Crews at Grayce K. Barck North Beach Community Park in New Smyrna Beach started tearing out aging, splinter-prone wood boardwalks this week, replacing them with recycled composite decking in a project expected to wrap up in about two weeks. The work began Monday and connects North Atlantic Avenue and the east parking lot to the park's two covered picnic pavilions, a route beachgoers and families rely on to reach the shaded gathering spots just off the sand.
The city says the new material is eco-friendly, low-maintenance and durable, according to a City of New Smyrna Beach announcement. New Smyrna Beach Public Information Officer Phillip Veski told WKMG ClickOrlando that the wood boardwalk “has been aging for a while,” with the old boards suffering from wood rot and splintering.
What's Changing Underfoot
The replacement decking is made from recycled materials, and city officials expect it to outlast the wood it's replacing while demanding far less upkeep, per the same ClickOrlando report. The station also notes the new surface should help reduce splinters and stay cooler underfoot during summer weather, addressing two of the more common gripes beachgoers have had with the old wooden planks baking in the Florida sun.
The project is scheduled to run through October 26, and the city has confirmed that beach access via the dune walkover will remain open throughout construction, so the renovation shouldn't keep anyone off the sand.
Part of a Broader Regional Push
New Smyrna Beach isn't the only coastal stretch in the area rethinking its boardwalks. The National Park Service has previously flagged a contract to build more resilient and sustainable boardwalks across the Titusville and New Smyrna Beach area at Canaveral National Seashore, and the park has tackled similar rehabilitation work before, including construction years earlier at the Turtle Mound boardwalk in the Apollo District, documented in a separate Canaveral National Seashore release.
For now, the focus stays local: crews working through the two-week window at Grayce K. Barck North Beach Community Park, swapping out worn wood for composite boards meant to hold up better against the coastal elements while keeping the path to the pavilions and the beach itself open for visitors.
