COASTAL OBSERVER

Work began this week to rebuild a popular access to Litchfield Beach a year after it was destroyed by the storm surge from Hurricane Ian.

The popularity of the walkway on the south side of the Litchfield Inn was part of the reason for the delay, said Beth Goodale, the director of Georgetown County Parks and Recreation.

“We were going to start that one a month and a half, two months ago, but the contractor was worried about having a safe work site,” she said.

The access has designated parking on Norris Drive in front of the inn. It was also the only handicapped access on that section of beach.

Although the walkway was officially closed, people walked around or through the caution tape. Goodale counted 20 beachgoers during a recent meeting on site with the contractor, Associates Roofing and Construction of Murrells Inlet.

Work was initially delayed by a lack of building material. The first bid solicitation in the spring was canceled due to a lack of bidders. County Council approved the $330,000 contract to repair walkways at Litchfield Beach and Garden City in June.

The handicapped access, Walkway 60, was supposed to be the priority, but Goodale said even after Labor Day there were too many people using it to even get the material delivered. 

“We thought it would be a little less used,” she said.

The work began at Garden City instead with the replacement of an emergency vehicle access.

The Litchfield Inn offered to provide space in its parking lot for the crew from ARC to stage their equipment. 

Goodale said she hoped the public will avoid that walkway.

“That one’s a pretty good sized structure. It’s going to be a couple of weeks,” she said. “It speeds it up if people will not use that area.”

Once Walkway 60 is completed, three other walkways at Litchfield Beach that lost their stairs during Hurricane Ian will be repaired.

“At least they don’t have to go through the demolition process,” Goodale said.