USA: Long Island Beaches to Get New Sand

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that a $32.2 million project to restore Ocean Parkway on Long Island is reaching a milestone this week with the start of pavement reconstruction only four months after Superstorm Sandy devastated the oceanfront roadway and miles of beaches along it.

“Ocean Parkway and its connections to Robert Moses State Park are important to Long Island’s quality of life and economic well-being,” Governor Cuomo said. “Local, state and federal agencies have worked quickly and collaboratively to repair Parkway damage caused by Superstorm Sandy, and I’m pleased to report that we are on track and on budget for completing this project by Memorial Day.”

State Department of Transportation Commissioner Joan McDonald and State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) Commissioner Rose Harvey toured the project, which includes replacing a two-mile stretch of Ocean Parkway destroyed near Gilgo Beach and rebuilding damaged lanes to the traffic circle in Robert Moses State Park. The project also is replacing five miles of protective sand dunes washed away by the storm and replenishing native vegetation along the dunes.

“Governor Cuomo directed a quick response to this highway damage, and our partner agencies and project contractors are making it a reality,” State Department of Transportation Commissioner Joan McDonald said. “Ocean Parkway carries nearly 10 million visitors a year to the beaches and parks along Long Island’s southern shoreline. We have taken a comprehensive approach to rebuilding both the roadway and the sand dunes that protect it, ensuring that the Parkway is ready for the summer tourist season and future damage is minimized.”

State Parks Commissioner Rose Harvey said, “I am grateful to Governor Cuomo and my partners in government for fast-tracking the repair of the Ocean Parkway and rebuilding the dunes that help protect Long Island’s magnificent coastline so that New Yorkers will be able to enjoy their beaches this summer.”

NYSDOT, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation are collaborating with the Federal Highway Administration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the restoration project.

The project calls for subcontractor Norfolk Dredging, of Virginia, to pipe 800,000 cubic yards of sand from the Fire Island Inlet nearly three miles to shore, where trucks are moving it to reconstruct the sand dunes. That is enough sand to fill a football field 38 stories high. The dredging started Feb. 8 and much of the dunes have been rebuilt.

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Press Release, March 26, 2013