Town holds North Shore beach ribbon cutting ceremony

The town of Longboat Key held a grand re-opening ribbon cutting ceremony this morning for the completion of a $2.4 million sand and groin project at the North Shore Road beach access.

Six Longboat Key commissioners, town staff, town beach engineers and state and federal officials were on hand to celebrate the completion of the project.

The $2.4 million project included the construction of two groins, also known as coastal erosion management structures, to help hold sand on the shore and the placement of 9,300 cubic yards of beach-compatible sand from the center of the state via dump trucks that was put in and around the groins.

"The most important thing to come from this project is that all of these beachfront homes are protected again," said Mayor Jack Duncan. "For 20 years we have been figuring out what to do here longterm to keep sand on this part of the island and we finally built the solution."

Construction of the project began in November 2014 after state and federal permits were received in March 2012. The project's construction was originally tied up because of challenges to permits made by Manatee County residents, including Joe McClash, a former Manatee County commissioner.

The town's northernmost beach access is popular with beachgoers because it provides pedestrian access to Beer Can Island.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].