Baxter Estates close to completing shoreline project

Baxter Estates' shoreline has long been a point of vulnerability for the Port Washington Peninsula. 

The village's beach runs along Shore Road, one of the area's most trafficked thoroughfares. And erosion of the shoreline has led to consistent flooding in recent years. 

Reinforcements are coming. Two years after the state awarded the village $7.7 million to restore the shoreline, work is underway and nearly complete, according to village officials. Meghan Kelly, Baxter Estates' clerk-treasurer, said the village hopes to finish the restoration by December.

LoDuca Associates, a Blue Point-based contractor, bid nearly $3 million to complete the project, which includes replenishing the beach's sand, building a timber pathway and planting native plants along the shoreline.

"Erosion is a big concern at this specific area," Kelly said in an interview. 

More than 8,000 cars travel over Shore Road every day. But in recent years, the shoreline's infrastructure has weakened amid rising sea levels and rainstorms. 

Kelly said the replenishment of the sand at the beach has been completed. The timber for the walkway recently arrived to the site. Workers will also build a "living shoreline" full of native plants, Kelly said.

"The root structure keeps the sediment in place, instead of just letting the water wash it away," Kelly said. 

Kelly attributed the protracted timeline to the permitting process: It took the village more than a year to secure the proper state Department of Environmental Conservation and Department of State permits, she said.

Walter Mosley, New York's secretary of state, said in an interview that his office worked with the state's Dormitory Authority to help navigate the "red tape and bureaucracy that sometimes puts a pause on projects of this size and investment."

"Each coastal resiliency project is unique in and of itself, in terms of the coastal habitat, in terms of how we're able to deal with protecting nearby neighborhoods," Mosley said.

The health of Shore Road has implications for the rest of North Hempstead, as it connects the town to the Port Washington Peninsula. 

North Hempstead Supervisor Jennifer DeSena said in a statement that the work "complements" the town's recent Bayview Avenue stabilization project and the planned rebuilding of Town Dock.

"This investment in the Port Washington peninsula helps protect an important roadway and surrounding infrastructure," DeSena said. "Protecting our shoreline is a team effort best achieved when all levels of government work together.”

By Joshua Needelman

joshua.needelman@newsday.com

Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.