Zoo path along Racine’s lakefront still in danger | Local News

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RACINE — Mother Nature is continuing to prove her strength and relentlessness as the City of Racine endeavors to save the bike path along the lakefront behind Racine Zoo. The path is still in sad shape after it suffered severe damage from erosion during a storm nearly two years ago.
The Racine City Council voted in favor of nearly $60,000 in emergency repairs to the zoo path on Tuesday, in the hopes of protecting it from further erosion until major repairs can be undertaken later in 2022.
Tom Molbeck, the city’s director of Parks, Recreation and Culture Services, said the emergency repairs were necessary to save the path from further erosion.
“It is my understanding the pieces or material that is being used will also be able to be used in the final project itself,” Molbeck said.
With winter storms likely in the imminent future, Molbeck hoped to have approval for the repairs before any further damage was done.
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The emergency repairs, for which $59,400 was approved to be spent, are expected to begin very soon — depending on several factors, one of which is the weather.
Erosion can be clearly seen just below the Zoo Beach walking path, which was officially closed on Aug. 4, 2020; this photo was taken the following day.
Lauren Henning
The zoo path was among the many shorefront locations from Kenosha to Milwaukee, and on Lake Michigan’s eastern coast in Michigan, that were damaged during a severe storm in January 2020 that caused several homes to fall into the lake or need to be torn down.
Due to even further erosion, the path was closed in August 2020 because of safety concerns. It was not reopened until September 2021 after a fence was installed to keep people away from the edge.
The Smith Group was contracted to re-engineer the path.
The goal is not just to put back what was there, but to put something there that will withstand storms for decades to come.
However, the re-engineering of the path is still in draft stage and there has not yet been a final cost estimate.
IN PHOTOS: Weekend storm damage along the lakefront (Jan. 11-12, 2020)
House falling, Jan. 13
A dump truck on Jan. 13 drops stones, boulders and sediment behind a home decimated by fast-moving erosion along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Pleasant Prairie days before.
House falling, Jan. 13
A home that was partially destroyed by erosion during Saturday’s storm has been deemed uninhabitable by the Village of Pleasant Prairie. It’s pictured here Monday, sitting precariously above Lake Michigan. The Brengels live next door and worry their home could be next.
House falling, Jan. 13
Charlotte and Rudolph Brengel, of Pleasant Prairie, stand in their backyard, a few feet back from the miniature cliff that now runs through their yard. They moved in 20 years ago, when the yard included a gentle slope down to the Lake Michigan shoreline. Erosion caused by a storm this weekend now threatens the foundation of their home.
House falling, Jan. 13
Saturday’s storm basically destroyed 40 feet of land that had comprised Charlotte and Rudolph Brengel’s backyard in Pleasant Prairie. Now, a small cliff cuts through the yard, replacing where a gentle decline had been just a few days ago.
WEEKEND STORMS
Storm impact along the Kenosha lakefront over the weekend of Jan. 10-12, 2020.
WEEKEND STORMS
Storm impact along the Kenosha lakefront over the weekend of Jan. 10-12, 2020.
WEEKEND STORMS
Storm impact along the Kenosha lakefront over the weekend of Jan. 10-12, 2020.
WEEKEND STORMS
Storm impact along the Kenosha lakefront over the weekend of Jan. 10-12, 2020.
CAROL BEACH
Storm impact pictured at Carol Beach.
CAROL BEACH
Storm impact at Carol Beach pictured Jan. 12.
CAROL BEACH
Storm impact pictured at Carol Beach Jan. 12.
KEMPER CENTER
Storm impact pictured at Kemper Center Jan. 11.
KEMPER CENTER
Storm impact pictured at Kemper Center Jan. 11.
KEMPER CENTER
Storm impact pictured at Kemper Center Saturday, Jan. 11.
KENOSHA LIGHTHOUSE
Storm impact at Kenosha Lighthouse pictured Jan. 11.
KENOSHA LIGHTHOUSE
Storm impact at Kenosha Lighthouse pictured Jan. 11.
KENOSHA LIGHTHOUSE
Taken on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, at the Kenosha Lighthouse by Jen Sepanski
KENOSHA LIGHTHOUSE
Taken on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, at the Kenosha Lighthouse by Jen Sepanski.
LAKEFRONT HOUSE STORM DAMAGE PLEASANT PRAIRIE
This house at 8615 Lakeshore Drive in Pleasant Prairie was damaged by Lake Michigan wave action during the weekend storm.
LAKEFRONT HOUSE STORM DAMAGE PLEASANT PRAIRIE
A house at 8615 Lakeshore Drive in Pleasant Prairie, was damaged by Lake Michigan wave action during the weekend storm.
LAKEFRONT HOUSE STORM DAMAGE PLEASANT PRAIRIE
A house, the lower structure shown in this photo, at 8615 Lakeshore Drive in Pleasant Prairie was damaged by Lake Michigan wave action during the weekend storm.
WEATHER
Dongze Price, 11, left, and his brother Enze, 13, look at waves crashing into the rocks at Eichelman Park on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020.
WEATHER
Dongze Price, 11, races away from the spray of a wave at Eichelman Park on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020.
WEATHER
Waves breach the wall in the 7100 block of First Avenue on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020.
WEATHER
Waves breach the wall in the 7100 block of First Avenue on Saturday. Have a photo you’d like to share? Send it to [email protected].