Jacksonville begins work on boardwalk damaged by Hurricane Florence

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - Work started Monday on a new boardwalk at Northeast Creek Park in Jacksonville, which has been damaged since Hurricane Florence.

Crews started working Monday morning and removed around 120 feet of the 250-foot boardwalk.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded Jacksonville a multi-year Coastal Resiliency Grant back in October 2024.

“The NOAA grant is for $16 million. Although it covers multiple grants, this project is coming in at just under $3.3 million,” said Amy Kimes, Jacksonville city engineer.

Multiple city projects fit within the grant parameters. City projects funded by the grant include the Northeast Creek Park waterfront restoration, expansion of the Oyster Highway, flood mitigation and watershed restoration for Scales Creek, and shoreline and wetland restoration for Phillips Parks and Chaney Creek.

The new boardwalk will connect with the pier, which will also be extended.

“We’re actually putting it out parallel, and we’re going out into Northeast Creek and will be parallel to shore so that people can actually fish from the pier and further out into the water where there will be deeper fish,” said Pat Donovan-Brandedburg, Jacksonville stormwater manager.

Local fisherman Christopher Flanagan is excited about more space and fish.

“I’m actually excited about that because it gives us more access to more fish and more people to come out here and fish,” said Christopher Flanagan, a Jacksonville resident.

Part of the multimillion-dollar project will also include restoring the wetlands and shorelines.

“We will restore the actual wetlands, 1.6 acres of wetlands behind it, by putting in native species. We will also augment the shoreline here with a living shoreline,” Donovan-Brandedburg said.

Officials said they moved up the timeline to start removing the boards because people kept going back there, even while it was blocked off.

Construction of the new boardwalk will not begin until at least 2027 because permits are still needed. Officials hope the project will be done by the end of next year.