This scenic SLO County boardwalk is getting a $1.6 million upgrade. What’s in store?
Cambria’s popular Moonstone Beach Boardwalk is getting a $1.6 million update.
Work on the 2,243-foot-long boardwalk at Hearst San Simeon State Park began March 30, according to a California State Parks news release. The project is expected to take five to six months.
Some upgrades are aimed at bringing the boardwalk, which runs parallel between the Moonstone Beach blufftops and Moonstone Beach Drive in Cambria, into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
They include “flatter re-routes, ADA parking spaces and more compliant boardwalk surfaces and ramps,” State Parks said in the release.
According to Dan Falat, superintendent of the State Parks district that includes the boardwalk, funding for the upgrades is being provided by the State Parks Accessibility Program.
Other changes include “replacing some bridges and boardwalk areas, relocating some vista points and rerouting within the area from Leffingwell to the Santa Rosa Day Use Area,” Falat said.
“Additionally, the project also includes several resource-related improvements such as emergent wetland and native plant protection and re-routes, and boardwalk relocation away from retreating bluffs,” the release said.
Quincon Inc. of Grover Beach is the contractor, with work scheduled from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, and not on any state or federal holidays.
Repairs to the Moonstone Beach Boardwalk will be completed in sections to “minimize impacts to the visiting public,” State Parks said in the release. “However, the sections that are under repair will be closed to the public during work, and we apologize for the inconvenience this will cause.”
On Friday, equipment and supplies were stacked in most of the perpendicular, ocean-overlooking parking spaces at the larger Leffingwell Landing vista point near the north end of Moonstone Beach Drive.
There was still some room for vehicles to parallel park alongside the Landing’s turf section and the fenced-off construction-staging area.
Falat said that parking in some other areas may be restricted as the project work moves from area to area.
According to Falat, the Moonstone Beach Boardwalk project has been in the works for a number of years, even prior to his arrival as district superintendent in 2015.
“A lot of folks have been waiting for quite a while,” he said.
“We are excited to see this much anticipated work begin and are grateful for the patience demonstrated by all the businesses along Moonstone Beach Drive,” Falat said. “Visitors, residents, and local businesses have been very patient as this project awaited funding and approval.”
This story was originally published April 1, 2023 at 9:00 AM.
