By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Trudging through the deep sand can make it difficult for senior citizens, disabled people and families with young children to get to their favorite spots on the beach.
Recognizing the challenges of walking across all of that sand, Sea Isle City is planning to install more of the popular handicap-accessible beach mats so that just about everyone can enjoy the shoreline this summer.
City Council approved a $36,798 contract with a private vendor Tuesday to buy 20 new mats. The plastic mats lie on top of the sand, providing an easier transition from the gravel pathways over the dunes to the beaches.
Mayor Leonard Desiderio said in a statement that the purchase of more mats continues the city’s efforts “to ensure convenient access to all beaches.”
“In addition to the mats, the Public Works Department is gearing up to clear and grade all of the dune crossovers, as well as preparing the beaches for the coming season,” Desiderio said.
Sea Isle has had the beach mats for about 15 years. At first, they were placed at the city’s six handicap-accessible beaches at 32nd Street, 40th Street, John F. Kennedy Boulevard, 44th Street, 63rd Street and 85th Street.
During the summer of 2018, the mats were installed at intervals of about every three blocks between 29th and 91st streets.
As the mats became even more popular with the public, Sea Isle announced plans in 2019 to put them at every one of the lifeguard-protected beaches.
The city then set the goal of having the mats at every beach block between 29th and 92nd streets. Then city officials spoke of ultimately installing the mats at every beach entrance along the entire length of the island – from First Street to 94th Street.
“We’re going to put them on as many beaches as we can. Our goal is to ensure that the dune paths are as easily accessible as possible,” city spokeswoman Katherine Custer said in an interview after Tuesday’s Council meeting.
Seniors, small children, people with disabilities and families lugging strollers to the beach will all be helped by the mats. Every summer, local residents and visitors urge the city to install more mats to make their treks across the sand even smoother.
The non-slip mats look like bright blue carpet strips from a distance. They don’t extend the entire width across the sand, but make it easier to cross the dunes and head out onto the beach. At the handicap-accessible beaches, the mats average about 70 feet long, city officials say.
Also to prepare for the summer tourism season, City Council approved a nearly $21,000 contract for new benches for the Promenade viewing area adjacent to Excursion Park as well as other parts of the oceanfront walkway.
“The benches that were installed there originally when we built Excursion Park have reached the end of their useful life, and need to be replaced,” Desiderio said.
Altogether, the city is buying 45 benches, with 25 of them for the Promenade viewing area next to Excursion Park at John F. Kennedy Boulevard.
Four new benches will be placed on the Promenade’s viewing area at 42nd Street and six others are planned for the 43rd Street pavilion.
The rest will go around the JFK Boulevard “horseshoe” area between Landis Avenue and the Promenade, the city said.
