Boardwalk Rebuilding Heads East

With reconstruction of the boardwalk from Long Beach Boulevard to New York Avenue now complete, Grace Industries, the firm hired to rebuild the 2.2-mile walkway after it was damaged during Hurricane Sandy, has started work on the eastern half of the structure, from Long Beach to Neptune boulevards.

On a chain-linked fence at the start of the construction site at Long Beach Boulevard, the City of Long Beach posted two laminated signs, one a brief history of the boardwalk from its ground breaking in 1907; the other a list of bullet points on the rebuilding process and features of the new $44.2 million boardwalk.

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The city opened the first sections of the boardwalk July 27, as per its contract Grace Industries and Liro Engineers, the firm hired to manage and oversee the project, and “the rest of the Boardwalk will be completed 80 days after that,” one sign reads.

Among the bullet points on one sign are:

• “The City of Long Beach in partnership with Cablevision, will be installing Wi-Fi on to the boardwalk for the first time ever.”

• “The direction of the boards in the bike lane have changed from the previous boardwalk, with the boards running East-West as opposed to North-South, making for a more comfortable ride to be enjoyed by bicyclists and others who use the bike lane.”

• “In addition this new [Ipe] hardwood does not have splinters, making it far more comfortable for beachgoers coming on and going off the beach.”