No work is currently being done at Brighton Beach, despite road closure

The road to and through Brighton Beach remains closed for construction, but no work is being done presently on the area.

Renovation planning began in 2015, and the plan was updated in 2019. Several changes are planned over the next couple of years.

“Number one was extending the lake walk through the park, which started last year. That was done last fall,” said Senior Parks Planner Cliff Knettel. “Also, a new entrance road to make the traffic and parking more efficient, more effective. That’s planned for next summer.”

The current road is closed due to it no longer being safe.

“Parts of it were being washed out or threatened to be washed out from increasing storm events, so we really needed to take a look at all of our infrastructure in the park and strategically place it as we’re updating it to where it wouldn’t suffer future damage,” Knettel explained. “So a big impetus was moving the road, the entrance further northeast from its current location and keeping that road uphill further away from the shoreline.”

Shoreline resilience and enhancement will be done to withstand future storms. There will also be amenities such as picnic shelters, tables, and grills added by the time the project is completed. The exact completion date is unknown.

“It’s a little bit of a moving target. The project started last fall with the extension of the Lake Walk,” said Knettel. “The road is scheduled to be under construction next spring through the whole summer and fall, and then the park amenities could start as early as this fall, but more than likely, most of that work will happen next summer. So the park, unfortunately, will not be fully open or accessible until probably spring of 2024.”

No work is being done currently as the project has been delayed for a number of reasons.

“Projects like this take a long time to line up and align financial resources and perform due diligence per funders requirements.  The project (Road, Lakewalk, Park) have different sources of funding and some of those sources are grants.  Some funding sources require environmental review and that process/timeline can be unpredictable.  When changes to funding happen (increase in project costs, materials, labor, etc) that often results in redesign to account for what we can afford to do. Permitting timeframes are also unpredictable as many permitting agencies are finding staffing shortages.  Contractor availability is also a factor.   So all of these factors impact the timing of project construction.  We have not put the Brighton Park and shoreline components out for bid yet, but we hope to soon.  We are hopeful that the road component will be bid this winter. “

Senior Project Manager Cliff Knettel, via email