MUSKEGON, MI — Now that Lake Michigan’s high waters have receded, Muskegon officials are ready to restore access to the city’s Lake Michigan dog beach.
Destructive waves threatened stairs and a ramp leading from the parking lot at Kruse Park to the beach, prompting the city to remove the bottom portion of the wooden structure.
Since that removal in 2020, access to the beach primarily has been from the northern end of the beach – known to locals as “the curve” – closer to the adjacent Pere Marquette beach. But some have been bypassing the closed section of stairs, leading to concern about erosion.
Officials are ready to resurrect some sort of stairway, ramp or combination of the two, but first are looking for citizen input. Of particular interest is how important handicap accessibility is at that portion of the Lake Michigan shoreline, Muskegon Public Works Director Leo Evans told MLive.
A public meeting to discuss beach access options is scheduled for 4-5:30 p.m. Dec. 14 at Muskegon City Hall, 933 Terrace St.
The city has hired a landscape architect to design various options for accessing the beach at Kruse Park. Those renderings and accompanying cost estimates are not yet complete but should be in time for the public meeting, Evans said.
Options will include different materials and construction methods that can withstand future cycles of high and low water levels, he said.
“I don’t want to go through this again,” he said.
The structure that has been partially removed involves a wooden staircase leading straight to the beach crisscrossed by a switchback ramp.
Among the challenges in designing beach access is the 35-foot drop from the parking lot to the beach, a rather limited area and a desire to “minimize our footprint on the dune as much as possible,” Evans said.
“To me, in my engineer-oriented mind, it’s a hard place to build a ramped access that’s wheelchair accessible,” he said. “It’s a challenging site and will cost quite a bit to do.”
Among the input he’s seeking is whether a better idea than a ramp at Kruse is improved wheelchair access at Pere Marquette where reaching the beach doesn’t require stairs, Evans said.
He also believes the upcoming meeting will be a good time to reassess whether the city should have a dog beach, Evans said. While he thinks it’s needed and appreciated, Evans said he realizes others may not share that opinion.
“It’s the right time to have that discussion while we’re here and thinking about it,” Evans said.
The state has budgeted $14.3 million for 2022 to go to rectifying high water damage on the Great Lakes, and Muskegon would like to have its plans for new beach access ready to go so it can get in line for funding when it’s available, Evans said.
His hope is that construction will occur next spring or summer.
Those who can’t attend the meeting on Dec. 14, but want to share their thoughts, are encouraged to email Evans at leo.evans@shorelinecity.com or the city’s park supervisor, Milo Root, at milo.root@shorelinecity.com. They will share renderings when they are available to those who ask for them, Evans said.
Alternatively, feedback can be shared by calling 231-724-4100.
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