Work set to begin on new beach at Bellingham waterfront; city OKs night crews
Plans to repair the shoreline and build a new beach at Bellingham’s Boulevard Park were postponed last winter but construction is now set to start in the fall.
Nighttime work will be needed to complete the project, Parks and Recreation Department Director Nicole Oliver told a Bellingham City Council committee on Monday. City Council members unanimously approved a noise waiver for overnight construction.
Some of the work must be done at low tide, and fall and winter low tides are in the evening and overnight hours. Tides are low in the daytime during summer, but that would cause disruptions for those who wanted to enjoy the waterfront in fair weather, Oliver said.
“This project was delayed from 2024. And although we could be starting it right now we are waiting to let the community have the use of Boulevard Park and not cut off that connection with the water in this very beautiful time of year,” Oliver said.
Plans now call for construction to take place from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31.
“This will be intermittent night work, not every night, and in the day there will be quite a bit of truck hauling, that people can expect,” Oliver said.
Night work is generally 11 p.m. to 2 a.m., project engineer Gina Austin told the committee.
Work is planned from the Woods Coffee location southward to the shoreline beneath a trestle on the South Bay Trail, in an area that’s been fenced off because of erosion from the storms of November 2021 that caused more than $200 million in flooding and other damages across Whatcom County.
Cost of the project is $835,355. Part of the project will be paid with a $500,000 state grant, and the rest from Greenways levy funds, according to previous Herald reporting.
The new beach will resemble the beach that the city built in 2013 north of the Woods Coffee location. Large rocks will be removed from the waterfront and a sloping gravel beach will be built, making the trail seem like it’s a closer to the water and allowing easier access for kayakers.\
This story was originally published August 14, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
