The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) and Chicago Park District are working on additional lakefront stabilization projects, planned in coordination with the Army Corp, that will protect Chicago’s shoreline from Lake Michigan water levels.
The joint project will protect Juneway Beach, Rogers Beach and Howard Beach on the far North Side from erosion.
It will also involve work at 49th Street and the lakefront to protect the shoreline and Lake Shore Drive and the installation of barriers at 67th Street to protect South Shore Drive from storm-related flooding.
Additional City efforts come in the aftermath of two severe storms where waves as high as 12 feet hit the shoreline, causing severe erosion to already-damaged infrastructure.
Models used by USACE predict lake levels will remain high through winter 2019 and spring 2020 due to increased levels of precipitation in the Lake Michigan-Huron basin increasing the likelihood for additional shoreline and infrastructure damage.
That’s why the Park District and CDOT started placing large rip rap to stop further damage and erosion caused by waves and storms at Juneway Beach. Work will then proceed to Rogers Beach and finally to Howard Beach.
CDOT anticipates it will take approximately four to five weeks at each site to place nearly 10,000 cubic yards of rip rap between the three locations.
Additionally, the Corps, in cooperation with the City of Chicago, will place large rip rap at key locations along the lakefront between 49th and 50th Streets in response to additional erosion on the shoreline caused by recent storms.