PALM BEACH, Fla. — Midtown Beach in Palm Beach is drawing crowds with sunny weather, but visitors are finding far less shoreline to enjoy as erosion continues to shrink the sand.
The Town of Palm Beach is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on a beach re-nourishment project aimed at restoring the shoreline. The effort includes placing nearly 480,000 cubic yards of sand along the coast to replace material lost to storms and erosion.
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According to the town, dredging in the Palm Beach Harbor began on March 6, and the project is about 11% complete. Town officials said wet weather temporarily paused work earlier this week. However, the work is expected to carry on over the next several weeks as crews move along the shoreline.
Despite the favorable conditions, beach-goers say the space has become increasingly limited. West Palm Beach resident Rob Mitchel visited the area to enjoy the weather.
“It was the perfect day to be at the beach. It's like 78 and sunny,” Mitchel said.
“It’s shockingly narrow, usually I have a lot more room to bay watch up the beach and today there was like no room to bay watch so I don’t know what’s going on,” Mitchel said.
Seasonal visitor Faris Saleh echoed similar frustrations about accessibility and conditions.
“I mean coming to the beach you expect to come to the beach and have plenty of space and not have to deal with walking up and down a cliff to get to the ocean,” Saleh said.
Saleh said the beach is a key attraction and expressed concern about the pace of progress.
“You expect to have the beach and the town to take care of the beach,” Saleh said.
“And not have to deal with this constant, oh when are they going to fix this thing, you know, when are they going to bring the sand in,” Saleh said.
“I’m surprised that with all the resources here they’re not moving quicker and more efficiently,” Mitchel said.
