Mexico Beach’s beach renourishment project is set to begin in January. This project is set to last until April of 2025, hopefully getting wrapped up as tourist season begins in the area. The best part about this project is that it is now 100% covered by state and federal grants!
On Tuesday, the Bay County Commissioners amended the grant agreement, adding $2.5 million to the federal grant money. The project as a whole is anticipated to cost around $27 million, which left the TDC a couple of million dollars shy until the amendment was made.
This basically makes it whole. We were a little bit short because a project came in a little higher than anticipated. So, this basically the TDC was going to help Mexico Beach fund it until we found that additional funding, but we were able to fund it ahead of time. So now we’re whole with the project. So, we’re just extremely excited. This has never happened in Mexico Beach,” Bay County Commissioner Robert Carroll said.
The project will span roughly 3 miles along the Mexico Beach shoreline, starting at the East end of the Mexico Beach Canal, and stretching all the way to the Bay-Gulf county line. Nearly One Million cubic yards of sand will be imported to Mexico Beach. This monstrous amount of sand will be imported from our “Borrow Area” which is located approximately 3 miles off of the Mexico Beach Coast. Weeks Marine will be handling the dredging.
The project will add 175 feet of width to the current beach. This however is not all for laying out and playing beach volleyball on. “This project is first and foremost a shore protection project intended to provide critical storm protection for public and private infrastructure, structures, and property upland of the beach. While storm protection is the priority, the project will also provide additional recreational beach width for the benefit of residents and visitors as well as habitat for several species such as shorebirds and sea turtles.” Mexico Beach’s TDC director Kimberly Shoaf states.
The project will still allow you to enjoy the beach you typically use. Construction should progress at a rate of 250 feet to 1,000 feet per day. Barring any temporary work stoppages, this means the active construction area may only be in front of your property for a couple of days. The project will go on 24 hours a day, every day of the week, in order to finish the renourishment as quickly as possible.
We are all excited to see this project unfold and to reap the benefits of the Beach renourishment on both sunny days, while laying at the beach, and on rainy and windy days, as a layer of extra protection. See the full construction plans below.