Site of Off Ramp Expected to Become Prime Eagle Watching Spot

It’s prime eagle viewing time in the Upper Midwest, and this year bird watchers might have visions of a new viewing site dancing in their heads. Today a slice of land in La Crosse, Wisconsin, along the Black River near its confluence with the mighty Mississippi is bisected by a busy exit ramp connecting eastbound IH 94 to USH 53 and STH 35. In as little as three years, this prime real estate is expected to hold an eagle viewing plaza and trails. Depending on how much funding is rounded up, the project may include native plantings, fishing access, a shelter, and interpretive signs about history, fish, birds, and other area critters.

Eagle enthusiasts had pursued such a facility back in 2008, but the proposed location turned out to impact the floodway, scuttling the project. As Ayres began redesigning the IH 90/USH 53/STH 35 interchange in 2012, it didn’t take long for dreams of an eagle facility to be rekindled on the coattails of a more compact diamond interchange design that will leave much of the riverbank area available – and without impacting the floodway. Ayres staff quickly got to work gathering knowledge and input from the Cities of La Crosse and Onalaska, the Town of Campbell, businesses, a historian, birders, and many others.

While dwindling Community Sensitive Solutions (CSS) funding has trimmed the project’s feathers to somewhere around one-third of the original dream, Ayres project manager Eric Sorensen rolled with the punches and adjusted the preliminary plan along the way. The project has received preliminary approvals and is virtually assured of going through. It’s just a matter of how many bells and whistles will ultimately be funded. It is hoped that interpretive exhibits will harken back to the logging, commercial fishing, and Native American aspects of the area’s past, not to mention exhibits on osprey nesting, paddlefish, and river otters. After considerable dialog with local residents and officials, there is support for moving a sculpture of Native American lacrosse players – a popular target of tourists’ photography – to the site from its current, less accessible site to the south.

Key aspects of the design are spacing the facility’s access road a safe distance from the interchange, as well as creating continuity in the landscaping and plantings along USH 53/STH 35 and inside the viewing area. The finished project will show that finishes are as important as function on such a project. And the key to making sure the community gets the project it wants is to start as early as possible to gather opinions from a long list of people who hold a stake in the results.

The conceptual design work continues as feedback continues to come in, and final plans for the interchange and eagle viewing facility are due in August 2016. Much of the construction is expected to take place in 2017, so at least some of the eagle viewing facility could be in place by the February/March 2018 eagle migration. This La Crosse Tribune article describes the project’s status.

While they’re waiting, bird watchers can find out what other La Crosse area spots are good for watching eagles feast on fish on the ice surrounding the area’s open waters. And check out this 2015 schedule of eagle watching events around the Upper Midwest. If you go eagle watching this year – or have in the past – we’d love to see your photos!