City engineers are proposing to fill in a ravine that is eroding on Madison’s West Side, but the plan faces opposition from some residents hoping to save the wooded area they have grown to love.

The ravine, which ranges from 4 to 12 feet deep, runs across 900 feet of city-owned land between Midvale Boulevard and South Owen Drive just south of Hillcrest Drive.

Mike Dailey, principal engineer for the city, said two people contacted the city concerned that erosion was causing the ravine to widen, encroaching on homes and yards.

Current plans call for cutting down some trees and other vegetation and filling in the ravine. Dailey said the city would also likely replace a 75-year-old sewer line that runs along the bottom of the ravine and build an access road through the area so workers could do maintenance on the sewer.

The city would landscape the area with grass, shrubs and trees, and the access road would be covered with topsoil to help it blend in, he said.

Without the work, Dailey said, erosion will continue, and other methods of slowing it would not be cost-effective. He said the sewer will probably fail in the next five to 10 years if it is not replaced.

But some residents have sought to save the ravine through letters and calls to Dailey.

Jim and Marcia Shirley, who have lived at 4325 Hillcrest Drive since 1972, said the loss of the ravine would be “devastating” and “heartbreaking.” They have asked the city to put a hold on the project.

“Thanks to the ravine, there is a peacefulness to this neighborhood even though we’re only half a bl ock away from Midvale Boulevard,” Marcia Shirley said. The couple also worry about the effect the project might have on their property value.

Ald. Chris Schmidt, 11th District, where the ravine is located, conceded the area would lose some of its “natural value,” at least for a while.

“We can make up for it by re-vegetating and replanting,” Schmidt. “We don’t want to turn it into a walkway from Midvale to Owen or anything like that.”

Dailey said a meeting will be scheduled for August to discuss the matter with the community. The plan must be approved by the Board of Public Works and the City Council before construction can begin, which Dailey said would not be before October 2010.