ALGOMA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – As the Fourth of July holiday approaches, many people are making plans to head to the water.
High levels on the Great Lakes are impacting many boat landings along the Lake Michigan shoreline.
The yellow caution tape is up. The piers have been pulled and stacked in a pile. The public boat launch in Kewaunee is closed. City officials made the move Monday after waters flooded the parking lot.
“I’ve never seen it into the parking lot like that. That’s something I’ve never seen and I’ve been here a long time,” said Ron Farley, Algoma.
The Algoma public boat launch is open for business about 12 miles north. It’s smaller than Kewaunee’s, but built on higher ground.
“Usually I go to Kewaunee. That’s the closest to my house and it’s the most convenient for me. It’s the one I’m most familiar with, but because it’s underwater this year, I decided to come to Algoma,” said Kevin Cherney, De Pere.
Algoma City leaders expect plenty of traffic at the landing in the coming days.
“In a busy weekend, we can have anywhere from 75-100 boats launch depending on how fishing is. With the impact coming from Kewaunee, we could see 150-200 boats possibly launch here on a nice day,” said Matt Murphy, Algoma Public Works Director.
And with all that traffic on the landing and in the parking lot, Murphy asks people to be patient.
“It takes some time to launch a boat. Get everybody on the boat. Make sure they have all of their supplies. If they can get everything on their boat, get it ready to go before they launch. It just helps the process, speeds it up a lot faster,” he said.
On Wednesday, dozens of boaters came and went.
“This one’s great. This one’s no problem at all,” said Cherney.
Cherney says there is one thing he would make better.
“I just hope the fishing improves here soon,” he said.
Experts say they expect levels on the Great Lakes to keep rising. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers predicts Lake Michigan to go up another two inches by August 5.
