South Padre Island, a city of about 2,800 residents that shares its name with the popular South Texas tourist destination, plans to spend $1.6 million to upgrade one of its beach access points, according to a filing the city made last Friday with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
The improvements cover 12,500 square feet of Beach Access No. 9, a mini-park off Bluewater Circle about three miles north of Queen Isabella Causeway, and include permanent restrooms, a pedestrian dune walkover, a drinking fountain and parking lot improvements. According to the city’s Beach Access Guide, the property already has a bike rack, a bench and a boardwalk to the beach, complete with a mobility mat.
The project will be funded by the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006, which shares offshore energy revenue with the six states bordering the Gulf, and administered by the Texas General Land Office’s Coastal Management Program.
Visitors to Big Shell Beach near South Padre Island are free to take the shells home, but only as many as will fit in a one-gallon container. (Sue Wolfe/National Park Service)
Construction is expected to begin this week and wrap up next October, the website RGV.me reported. TDLR filings are subject to change; the Shoreline Department of South Padre Island did not immediately respond to Chron’s request for more information.
The access point is in a neighborhood where streets are named after types of fish; Bluewater Circle branches off Gulf Boulevard between Dolphin and Kingfish streets and opens to the beach between Big Mother Bay fishing charters and the Suntide III condominiums.
Other beaches nearby are getting similar treatment. In February, Cameron County submitted a $3 million TDLR filing for new restrooms, showers, a toll booth, and other improvements for E.K. Atwood Park. Located in the unincorporated part of the county, the park sits about 4.5 miles from Beach Access No. 9-and another 6 or so miles from the secluded but recently internet-famous Sea Shell Beach.
More Gulf Coast
Until Next Year | U.S. says popular Gulf fish species is again off limits
Changes | Remote Texas town upset restaurant to become gas station
Football | Underdog high school holds incredible Texas sports record
RIP | Internet-famous Texas shrimp boat captain dies at 93
For more Gulf Coast news and features from Chron, sign up for The Third Coast newsletter here.
This article originally published at Major Texas beach to receive $1.6 million in improvements.