The summer season quickly approaches, and for many families who live around the Mississippi, boating is a popular, warm-weather activity. Boat days are fun for all family members, which is why the partial closing of Lock and Dam 14 in LeClaire has led to shock in the Quad Cities.
Lock and Dam 14 is located 14 miles down the LeClaire River in the Mississippi River. The purpose is to facilitate movement up and down the river in a safe manner.
As a result of recent years’ staffing shortages, Lock and Dam 14 will be unable to operate during regular boating hours this summer. This will result in the auxiliary lock being closed, causing recreational boaters to have longer waits due to shared time with commercial boats.
There are specific dates when the Dam is hoping to have normal staffing such as the Fourth of July and Tugfest weekends.
Although this does cause some inconvenience, especially to boaters who store their boats in that area, it doesn’t mean that boating is out of the picture for the summer.
Conrad Waldron is a current freshman at PV and commonly boats and fishes in the summer. He acknowledged that although the closure is disappointing, it won’t be a large problem for many, “But I know other boaters that store their boats in pool 15. With this closure, this will restrict them from moving from pool to pool without having to mess with the barges in the main lock,” he shared.
There are a multitude of spots along the Mississippi that boaters can travel to if they want to avoid the traffic and inconvenience of the Lock and Dam 14 closure.
“There are many other places for people to boat around, such as the sand pits and the Princeton Beach,” said Waldron.
There is the chance that, because of the Lock and Dam closure, many boaters will steer clear of the place altogether and avoid going places that would require going through it. This could negatively impact places along the river due to a lack of customers.
Green Gable Marina is located in LeClaire along the river and stores boats, along with selling gas. Some families sit in pools there as well for calmer water.
A representative, Julie Perez, acknowledged that it does cause an inconvenience for boaters, which isn’t an ideal situation. “I feel like they are not going to come up to this pool as much and use the quiet waters in the LeClaire canal as much. So it will affect our business because we won’t sell as much gas and stuff too if people don’t come up here,” she said.
Although Lock and Dam 14 won’t be fully closed, the partial closure could result in less boating activity in certain areas, which could ultimately affect the local smaller businesses operating in those vicinities.
