By Delayna Earley
The Island News
The Town of Port Royal has announced that Sands Beach will be temporarily closed effective immediately as they begin work on the Causeway Project.
The beach will remain closed until the work is completed, which they expect will be on or around April 25, 2025.
The town’s post on its social media pages about the closing was immediately met with mixed comments from citizens, some who were excited about the changes being made and some who were angry about the lack of notice.
The causeway is being built to solve a problem of access to the beach when the tide is high.
High tide has been known to trap visitors on the beach, and the daily influx of water has caused portions of the road and parking lot to have large holes.
To address the problem, the town is constructing a 150- to 200-foot-long timber bridge that will rise and fall to accommodate tides and provide a safe walkway for both pedestrians and vehicles.
This will join the boardwalk, observation deck and boat ramp that already exist at the location.
According to Town Manager Van Willis, this is a more permanent solution than trying to fix the road and parking area, which is difficult since just fixing potholes requires permits from the state because of the marsh and surrounding environment.
Retaining walls will also be built that will allow the town to legally grade uneven areas without having to get a permit.
The project is being funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, ARPA, which guaranteed funding to local municipalities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The expected cost of the project will be $1.5 to $1.6 million.
While the causeway is being built, access to the boat landing will remain open, according to the Town of Port Royal.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
