McHenry Riverwalk: New section connects downtown districts – with hopes to extend it farther

Pedestrians are now welcome to stroll on the newest section of the McHenry Riverwalk that opened last week, even though the site isn’t quite finished.

“It is not done. It is open, though,” Bill Hobson, parks and recreation director, said about the current, Phase 4 section of the riverwalk.

He and John Smith, president of the McHenry Riverwalk Foundation, were out on the new section this week, pointing out what still needs finishing on the $1.5 million project and what could be coming next for the corridor.

Some lighting posts are on back order, the custom fencing manufacturer needs to measure and install the new sections, and ComEd is still working to bury utility lines stretching along the river from the Route 120 to Pearl Street bridge, Hobson said.

What this latest section has finished, however, is connecting Green Street and Riverside Drive. Now, a pedestrian can get on the riverwalk at either Weber’s Park or at the Green Street bridge at Boone Creek and walk from end to end along the water.

“Two of our downtown districts are now tied together” via the riverwalk, Hobson said. Residents no longer have to cross or walk along busy Elm Street-Route 120 to pass between the two areas.

“It is not done. It is open, though.”

—  Bill Hobson, McHenry parks and recreation director

“It is a more leisurely walk on the river. It is a quality of life issue” to have it done, Hobson said.

Creation of the riverwalk has also been an economic development driver for the city of McHenry, Smith said. He sat on the city’s Economic Development Committee when the first section of riverwalk was installed in 2006, and has helped to shepherd the project along as the foundation’s president.

Defining whether it has been successful in bringing that economic development to fruition is a little more difficult.

According to data from Carolyn Lynch, the city’s finance director, the equalized assessed valuation inside the Tax Increment Finance District has grown since it started in 2002. In 2002, $38,535 in increment was collected by the district. That number is now $921,473 in annual funds into the TIF.

A rough count of restaurants from McHenry’s online business directory shows about 20 restaurants and cafes on streets directly adjacent to the riverwalk, and a dozen retail storefronts.

“With recent years of completing these phases it has helped with making McHenry more walkable to visit shops and go to dinner and any of the great places we have to offer,” Mayor Wayne Jett said in a text to the Northwest Herald.

Had the city not begun installing the riverwalk, Smith said he doubted restaurants like DC Cobbs or Buddyz would have located on Green Street. The riverwalk “sprung up the whole Green Street deal,” he said.

On Riverside Drive, the city has seen The Courthouse Tavern, the remodeling of Bimbo’s Ristorante, a new patio for After the Fox and the Riverwalk Shoppes, Smith said. Dan Hart, the owner of DC Cobbs, is also working to open a new restaurant, Whiskey Diablo, on Riverside Drive.

“McHenry has grown dramatically” since the first section of riverwalk was installed, Smith said, adding McHenry “would have been status quo” without it.

And the riverwalk isn’t completed now that the section spanning from the Pearl Street bridge to the Route 120 bridge is open. More sections are envisioned as part of further downtown development.

Phase 5 could extend the riverwalk west of the Green Street bridge, behind Landmark School on Waukegan Road – whose closure was just announced by McHenry District 15. The old Pearl Street bridge, a metal truss bridge now in city storage, is set for use as a pedestrian bridge across Boone Creek.

The riverwalk west of Green Street could be extended even further, Smith said – under the Route 120 Boone Creek bridge and eventually connect to the Prairie Trail and Petersen Park via city-owned right-of-way.

Another possible extension would run the corridor around the former wastewater treatment plant site if it is eventually developed. That site is one of two in the downtown area where major new developments have been proposed for downtown, including about 800 apartments, as well as a hotel and commercial spaces.

“There are endless things we could do through the area,” Smith said.

Jett praised McHenry’s former mayor, Sue Low, for her work getting the riverwalk underway in the early 2000s.

“I look forward to continuing the Riverwalk amenities in years to come,” Jett added.