In recent years, the Connecticut shoreline has been battered by nor'easters, tropical storm Irene and superstorm Sandy.
What once was a sandy beach across the street from the now closed Chick’s Drive-In Seafood Restaurant looks like the last place you would want to bring your family in the summertime.
“Now you go down there, there’s absolutely no beach,” West Haven Mayor O’Brien said. “It’s just rocks.”
Thanks to the nearly $900,000 grant from the state, O’Brien said that section of beach will be replenished with 24,000 tons of white sand from Cape Cod.
The shipment should arrive at the New Haven Harbor in the next few weeks, O’Brien said. A contractor, Waters Construction, will be responsible for transporting the sand to the beach in order to cover 500 feet along Beach Street and 150 feet into the Long Island Sound.
“This will cost the taxpayers of West Haven nothing,” O’Brien said. “It is going to restore that beach to a usable recreational shoreline again.”
West Haven resident Headly Carter, who regularly walks along Beach Street, said he is pleased to learn about the plans to restore the beach.
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“That is fabulous,” Carter said. “A lot of people come from out of town just to use the beach itself so it will be good for us, plus visitors.”
By repairing the damage done during severe storms like Sandy and Irene, Mayor O’Brien said he is hoping for a boost to tourism and the economy.
“It’s one more piece of the puzzle to put West Haven back together,” he said.
With money from another grant, O’Brien said West Haven is taking action to minimize the impact of the next major storm.
“Three to five feet we’re going raise all of Beach Street to stop future flooding,” O’Brien said of a project still in the design phase.
