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Pass-A-Grille Beach renourishment project making progress despite setbacks

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Published  September 6, 2024 10:36pm EDT
Pinellas County
FOX 13 News

Pass-a-Grille Beach renourishment progress

It’s been a slow process to replace sand on Pass-a-Grille Beach, but progress is still being made on a project that began in June – and it will soon enter the next phase.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Pass-a-Grille's beach renourishment project will move into its next phase next week.

Since June, crews have worked to add nearly 150,000 cubic yards of sand to the shoreline starting at the south end. Pinellas County's Coastal Management Department said as early as Monday, the 3rd Ave. beach access point could reopen.

It took a few bumps in the road to get here. The county hoped to have federal grants fund the project, but when those dollars never came, officials turned to its Tourist Development Tax and state funding. Debby also stalled work for a period of time.

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Projects of this nature operate on a 10-year cycle. Rick Falkenstein, owner of the Hurricane Seafood Restaurant, said after Hurricane Idalia depleted the shoreline last August, the nourishment was overdue.

"The area you could put a towel down was probably maybe 20 feet wide. From the sand dune to the water," he said. "(After Idalia) it was pretty bad. It looked really, really, really bad. First time that all of the dunes were washed out. And the county, Pinellas County, restored the sand dunes and now they’re doing the beach."

Crews will soon move north near 16th Ave. and work around the Paradise Grille, which will remain open.

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A County spokesperson said, "Dunes are fragile, especially when newly planted with vegetation. It's important for beachgoers to stay off the dunes and only access the beach through the designated access points."

The whole project should be completed by the end of November. The entire time, the jetty pier and 1st and 2nd Ave. access points will remain closed.

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