JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — When you're laying out at Jacksonville Beach this summer, the sounds of the waves hitting the sand will be joined by beeping from bulldozers. Ten miles along the coastline will be under construction all summer long.
City officials said construction is starting now due to the upcoming sea turtle nesting season and the timeline of the contracting process.
“I talked to the folks that are back and forth on turtle patrol because I was concerned about that and what’s happening with that, even though normally they’re not supposed to move the nest, they’re not allowed to touch the nest because they want that to be a more natural process of what survives and what doesn’t," Mayor Donna Deegan said. "At this point in this process, they will be able to move certain nests into places that will be safer.”
With National Hurricane Preparedness Week happening next week, officials said beach renourishment is imperative along 10 miles of coastline in Duval County to help protect residents from the next storm.
The $32 million project is building back the beaches weathered during Tropical Storms Ian and Nicole. It’s completely federally funded and to make sure everyone can still have access to the beach, only 1,500 square feet will be closed off at a time.
Other mayors of the Beaches joined Deegan at the podium, expressing how the renourishment project getting done will protect the future of homes and businesses here on the First Coast.
“When you take a look at what the damage can be that you hear about later, but to actually see it happening was quite an experience," Neptune Beach Mayor Elaine Brown said. "It brought home to me the power of the hurricane, the destruction that can take place just like that.”
If construction sticks to its timeline, the renourishment project is set to be completed by the middle of August, just in time for the peak of hurricane season.