http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/...=2009908280349

INDIANAPOLIS – Boaters could soon have a safer, easier way to get on and off of the river at the Falls of the Ohio State Park.

The State Budget Committee on Friday approved $240,000 for construction of an auxiliary boat ramp that will point downstream, where the water is calmer and safer than it is at the current ramp site.

“This is purely a matter of public safety,” said Rep. Steve Stemler, D-Jeffersonville. “The McAlpine Dam is right across the river from the current boat ramp, so when high volumes of water are released it makes the launching and loading of boats dangerous.”

Park officials, fishermen and other boaters have been working to get the second ramp built for more than six years.

“Putting (a boat) in can be a little tricky with the way the current ramp is,” said Falls of the Ohio naturalist Bett Etenohan. “This new design will make it much easier for fishermen.”

The auxiliary ramp will be attached to the circle of the present ramp, which is closed several days each season when water is especially high and hazardous currents exist.

The new ramp will be created with articulated blocks which will allow visitors more access to the riverfront. The present riprap will be replaced with blocks connected by cables.

Additional lighting also will be installed to make evening launches and loadings easier.

The state funding will be added to $526,500 in federal funds from the Department of Natural Resources' Division of Fish and Wildlife Service.

The location of the boat ramp is 200 yards upstream from the spot where Meriwether Lewis and William Clark put their boats in the water when they departed for the West on Oct. 26, 1803.

Reporter Lesley Stedman Weidenbener can be reached at (317) 444-2780