Why some North Wildwood beaches won't be ready by Memorial Day Weekend
NORTH WILDWOOD, N.J. (CBS) -- Just weeks away from Memorial Day Weekend, the unofficial start to summer beach season, North Wildwood's mayor says some of the Jersey Shore town's beaches are not ready for visitors.
North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello says that because so many areas are eroded, there's almost no beach during high tides.
This is especially true from 3rd and 7th Avenues and from 12th through 16th Avenues.
Storms caused the erosion, and that's hindering the delivery of sand from other parts of the island. A route for large trucks to haul sand onto the beach isn't readily accessible, Rosenello wrote in a Facebook post.
Rosenello said that the city would have to move 350,000 cubic yards of sand to replenish the beach, and without the small street-legal trucks that could access the beach, that amount of sand equates to 20,000 truckloads.
"That number is impossible to accomplish considering our time frame and infrastructure," he said.
"We have asked the New Jersey Legislature to make a special appropriation so that the NJDEP could do a hydraulic dredge project this year using sand in Hereford Inlet," the mayor continued. "That request is still pending, but I do not believe there is a high likelihood of it happening this year."
Rosenello says crews are working hard and he will keep people updated.