Go & Show: Brandon Road Interbasin Project open house, St. Paul ice-fishing show

The public open house for the Brandon Road Interbasin Project leads this Go & Show. There’s also an ice-fishing show in St. Paul, which will draw some die-hards from the Chicago area.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and IDNR host the public open house to review and discuss detailed designs and construction strategies for the Brandon Road project from 4-7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 5, at the Clarion Hotel & Convention Center Joliet, 411 S. Larkin Avenue, Building A, Joliet, IL, 60436.

There will be two redundant sessions (4-5:30 or 5:30-7 p.m.). Virtual options are at usace1.webex.com/meet/BROpenHouse or (844) 800-2712 (meeting number, 199 338 6849).

“The Brandon Road Interbasin Project is a complex, innovative ecosystem restoration project being constructed to prevent the movement of aquatic nuisance species from the Illinois Waterway into the Great Lakes watershed. The project will be largely constructed in the downstream approach channel to the Brandon Road Lock with potential disruption to navigation and public access/use areas.”

 For more information on the project visit www.mvr.usace.army.mil/BRIP/ or contact the USACE Rock Island District at (309) 794-5729 or cemvr-cc@usace.army.mil.

NOTE: A site tour of the project area will be offered the morning of Wednesday, Dec. 6, 9:30 a.m. until noon. Parking will be available the on left descending bank peninsula, east side of approach channel, near the lift bridge on the downstream side of the Brandon Road Lock at 800 Brandon Rd, Joliet, IL 60436.

I would like to both visit the open house and do the tour. We’ll see.

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The St. Paul Ice Fishing and Winter Sports Show, which knowledgable ice anglers tell me is the best, is Friday, Dec. 1, through Sunday, Dec. 3, at the St. Paul RiverCentre in Minnesota. Some year I will make the trek, but it will not be this year.