Column: Waukegan ravines need more action, less studies
Often overlooked and undervalued, the city's ravine system and the 4.2-mile Waukegan River are natural features in an urban landscape that could eventually offer immense environmental benefits at minimal cost. The ravine network includes Bowen Park, Washington Park, Roosevelt Park, Upton Park, Powell Park and areas off Sheridan Road, north of Grand Avenue, among other locales in Waukegan.
The ravines and Waukegan River have been eyed for years as home to a trail network winding across all parts of the city. The system is targeted for a new year-long study slated to begin Sept. 1 by the city, Chicago-based Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative and a $250,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, according to a Steve Sadin front-page story in the Aug. 12 News-Sun.
The aim of the Waukegan River Ravines Corridor Improvements Project is to come up with solutions to eroding ravines and overall improvement of the network. Sounds awfully similar to the aspirations of a study published in March 2024 when the city partnered with the University of Illinois-Chicago Climate and Health Institute for research and outreach around the ravines. The report, which also included input from city residents, made recommendations for future projects and research for the ecosystem.
For many, Waukegan's ravines are a well-kept secret where deer and other woodland creatures are known to exist. They were areas to be played in and around. Where the occasional molting chinook salmon can be found in the fall, migrating westward in a shallow Waukegan River from Lake Michigan on its way to a futile attempt at continuing the species' life cycle.
At the same time, the ravines have become junkyards, where home appliances, grocery carts, bald tires, grass clippings and autumn leaves have been dumped. Some of that has lessened as residents have become more ecologically conscious, especially along the Waukegan River which flows eastward to Lake Michigan.
In the early 1990s, as Illinois allowed the operation of floating gaming venues, the rivulet was considered by one developer to house a riverboat casino. His plan was to dredge the river where it enters Lake Michigan, put a riverboat on a tether and let it drift as guests gambled.
The plan sank, leaving Waukegan without a casino. That was until The Temporary opened in 2023 at the Fountain Square entertainment zone, bringing Las Vegas-quality gaming to Lake County.
City officials in the past have acknowledged the ravine system. There's a Ravine Avenue on the South Side and the senior citizen housing complex of Ravine Terrace, built in 1964, on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue.
One who haunted the Waukegan River ravine and used it to get to the city's downtown library was favorite son Ray Bradbury, whose home on St. James Street was near the ravine. In 'Dandelion Wine,' Bradbury's homage to 'Green Town' — aka Waukegan — the author who went on to acclaim as one of the world's great science fiction writers, describes the '113 steps' of the 'Dandelion Trail' in the ravines 'a pit of jungle blackness' where 'all things without names lived in the huddled tree shadow.'
Indeed, the UIC study determined that 'ravines are part of what makes Waukegan special.' Besides green spaces, the ravines offer flood prevention and muffle city noises, among other benefits, the study outlined.
'Developing and improving access to ravines can reduce public health care and infrastructure costs and increase property values,' the study reported. It recommended signage for access points to the ravines, along with publishing maps of the ravine system.
It also recommended continuing to develop infrastructure such as walkways, railings and benches to improve access for exercise and leisure activities to boost the health and well-being of city residents, and forming a city task force specifically for the ravine network. To my knowledge, none of the UIC study proposals were followed through on.
Whether Waukegan's steep-sloped ravines are considered to be gullies or washes, they are unmatched and untapped treasures. It's unusual for a city to have such unused habitats.
Lake Forest has similar ravines, where deer are known to roam, behind stately homes along Deer Path Road. None of the North Shore city can offer public access and destinations like Waukegan's.
The basics are there for city stakeholders to investigate and take further action. Another ravine study isn't needed to know what to do.
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