Sunbathers will have to head somewhere besides Midtown Palm Beach, now that officials have closed the municipal beach to accommodate a federally backed sand-renourishment project there.
The May 6 alert announcing the closure of Midtown Beach was the most recent update about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-led project to replenish the shoreline that extends from Seminole Avenue on the near North End to Banyan Road in the Estate Section.
The project, which is expected to extend until May 16, lands on Midtown Beach weeks after coastal consultants noted the extensive erosion experienced along that stretch of beachfront.
Erosion has been so significant in the area that town coastal consultant Thomas Pierro described the rock mounds normally buried under the sand as being “the most exposed that I’ve ever seen them,” during an April Town Council meeting.
It’s not the first-time access to Midtown Beach has been restricted of late. The town has repeatedly closed beach entry points at Peruvian and Chilean avenues because of unsafe conditions caused by sand erosion.
The town’s Shore Protection Board is expected to review the condition of the beach at its May 7 meeting, which begins at 9 a.m. in Council Chambers at Town Hall, 360 S. County Road.
Diego Diaz Lasa is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at dlasa@pbdailynews.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach closes Midtown Beach to make way for sand replacement
Reporting by Diego Diaz Lasa, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
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