Ponte Vedra Beach deemed critically eroded, County officials create $83 million project to help

Nicholas Brooks
·2 min read
6

St. Johns County leaders held a ceremony today to let beachgoers know about a $38.6 million Ponte Vedra Beach Restoration Project launched in March. Organizers told Action News Jax they have been planning this since Hurricane Irma hit.

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County officials gathered at Mickler’s Landing Beachfront Friday to let the public know about A $38.6 million Ponte Vedra Beach Restoration Project. The beach will have more than 2 million cubic yards of sand dredged from the ocean.

Representative Cyndi Stevenson said, “This is the best alternative we have to protect our recreational and national resources.”

Several speakers like State Representative Cyndi Stevenson voiced their support for this multi-million-dollar project. St. Johns County Commissioner Henry Dean hopes this project will help address the bigger issue: beach erosion.

County Commissioner Henry Dean said, “This beach renourishment project is restoring what the state Department of Environmental Protection determined two years ago as the most critically eroded beach in the entire state.”

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The project will address storm-damaged dunes and berms that protect upland buildings and facilities. Restoration will also create more environmental habitat for wildlife and add recreational value to the beach.

Commissioner Krista Joseph said, “This year, we had almost 80,000 hatchlings to make it to the Atlantic. Think about with a wider beach how more that’s going to be in the future.”

This project will stretch from the St. Johns/Duval County line to the Guana Preserve, which covers about nine miles of coastline.

Director of Emergency Management - Joseph Giammanco said, “I can’t tell you how many hours we’ve spent planning, designing, permitting, and working to get this going.”

Giammanco told us this project has been in the making since 2017 when Hurricane Irma hit.

This project has already begun and is expected to be completed in the fall. Different parts of the shoreline will be closed throughout the project.

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