LEWES, Del. — Beaches in Lewes have reopened ahead of schedule after a sand relocation project cleared parking lots and restored shoreline areas that had become very narrow.
The city said crews finished moving 255 loads of sand from the Savannah Beach and Johnnie Walker Beach parking lots back onto the beach on March 28. Only minor cleanup work remains.
The effort aimed to address significant sand buildup that had covered parking spaces and created rough driving conditions, while also reinforcing sections of the beach impacted by erosion, including crossovers that had storm damage. The city described the work as long overdue, noting it had not completed a restoration of this scale since 2015.
People in Lewes welcomed the improvements. Yolanda Hutson said the sand buildup previously made driving through the lot feel like “coming across ice,” adding she was relieved most of it has been cleared.
Others, like Jessica Hess, said the work is necessary to combat ongoing erosion in a heavily visited tourist area.
"I feel like they do their best to kind of fight the the weathering, erosion and things. And it's a big tourist area. So I think they kind of have to. They have to do these projects to make it best for the long term too," said Hess.
City officials said the project also helped reclaim parking spaces that had been completely buried. While sand is routinely pushed back onto beaches at the start of each season, this effort was more extensive and required approval from DNREC to cut back dunes.
The work was also timed to wrap up before the start of the annual horseshoe crab migration season, which draws increased environmental attention to Delaware’s beaches.