All dune crossings now open in Rehoboth Beach
Roughly a month after a Mother’s Day nor’easter caused a significant amount of damage to Rehoboth Beach’s dunes and dune crossings, the city announced June 9 that all the dune crossings in the city are now open.
The nor’easter pounded the beach for almost a week, leaving many of the dune crossings north of Rehoboth Avenue impassable the days following the storm. Almost immediately, the city was able to reopen all but five dune crossings. By Memorial Day, the number of closed dune crossings was down to two. The city needed help from Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to reopen the final two, but had to wait for the crew to make its way north. DNREC has also been installing new dune fencing along the escarpment north of Surf Avenue.
Lynn Coan, city spokesperson, said the city will continue to assist DNREC with pushing sand up to the walkways daily and maintaining the access mats as they move around the soft sand. This will continue throughout the summer as needed, she said.
Once the dune crossings are fixed and the fencing is installed, it appears what’s left will be the beach for this summer. However, Mother Nature is filling the beach back in naturally.
Michael Globetti, DNREC spokesperson, said the natural recovery of the beach was slow. Recently, he said, sand has been observed moving onshore along the Atlantic Ocean coast, which is creating a wider beach.
“This kind of natural sand movement offshore during storms and then back onshore during calm weather is typical and is precisely why previous DNREC comments on beach restoration have cited cooperation from nature as part of our post-storm beach management,” said Globetti in an email June 9.
The real replenishment of the beach will begin sometime this winter. In early March, Congress approved a $1.5 trillion spending package that includes about $12 million for beach replenishment in Cape Henlopen, Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach and Fenwick Island. The replenishment project isn’t expected to begin before winter or spring of 2023.
Immediately following the storm, Steve Rochette, Army Corps of Engineers public affairs officer, said their engineers were assessing the data to see if there is any potential for the nor’easter to be categorized as an extraordinary storm, which could possibly qualify for repairs under the Corps’ flood control and coastal emergencies program. Ultimately, the storm did not meet the criteria.
Delaware Avenue family, changing rooms now open
The city’s dunes weren’t the only things to open June 9 in Rehoboth Beach. Shortly before the meters turned on at 10 a.m., Rehoboth Beach officials opened the new family rooms and changing rooms at the Delaware Avenue comfort station. There are now two family rooms and seven changing rooms on the street-facing side of the building. One of the family rooms has a table capable of holding and lifting an adult. Additionally, the accessible ramps on the north and south sides of the building were rebuilt to better accommodate visitors.
This project has been on the city’s logs for a couple of years. City commissioners unanimously approved a contract worth about $475,000 for Smyrna-based Kent Construction Company in October.
Chris Flood has been working for the Cape Gazette since early 2014. He currently covers Rehoboth Beach and Henlopen Acres, but has also covered Dewey Beach and the state government. He covers environmental stories, business stories and random stories on subjects he finds interesting, and he also writes a column called Choppin’ Wood that runs every other week. He’s a graduate of the University of Maine and the Landing School of Boat Building & Design.
