MUSKEGON, Mich. — Lake Michigan’s record-high water levels have caused major erosion in spots throughout West Michigan, including at Kruse Park in Muskegon.
Now, for the third straight year, there are signs up to warn visitors that the boardwalk to the Lake Michigan waterfront is no longer safe.
Chris Willis, chair of Beachwood Bluffton Neighborhood Association, says she and her husband moved to Muskegon just to be closer to Lake Michigan.
“We thought this is amazing,” said Willis. How lucky are these people? They get to get up in the morning and walk over to this gorgeous beach. Who gets to do that?”
Now that dog-friendly Kruse Park isn’t safe to get to, visitors are finding detours.
“We entered from the other side, which is a little less steep. We walked down and then, to get home, we had to come up here,” Willis explained to FOX 17.
Shelly Drew, who visits Kruse Park from Grand Rapids, also created her own path.
“We can climb over to the top of the railing and walk down the dunes. It’s a lot more inconvenient, so people who are handicapped or in any way mobility-impaired, wouldn’t be able to get down to this beach,” said Drew.
FOX 17 reached out to the city’s public works director, Leo Evans.
In a statement, Evans told FOX 17 the city has been working to restore beach access for visitors, by “removing a small section of boardwalk railing to allow walking access down the dune to the beach.” Evans said the city also is engaging in a detailed planning process with the community.
He says a full repair could cost around $1.8 million.
The city plans to use money from the $14 million in funding it got from the state to respond to the erosion; however, Evans says it’s not clear how or when that funding will be available because the state has yet to release it.
In the meantime, Willis is willing to wait. “My hopes are that when it does come back, it’ll be worth the wait. And it’s going to come back even more beautiful and more accessible than it was in the past,” she added.
The city encourages visitors who are concerned about or unable to trek down the dune to visit the beach at Kruse Park to check out alternatives like Pere Marquette and Lake Michigan Park.
