FLAGLER BEACH, Fla. – Sen. Bill Nelson was in Flagler Beach Monday to meet with local officials and discuss Congress’s approval of a $31.6 million beach-restoration project to repair damage caused by Hurricane Matthew.
Congress approved legislation early Saturday morning that, among other things, authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to begin work on the Flagler Beach restoration project. The project will repair and extend a 2.6-mile-long sand dune along State Road A1A to help protect the roadway from future storms.
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The roadway, which was severely damaged during Hurricane Matthew, is the only north-south hurricane evacuation route for residents along the coast. Nelson, who has been urging his congressional colleagues to quickly approve the Flagler Beach project, met with local officials at the Flagler Beach Pier.
Now that Congress has authorized the Army Corps of Engineers to move forward with the project, there is a conflict brewing between local and state officials who want to build a seawall there instead. The state is looking to build a seawall to protect the newly-repaired roadway. Local officials, on the other hand, want the Corps to build sand dunes instead.
If the state moves forward with its plans to build a seawall, the Army Corps will likely deem the sand dunes unnecessary and abandon the project altogether. Local officials point to other sand dune projects along Florida's east coast – such as Jacksonville Beach – as examples of why the sand dune project would work better than a seawall.