Time’s right to replace Midtown seawall in Palm Beach, say town staff

If Palm Beach’s Midtown seawall were to fail, as much as $7 billion worth of private property would be at risk of flooding.

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That is one of the main drivers fueling Palm Beach’s effort to replace its aging seawall, even though the structure isn’t at the point of failure, Jake Hurley of the Public Works department recently told the Town Council.

“The seawall is coming up on 100-years-old. It’s been maintained well by the town both through renourishment projects and specifically through fixing the walls,” Hurley said at the council’s Sept. 8 meeting in Town Hall. “But we have multiple engineering reports that it is near the end of its useful life, that’s why … we are going ahead with this project.”

His report was the latest update on the project, which will replace the 2,715-foot-long seawall that extends from Royal Palm Way on the north to Gulfstream Road on the south. During the council’s July 14 meeting, members unanimously voted to allocate roughly $1.5 million for the project’s planning.

The effort couldn’t come at a better time, Hurley said. Replacing the structure before its failure point – and immediately after the town completed its sand renourishment project for the coastline just east of the seawall – will lower the overall construction cost, he said. That’s because the project needs sand dunes on the beach to protect the site during construction.

Replacing the seawall now also means less disruptions for residents, as the current plans would allow nearby South Ocean Boulevard to remain open, Hurley told the council.

Town Hall staff have forecast that construction will begin in December, and Midtown Beach will be closed to beachgoers.

Because construction is expected to last until Spring 2028, Council Pro-Temp Lew Crampton said he was concerned beachgoers who would otherwise visit Midtown Beach will instead flood the South End’s Phipps Ocean Park beach and the Near North End coastline east of Sunrise Avenue.

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“Those folks are going to go south, and you are going to have a potential overload there,” he said. “So I really think we need as a collective to discuss this question of what we do to the beach (in Midtown), whether it’s a partial closure or complete closure.”

While a partial closure could allow access to beachgoers, it would introduce variables and safety risks, Hurley said. It also would likely extend the project’s duration, he said.

But he said Town Hall staff would prepare a report detailing what a project featuring partial beach closures would cost and look like, and then present it to the council at an upcoming meeting.

Residents who want to learn more about the seawall replacement project can attend a planned public outreach meeting on Oct. 29 at a location still to be announced.

Hurley said the town’s staff hopes to have a guaranteed maximum price for the seawall replacement project by the council’s Nov. 9 meeting.

Diego Diaz Lasa is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Time’s right to replace Midtown seawall in Palm Beach, say town staff

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Reporting by Diego Diaz Lasa, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News

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This story was originally published September 14, 2026 at 7:41 AM.