VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Extensive work is underway around the pier and boardwalk in Daytona Beach. All of the beach access was wiped out from the boardwalk during the 2022 hurricane season.
Last September, we showed you the first staircases reopening after 3 years, but the project still isn’t finished.
The city has managed to reopen most of the staircases and ramps, but said there have been some delays due to material shortages and high tides that prevented crews from working.
There’s also a brand-new seawall that’s almost finished, and an extension of the boardwalk is under design. But businesses and beachgoers say it’s all taking too long.
“I mean, we’ve been fixed up in Ormond much sooner than that,” said Josh.
“The city just doesn’t know what fast track means at all,” said Owner of Ocean Ave Gallery Louie Louizes.
The city said it’s also invested more than $3.1 million dollars into the pier in recent years and that the 245-foot boardwalk extension will protect the shoreline, support local businesses, increase property values, and attract private investment.
Owner of Ocean Ave Gallery, Louie Louizes, isn’t buying it.
“If you look at the paint that’s on the front of the boardwalk, it hasn’t been painted in like 25 years. There’s no attention to this area,” said Louizes.
Beachgoers agree, saying it seems there are always new projects but little progress.
“If you turn this into something we actually want to come to, basketball courts, skate parks, things that we could really bring the community around, it would change a lot,” said Josh.
So far, the boardwalk extension is set to be completed by the fall of 2027. Once it’s done, a Senor Frogs is supposed to open on the boardwalk, but a date for that opening hasn’t been set.
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