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High gas prices, big crowds drive traffic at Illinois Valley parks · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: High gas prices, big crowds drive traffic at Illinois Valley parks.
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  Written by Tom Collins, This article is being read by
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  an automated voice brought to you by Everlett. A word
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  of warning to any Starved Rock in Matthiessen State Park visitors.
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  If the parking lot is full, don't park on the
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  shoulder of Route one point seventy eight. You'll be ticketed.
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  That's because officials in Utica are having flashbacks to COVID nineteen.
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  The pandemic ushered in massive crowds, mainly Chicagoans looking for
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  fresh air, while social distancing and egregious parking violations. This
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  summer could be similar. It's been creeping up lately. Utica
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  Police Chief James Mandujano set of park attendants, linking it
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  to the arrival of gasoline hovering at four dollars a gallon.
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  Monty Bernardoni, the site superintendent for Starved Rock and Mathiessen,
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  predicted that high gas prices would inspire shorter day trips
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  for Chicago area families, which in turn would mean spiraling
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  totals for the parks. He was right. Mathisen had a
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  May record sixty five, five hundred and twenty two visitors,
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  while Starved Rock's total stood eleven percent above average. Parks
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  have received no indication that summer visits are going to
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  let up. With the US mid in conflict with Iran
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  since February twenty eighth, fuel costs have soared, and Americans
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  reportedly are reevaluating long distance summer travel plans based on
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  pain at the pump. Are all Illinois parks getting such
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  a boost? Department of Natural Resources Director of Communications Jay
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  at Bolinski said this is not something the department tracks.
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  Conservation police said the trend appears limited to Starve Rock
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  and Mathiesen, at least in northern Illinois. Captain Mike Philippiak
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  said his region mostly includes campsites with limited foot traffic,
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  although the volume of visitors to Starve Rock and Matthiessen
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  has increased. For sure, that's some good news and bad
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  news for Utica and for park staff. In twenty twenty five,
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  the village opened outdoor retail plaza market on Mill, and
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  the business community welcomed any new influx of visitors to
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  make the cash registers ring. The village raked in a
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  record six hundred and sixty five thousand dollars share of
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  all sales last year and would like to approach that
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  figure again. A crush of tourists might achieve that goal.
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  On the other hand, a surge presents safety concerns for
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  conservation police and ems. Conservation Police Sergeant Phil Wire encouraged
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  visitors to abide by all park rules, warning of significant risks.
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  That's after an incident that nearly claimed the lives of
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  two boys after a ruehousing swimming incident at Cascade Falls,
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  Lower Dells, one of the youths received CPR and was
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  saved from drowning. While safety looms largest among the concerns
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  over crowding, park supporters fret over the wear and teer
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  on park facilities when the park is overrun with visitors.
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  I believe the increased attendance is a good thing overall,
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  said Matthew Klein, president of the Starved Rock Foundation. It
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  shows how much people value Starved Rock and Mathiessen and
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  how important these parks are to our region. That said,
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  more visitors means more pressure on the trails, parking facilities,
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  and natural areas, so I don't think it's something to ignore.
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  The parks can handle a lot of visitors, but only
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  if there is continued investment, education, and respect from the
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  people using them. Park attendants actually had been ticking up
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  before gas prices began soaring, thanks in part to federal cutbacks.
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  During winter twenty twenty five, budget squabbles on Capitol Hill
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  threatened closures at the national parks. State parks appear to
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  have benefited from Americans making backup plans. Mathiasen's first quarter
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  totals were robust thanks to warmer than average days and
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  rains that kept the waterfalls flowing through March thirty. First.
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  Matthiassen had more first quarter visitors nearly seventy one thousand,
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  than in any year except twenty twenty four, when Matthisen
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  set its all time attendance mark with five hundred forty
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  five thousand, five hundred and twenty five visitors