It was Saturday, March 9¹, 2024 when I made it outdoors for a progress check on construction of what they call the Westlake Extension of the Southshore commuter rail line. My home in the Edison Elementary neighborhood is less than a mile from the point where new rails meet the Little Calumet River. It is easy walking distance from my door to the new South Hammond Station. Still, I am far enough away that rail commuters won’t be parking at my curb or substantially increasing the motor traffic on my block. I expect the market value of my home to increase modestly when the Westlake Extension becomes operational.
The feature of the construction that I was trying to follow was the bridge over the Little Calumet from Hammond to Munster and restoration of the Monon Trail pedestrian bridge over the River. I had utilized that bridge many times before it was cut loose from its moorings and removed from the river to a bridge-to-nowhere spot on the north bank. As I approached the rail/river crossing point I could see that the large construction crane had been removed from the Munster side. I guessed correctly that its job of bridge installation had been completed.²
About the same time my left eye peripheral vision caught some movement, telling me I was not so alone as I thought. Moving south along a path to the east of the new rail tracks (south of 173rd street) there were three deer.
Now I have seen deer plenty of times in the past (though I never hunted deer), but never in Hammond. I am guessing that the deer that I saw were the mother doe and her two adolescent offspring. I was probably 150 yards away when the deer stopped for a minute. One of them turned back and looked (curiously?) at me to assess what lever of danger I represented.
The path that the deer were following would dead end at the Borman Expressway unless they moved east or west to a passage beneath the Borman. If they could cross under the Borman, only the Little Calumet River would challenge their entry into Munster. The Monon Trail wildlife to which I had become accustomed were birds, squirrels, and the occasional rabbit. Construction of the Westlake Extension carried with it the loss of what I called a “linear forest” adjacent to the Trail. All those trees are gone now. I have seen no effort to replace that loss of trees with plantings elsewhere. Death of the “linear forest” was bad news for the ordinary wildlife of the past years along the Monon Trail. But somehow three remarkable deer honored me by their presence in a most unlikely location. I wish them well. Also I await the initiation of rail traffic on the Westlake Extension. I suspect that the rail cars will have electric power, such as we see for the old Southshore Line. If I am right, there awaits much construction of power lines, poles, etc. to deliver that electricity.
While I regret the loss of the Monon Trail’s “linear forest,” I am impatient about witnessing the actual use of the Westlake Extension to move south suburban commuters to their Chicago destination.
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¹ Whenever March 9 is mentioned, my recollection turns back to March 9 of 1998 when the Region was struck by a storm of snow and ice that toppled trees (including one of mine that landed on my neighbor’s house), interrupted electric power, and made streets impassable.
² While the rail bridge looked complete and the pedestrian bridge once again reaches across the Little Cal, it was marked “closed” as of my March 9 tour. I was tempted to defy the insolent sign.
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