PEORIA -- After more than a month submerged under floodwaters, the Peoria Riverfront should be fully reopened to foot traffic and events soon.
Peoria Public Works Interim Director Bill Lewis said cleanup efforts are well underway, with public works crews working 12-hour shifts to remove sandbags and clean up parking lots in time for the weekend.
However, Lewis said green spaces along the riverfront may take a little longer to restore.
“Our biggest problem with our green spaces down there. So much of that green space has been covered with water for the better part of a month and a half, so, we’re not too sure how that’s going to look in a couple of weeks, and whether or not there’s going to be some repairs that need to be done to that," he said.
Lewis didn't immediately have a cost estimate available for the flood cleanup.
The latest wave of flooding on the Illinois River crested at just over 26 feet on June 2. It passed the 27-foot mark in May.
The flooding has caused some issues for some of the annual events along the Peoria riverfront, including the Steamboat Days festival. The Peoria Riverfront Market has been shifting to alternate locations around downtown for the past few weeks.
