A town at the Jersey Shore is finally getting some critically needed sand for the summer season.
Construction crews are busy widening North Wildwood's badly eroded beaches as New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and other officials got a first-hand look at the emergency work.
"This summer was at risk, it was on the brink," Murphy said.
Areas starved for sand are finally being fed in an emergency nourishment project. A dredge is pumping sand onto the city's shoreline to widen the beaches.
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“It’s definitely a spectacle. I’ve come here for probably two decades and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Jordan Farrar of Parsippany-Troy Hills.
The lack of space on narrow, severely eroded beaches prompted the city to impose a temporary ban on tents, canopies, and cabanas in guarded areas.
Crews are targeting beaches from 2nd Avenue to 23rd Avenue, with three block sections closed at a time.
For years, North Wildwood and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection have been locked in legal wrangling over how to best protect the city from the encroaching ocean. But in April, Governor Murphy decided to put the state Department of Transportation in charge of the work that’s now underway.
Local leaders hope the job will be wrapped up by the 4th of July, leaving beachgoers with a lot more space to spread out.
“It's going to be eye opening, earth shattering. North Wildwood’s getting their beach back," said Bob McKay of North Wildwood.
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