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Port Washington landslide closes beach, city in search of solutions
Port Washington's North Beach is closed for the summer after city officials discovered a landslide on Wednesday.
PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. - A Port Washington beach is now closed for the summer after city officials discovered a landslide on Wednesday, June 8.
What has long been the pride of Port Washington may also be its plight. The landside continues to erode the bluff in Upper Lake Park.
"Unfortunately, the lake has done what the lake does," Port Washington Mayor Ted Neitzke said.
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After heavy rain, the landslide continues decades of erosion on the bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. The slide discovered Wednesday dumped mud and other debris onto North Beach.
"The area just immediately to our east here used to be the bluff, and then further past that was the bluff. There was actually a road," said Neitzke.
Port Washington bluff; Upper Lake Park overlooking North Beach and Lake Michigan after landslide
Neitzke said the city is now consulting an outside engineering and science firm to determine what to do next. For now, North Beach is closed while they study the land.
"It's out of a measure of caution that we want to take," Rob Vanden Noven, Port Washington city engineer, said. "Clearly, if someone were caught by a slide in the magnitude we experienced yesterday, they would be killed instantly."
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Bluff instability in Port Washington isn't new. Signs posted at its edge warn of its dangers. Now, the city hopes its bluff doesn't force it down a fiscal cliff.
"We've had discussions over and over and over again about some sort of a bluff retention program, wave action retention," said Neitzke. "Each time this happens, I think that it gets us a little more motivated, so hopefully we'll be able to do that."
Port Washington bluff, Upper Lake Park
North Beach will remain closed for the rest of this summer as the city and its partners study the damage and possible solutions. There is no timetable right now for when it will reopen.
City leaders told FOX6 News that their last estimate for full bluff stabilization was done 10 years ago with an estimated cost of $10 million.
Nietzke said he is hoping for county, state and federal cooperation to find a solution.