enough to drive a car over.

These elements are well within the design and build capabilities of the park district and certainly the Army Corps, but weren't in the original design because the they weren't needed, because of the massive lakefront barriers, which, oops, never happened.  However, nobody went back and designed, funded, or built these culverts to handle all that excess water, and now here we are.  

https://www.flickr.com/photos/concrete_specialists/14971541032

http://64.7.98.3/images/culvert.jpg

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/4-An-example-of-a-concrete-rock...

http://s3.amazonaws.com/pcf-east-io-aws-broker-2157d01a-51d4-40bb-8...

http://www.breyfogle.com/projects/culvert/culvert.html

Permalink Reply by JeffB on August 2, 2019 at 5:32am

Its a shame they're giving up on restoring the full path.  I'm still using the path in the mornings and evenings for a quiet detour on my commute. 

I wish they'd limit the private event and concert interference with such a nice public space.  I had to maneuver around four delivery trucks that were fully blocking the path at that event tent this morning.  And how long until that ugly Hamilton thing is gone?

And why do they have to close the whole park when there's a concert?  If they didn't want people listening in, they shouldn't have put their open-air stadium in the middle of a park.

And shame on Blair Kamin in that Tribune article for letting that Army Corp guy's statement about the true use of the trail stand unchallenged. Ridiculous.

Permalink Reply by Jim Reho on August 2, 2019 at 7:02am

Pretty miserable job on this project by the Army Core of Engineers.  Now they're trying to say that the path wasn't really even meant to be a permanent fixture.  It could have been if they had done the job right in the first place. 

Permalink Reply by Tooscrapps on August 2, 2019 at 9:41am

I like how the Fullerton bump channels the waves right towards the ped path at the south base. I know we're in a period of high water, but I can't believe the ACOE never extended the rock breaks to the section between the bump and the 1st jetty.

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