The North Shore Channel is a 7.7 mile long channel built between 1907 and 1910 to increase the flow of North Branch of the Chicago River so that it would empty into the South Branch and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal . Its water is generally taken from Lake Michigan to flow into the canal at Wilmette Harbor. Its carrying of excess run-off in high water events has been largely taken over by the Chicago Deep Tunnel , but there are still occasional intentional discharges back into the lake, as flood prevention in times of very heavy rains, causing episodic concern regarding effects on lake water quality.
18-826: The North Shore Channel, a component of the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS), flows from Lake Michigan , near the Bahá'í House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois , to the North Branch of the Chicago River in Chicago . The channel begins at the Wilmette Pumping Station, where sluice gates are generally used to provide for a consistent water level in the channel by controlling water diversion from Lake Michigan, although
36-461: A continuous trail from Belmont Avenue to Montrose Avenue via Horner Park. In September 2021, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and alderman Matt Martin attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of the Irving Park Road bridge trail. 41°56′56″N 87°41′47″W / 41.949012°N 87.696503°W / 41.949012; -87.696503 This Chicago -related article
54-609: Is a further move toward Chicago's goal of having a continuous pedestrian path along the entire riverfront. It connects three parks with one two-mile-long bike and pedestrian path . The park project receives funding from organizations including the Federal Highway Administration , the Illinois Department of Transportation , and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. The first phase of
72-527: The Army Corps of Engineers removed the dam, replacing it with a series of riffle pools , which allow fish to swim upstream. Surrounded by parks and steep, wooded banks, and the 18-hole Canal Shores Golf Course in parts of Wilmette and Evanston, the canal provides a corridor for local wildlife. In 1999, the system of which the canal is a part was named a Civil Engineering Monument of the Millennium (as part of
90-769: The Chicago metropolitan area , covering approximately 87 miles altogether. It straddles the Chicago Portage and is the sole navigable inland link between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River and makes up the northern end of the Illinois Waterway . The CAWS includes various branches of the Chicago and Calumet Rivers , as well as other channels such as the North Shore Channel , Cal-Sag Channel , and Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal . The CAWS ends near
108-725: The I&;M Canal in 1848. The CAWS as it exists today began to take shape in 1900, with the construction of the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal to reverse the flow of the Chicago River (and eventually the Calumet River), which previously flowed into Lake Michigan , so as to instead flow toward the Mississippi River, thus carrying sewage away from the City of Chicago. Thereafter, additional artificial waterways were built that became part of
126-640: The United States Supreme Court have been unable to obtain an injunction requiring the connection between the CAWS and the Mississippi drainage to be closed. Waterways within the CAWS include: 41°42′N 87°57′W / 41.700°N 87.950°W / 41.700; -87.950 312 RiverRun 312 RiverRun is a Chicago public hiking area along the Chicago River . The development
144-668: The CAWS, such as the North Shore Channel, which runs inland from Wilmette to the Chicago River and was constructed in 1910, and the Cal Sag Channel, which provides a direct path from the Calumet River to the Illinois Waterway and was finished in 1922. In the 21st century, a focus of concern around the CAWS has been its potential role as a corridor for Asian carp to enter Lake Michigan. Suits in district court and before
162-719: The Channel has also become a popular rowing venue. It is home to the Chicago Rowing Foundation and the Loyola Academy and New Trier High School teams. The Channel is a great place for rowing due to its high banks that act as a shelter from the wind. The northern part of the Channel has hosted the University of Wisconsin and Syracuse University men's rowing teams for dual meets in 2016 and 2019. In addition to water navigation, both walking and biking paths follow along nearly
180-456: The Chicago street-address numbering system. A concrete low head dam , 82 feet (25 m) in width and 8 feet (2.4 m) in height, was constructed at the confluence of the channel and river in 1910, creating Chicago's only waterfall within the city limits. Because the water surface of the North Shore Channel would be 4 feet (1.2 m) lower than that of the river's, the dam was built to prevent
198-485: The Chicago wastewater system) by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Since the water quality improvement, fishing has become possible in the Channel. Bass and crappie are abundant, especially at the confluence of the Channel and the North Branch of the Chicago River, where the waterfall aerates the water. Canoeing and kayaking are allowed, with several put-in points along the length. In recent years
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#1732851362662216-661: The Lockport Navigational Pool, the highest elevated of the eight pools of the Illinois Waterway. There are three major locks within the CAWS, operated by the Army Corps of Engineers : the Chicago Harbor Lock , the Lockport Lock & Dam , and the T.J. O'Brien Lock and Dam . Artificial waterways connecting the Mississippi and Great Lakes systems via the Chicago area, over the Chicago Portage, began with
234-549: The channel, the Evanston Ecology Center, and the Ladd Arboretum . As of July 2023, construction has begun on a skate park at Twiggs Park along the trail. 42°02′28″N 87°42′35″W / 42.04111°N 87.70972°W / 42.04111; -87.70972 Chicago Area Waterway System The Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS) is a complex of natural and artificial waterways extending through much of
252-475: The entire length of the Channel. The Evanston-Wilmette Community Golf Course (" Canal Shores ") plays along a stretch of the Channel of about 1 mile (1.6 km), and two par-3 holes play across it. The North Shore Channel Trail is a multi-use trail that starts at Lincoln Square near West Lawrence Avenue and North Francisco Avenue and stops in Evanston at Green Bay Road. Proposals are being considered to complete
270-685: The final mile and a half of the trail, which would connect the path to Gillson Park at the Wilmette lakefront. Several recent improvements were completed in 2019, including the Lincoln Village Pedestrian Bicycle Bridge and just past where the channel merges with the north branch of the Chicago River, the 312 RiverRun and its Riverview Bridge. Other attractions along the trail include the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park, which boasts over 60 large sculptures along
288-407: The gates are opened during severe storm weather conditions to allow the channel to backflow into the lake in order to prevent downstream flooding. From the pumping station, the channel flows southwest, and then south, through or near Wilmette, Evanston , Skokie , and Lincolnwood , and into Chicago. The south end of the channel flows into the North Branch at approximately 5100 north and 3000 west in
306-459: The project connected Richard Clark Park to California Park via the Riverview Bridge, crossing from the east bank to the west bank of the Chicago River creating a continuous path between Belmont Avenue and Irving Park Road. The Riverview Bridge opened in late November 2019. The project concluded in fall 2021 after Irving Park Road bridge was replaced. The completion of the 312 RiverRun provides
324-478: The river from eroding its banks upstream of the confluence due to the difference in the water surface elevations. However, the dam exacerbated existing problems of stagnant water flows and ponding on the North Branch for decades, despite multiple modifications to the dam and dredging of the river. The Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP) would eventually solve those issues along the North Branch, and starting in July 2018,
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