Fabyan’s New Bridge Signals ’23 Skidoo’ to Causeway — Good News For Fox River
There’s a new bridge going up at Fabyan Forest Preserve, and a big part of the project is the removal of the existing causeway that has blocked the natural flow of the Fox River for decades.
Kane County Forest Preserve Commissioner Drew Frasz said that, as that Fabyan Park project progresses and the new bridge goes in, the removal of the existing causeway leading from the West Bank to the island will be “one of the biggest changes” people will notice.
“I have been lobbying for this for years, and the bridge project allowed this to happen,” he said.
Frasz said the causeway was installed by “Colonel” George Fabyan (1867 – 1936), the millionaire businessman who founded a private research laboratory and had a residence on what is now the Fabyan Forest Preserve site.
Frasz said Fabyan shut off the west channel, diverting all the river’s flow into the east channel.
“After all these decades, the west lagoon is silted in to the point that in drought years it completely dries up,” Frasz said. “In 1988, it actually was so dry it became completely vegetated with grass.”
Frasz said removal of the causeway is good news for the Fox River, restoring the natural flow to the west channel.
“Col. Fabyan did not like the Army Corps of Engineers meddling with his plans and had a contentious relationship with them,” said Frasz, whose parents lived in and curated the Fabyan museum for many years.
“The east channel bridge was built higher off the water because the Army Corps said it was a navigable stream. Col. Fabyan said then all the ships traveling the river would need a lighthouse and built one to mock the Army Corps. It originally had a working light that blinked a sequence of 2-3 which meant ’23 skidoo’ or get out of here!”
Feature Photo
- Feature photo courtesy of Drew Frasz
More Bridge Work
Another bridge replacement project has closed part of Fox River Trail in Geneva.
Work started on Oct. 20 and will continue through Nov. 1, according to a Forest Preserve District of Kane County news release.
The district is replacing a small wooden bridge over a creek, on the southwest side of the preserve, near the Horticulturist’s building. With the bridge construction project, trail users will not be able to cross the creek in this area.
District officials ask the public to plan ahead for an alternate route. Signs are posted on the trail to notify the public of the project.
The Forest Preserve District regularly monitors and inspects its 78 bridges within Kane County. Bridges undergo a comprehensive evaluation every five years.
For more information, contact the Forest Preserve District of Kane County at 630-232-5980 or visit www.kaneforest.com.
SOURCE: Forest Preserve District of Kane County news release