Longboat Key to dig into $25M beach renourishment project

LONGBOAT KEY -- Longboat Key kicked off a multimillion-dollar beach renourishment project Wednesday to restore new sand to several eroded stretches of beaches along the Gulf of Mexico.

The project has three major components, said Town Manager Dave Bullock.

"The first one is we're hauling some sand in by truck. ... putting sand down in the central part of the island and hitting those eroded areas that are more or less in the center of the island," he said. "The other two phases will occur probably starting in July."

In an interview with the Bradenton Herald, Longboat Key Mayor Jack Duncan said the project costs about $25 million, funded via a referendum passed a few years ago.

Additional phases of sand placement are scheduled through the fall and will include sand dredged from New Pass and Longboat Pass, as well as additional trucked-in sand for a small portion at the south end of Longboat Key.

Bullock said 60 to 100 trucks hauling sand are expected to travel daily to Longboat Key, coming from Bradenton Beach and St. Armands Circle in Sarasota.

"We'll probably be hauling sand up into September," the town manager said. "We wanted to wait until the worst of the traffic is behind us. Generally, spring and summer have lower traffic, certainly, than March."

Upon completion of the first segment, Longboat Key officials said truck haul operations will shift to the Atlas Street access area to place an estimated 20,000 cubic yards along the beach segment from Westchester to Casa del Mar (4621 to 4825 Gulf of Mexico Drive).

Operations, a release states, will then shift to the Gulfshore/Buttonwood Cove access area to place 85,000 cubic yards of sand from Gulfshore northward to Pelican Harbour (3710 to 4241 Gulf of Mexico Drive).

The central project will conclude with the placement of another 60,000 cubic yards from Buttonwood Cove southward to the Veinte Condominium (3710 to 2675 Gulf of Mexico Drive).

The renourishment project has been in the making for some time now, with a couple years concentrated on obtaining all the permitting required.

"The beach situation for us is probably no different than the other island communities," Duncan said. "It's obviously a critical element to our economy and our tourist business. The beaches are why they come here, and so it's critical and we have to keep the beaches as nourished as possible."

Duncan said it's becoming increasingly difficult to dredge sand in the Gulf and to also find the quality of sand wanted. Nourishing the beaches, he said, is also critical to protecting properties along the Gulf Coast.

"You want a dune presence there to protect those properties from storms. That's one of the elements we're looking to do -- to fill all those sands that were lost due to erosion to create beautiful beaches for the tourists and the residents to use as they deem appropriate," Duncan said. "I hate to say it, but I think Anna Maria and Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach would all say the same thing: We all need beaches to maintain our tourist trade and maintain the tourists coming here. It's very important to the economy as a result."

In Manatee County, a project on groins in Bradenton Beach continues probably through May, according to Manatee County Parks and Natural Resources Director Charlie Hunsicker.

"Like many beaches in southwest Florida, our nourishment program has successfully held a recreational beach in place since 1992," he told the Herald. "With continuous attention on an 8- to 12-year interval, we've been able to maintain the kinds of recreational beaches that have supported a hugely significant increase in our tourism stays for vacationing visitors."

Bradenton Beach Mayor William Shearon said Longboat Key officials have made him and other Bradenton Beach officials aware of the nourishment project. He noted the sand-hauling trucks traveling through the city are "something that we're going to live with, and support their efforts to the best we can."

"Like Mayor Duncan says, the beaches are why people come here and, in some respects, maybe we wouldn't have the traffic congestion if we didn't do beach renourishment," Shearon said, chuckling. "That could be one of the solutions to the traffic congestion concerns."

Amaris Castillo, law enforcement/island reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7051. Follow her on Twitter @AmarisCastillo.

This story was originally published April 6, 2016 at 11:07 PM with the headline "Longboat Key to dig into $25M beach renourishment project ."