- April 24, 2024
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The Florida Department of Transportation is putting almost $8.7 million into an effort to restore a section of beach dune in Flagler Beach north of the city pier.
The work will cover a 2.8-mile stretch area of land that is not included in other current or planned dune renourishment projects, including the Army Corps of Engineers’ 2.6-mile beach planned renourishment project from Sixth Street South to South 28th Street; the county’s dune renourishment program, which covers the northern 12 miles of the county’s coastline; or a joint Florida Department of Transportation and Florida Department of Environmental Protection project for South 28th Street to the Volusia County line.
The design phase for the 2.8-mile section is complete, and permits have been completed, Flagler County Engineer Faith Alkhatib told county commissioners doing a commission meeting on April 5.
County staff is preparing a workshop to brief commissioners on the status of the coastal dune projects, Alkhatib said.
The county’s efforts to bolster the coastal dune gained particular urgency — and state and federal support — after Hurricane Matthew’s storm surge carved out chunks of State Road A1A in October 2016 and inundated much of coastal Flagler Beach.
The new FDOT project, the county government project and the Army Corps of Engineers project are designed to prevent such a scenario in the future.
The Army Corps project in southern Flagler Beach would be maintained by the Corps of Engineers for 50 years, and, because the work would require Corps of Engineers staff and contractors to access privately owned land, required the county to undertake a years-long effort to convince coastal landowners to sign access easements. Almost all have done so, and the county is preparing eminent domain litigation to gain access to the land of the remaining holdouts.
The commission voted 5-0 to approve an agreement with FDOT that will allow the work on the 2.8-mile section to begin.
