Weeklong sand berm project comes to Lowdermilk Park

For the last two weeks, crews have been moving sand back onto the beaches that experienced erosion during Hurricane Ian, and Lowdermilk Park in Naples is the latest site of that work.

In the end, it’s going to mean wider, sandy coastlines for us to enjoy, but the Lowdermilk Park area will be busy this week. Contractors will be putting up orange fencing on the beach where they are working. It will be noisy, traffic will be hectic with people looking for places to park, and some beach walkways will be closed.

The project in Collier County is needed to replace the dunes destroyed by Ian last September. The dunes are the first defense against wave action and storm surge. Workers will be busy unloading trucks full of sand for this $20 million project.

The sand placement will take place all week from Lowdermilk Park to Doctors Pass and is expected to be finished by Friday. The contractors will then head to the Park Shore area beach on May 2.

WINK News talked to beachgoers when the work started a couple of weeks ago. They said traffic and noise aren’t a bother because they are necessary.

“So, it’s good; it’s supposed to protect the shoreline,” one beachgoer said. “The trucks just go in and out straight, so, not too bad.

“I kinda heard of it, but it didn’t bother me,” another person said. “You know, that’s progress. Well, anything that protects the general public is good.”

“The trucks don’t bother us too much,” said visitor Dr. Phillip Richards. “They really are fairly conscientious about their noise and upsetting the tourists.”

“I guess it’s not gonna be a big deal,” said Jim Amstadt. “But, I mean, there’s gonna be a lot of truck traffic. But yeah, it’s gotta be done.

While dump trucks are busy hauling in the sand, it’s not stopping beachgoers from having fun in the sun.

“This is easy to handle,” said beachgoer Terry Bonkowski. “I mean, because it’s just gonna affect this area for a short time.”

“I think the teams here have been doing a really good job; they’ve got it partitioned off so it’s behind everyone. It’s been fine for us,” said Patrick Brennan. “It’s got to be done at the end day. So you know, guys, let people get the work done so everyone can enjoy the beach.”

“This will be limiting, at least for a little while,” Bonkowski said. “How many people can… like, they won’t be able to, of course, put their stuff really near the place where they’re putting the berm, but it’s good.”

The Brennan family wisely got to the beach early to avoid parking difficulties, just in time to show their son Fox the beach for the first time, an experience he called “great.”

“My mom don’t swim with me—I can swim all by myself,” Fox said.