Photographed this morning (Thursday, April 9), City of Port Aransas worker Milo Adame pours water in barrels that are being used as barricades on Beach Street, near Horace Caldwell Pier. The beaches in Port Aransas temporarily are being closed to vehicular access due to concerns about the coronavirus.
By Dan Parker
News editor
City maintenance crews were putting barricades up this morning (Thursday, April 9) to block vehicular access to Port Aransas beaches as part of local government efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
The action comes as Port Aransas Mayor Charles Bujan issued a mayoral declaration that prohibits vehicular access to the beach from 6 a.m. Friday, April 10, through 6 a.m. Monday, April 13.
The declaration also prohibits use of the boat ramps at Dennis Dreyer Municipal Harbor during the same period.
Barricades are going up today where Cotter Avenue, Lantana Drive, Beach Street, Avenue G, Sand Castle Drive and Beach Access Road 1 meet the beach, according to Port Aransas Police Chief Scott Burroughs.
The barricades are being erected a bit early because crews are trying to get ahead of thunderstorms that have been forecast for South Texas later today, Burroughs said.
Parking isn’t being allowed at the ends of the access roads. Warning signs have been posted at the locations.
Crews will wait until 6 a.m. Friday to put up the last city barricade – the one at Beach Access Road 1A, the chief said. Police will maintain a constant presence at that barricade in order to allow for emergency vehicles to get on and off the beach, should they be needed, he said.
The owners of about 15 beachfront homes in Port Aransas have no way to enter or exit their property except by the beach road, so they still will be allowed to drive on the beach, according to City Manager Dave Parsons.
Despite barricades, people still will be able to walk to the beach and use the beach for exercise, Parsons said. No gatherings and sunbathing will be allowed.
Are golf carts permitted on beach if driven over boardwalks?
Golf carts are considered vehicles by the city, so that would be no.
you guessing or know for certain?
gary
Give it a try
I’m guessing that tha barricades they placed in front of tha boardwalks would’ve made that blatantly obvious & jus because golf carts aren’t required to follow ANY of tha traffic laws they are still considered vehicles
Pretty sure golf carts are required to follow ALL of the traffic laws.
Can wee walk to the beach and have chairs? We plan on going april 24 _28
Since the mayor’s order says people are to use the beach for exercise only, we would guess you won’t be allowed to sit in chairs at the beach.
Not at this time.
If we cannot drive on the beach or park on the access roads to the beach how can we get to the beach to exercise?
I live in Port A about 1-1/4 mile from the beach if the answer is walk to the beach. A 2-1/2 mile walk is plenty of exercise for me. I look forward to the answer to my question above.
So since the “highly enlightened” people that wrote this said Nothing about Lantana Dr. I figure it will not be blocked!?!
Lantana will be blocked.
Can you ride bikes to beach?
Take your surfboard on bike?
It appears that the closing of the boat ramps, the marinas, the jetties and the beach to fishing is in direct conflict with Gov. Abbott’s statement that hunting and fishing were deemed essential activities for the public well being.
I saw the mayor say specifically he was closing boat ramps and beaches because he doesn’t want there to be any reason for a tourist to come to Port A – and yes, it is in conflict with what Abbott said. But he also contradicted himself when he closed golf courses..but tennis courts are ok. This whole mess is FULL of contradiction! Like you can go to Home Depot/Lowes to repaint your house, get some plants – but you can’t go to the dentist!
Draconian laws and out of touch politicians. Mayor Chuck is a real piece of work. Elections truly have consequences.
PortA deserves better.
Agreed!
I’m not a resident, so I’m not familiar w/ the mayor’s policies in general. But I’m just curious, you think gatherings and vehicular traffic should be allowed during this pandemics or what is the issue?
I walk the beach every day. . . exercise. . . and since the new signs went up, I’ve not seen any violations of the new posted rules. . . none last weekend. . .it seemed enough to discourage tourists and Day visitors from Corpus which seems the goal.
That said it’s not clear to me how preventing parking and driving on the beach road limits the spread of the virus. . . I can’t imagine that many tourists will come here to just be able to exercise on the Beach. . .
It was a bit annoying to drive via the G street entrance and before noon Thursday be prevented from doing so. . .I was told I could use 1a entrance. . .I did so and on my walk I only saw three others walking. . .
I have had the same experience on my twice daily beach walks. These new restrictions seem to be a solution in search of a problem.
Hopefully, these barricades will be removed once we have passed through the Good Friday / Easter weekend. Demonstrating that the city administrators have lost only half their bag of marbles.
I have also not noticed any violations on my twice daily beach walks on the beach. Also, not sure people afraid to celebrate Easter in their church are going to come to beach party in Port A.
These barricades and park closures seem like a solution in search of a problem to me.
Hopefully, the barricades will be removed and the parks reopened on Monday as promised demonstrating that the city administrators have lost half their bag of marbles.
Imagine folks travelling to our local beaches from areas that are or are becoming Covid-19 hotspots. Travel restrictions to include closing beaches and parks to discourage travel, are an extremely critical mitigation tool. It is unfortunate that the local economy will suffer, but let’s get this done, stop the spread! Then we can open up our economy again.
The mayor is doing great job. Hate to see stupid comments about him by few knuckleheads. Go Chuck!
My wife and wanted to come down to the house for our 25th aniversity, talking to friends there, that walking the beach is the only thing there is to do there now. 2.5 years ago went threw 1 yr living hell with hurricane, now this pandemic. CLIMATE change is definitely raising its ugly head.
Here we go again. Blame it on climate change. I got another flat tire yesterday. Freaking climate change!
What about fishing the jetties m
The mayor has said his order prohibits fishing from the jetties.
How is work at the marina going. Praying for all my friends in PA. Past Harbor Master.
Mayor Charles is using common sense in an effort to protect the people in Port A. I am a former hospital chaplain in constant communication with colleagues who are in the midst of this pandemic right now. PLEASE, quit your complaining for minor inconveniences right now. Do your part and stay home to protect yourself AND other human beings without bashing the very people who are doing their job and doing it well!
I appreciate the mayor’s efforts , the Gestapo style of enforcement lacks all common sense. I have COPD and walking is super important to my health , however the mayor and the Gestapo fail to care or recognize the fact that someone such as myself must sit for 2-3 minutes every 1/4 mile or so when walking , so now i have the added stress of having a cop get in my face for catching my breath , a few days ago after walking it took me about 10 minutes to stow my oxygen tank and other equipment along with answering a phone call from my doctor and along came Port A’s finest freaking out because i had answered a critical phone call , all the while i had all my windows up and was over a thousand feet from any other person or vehicle. I will be scratching my head for years to come trying to figure out how i was a threat alone in my vehicle with the windows up , perhaps some assertiveness training or common sense training would be in order for those that are protecting us .
Don’t take things so personally. Police were doing their job, not “picking” on you. Everyone take two steps back and try to get a glimpse of the BIG picture .
A little common sense would go a long way , perhaps they could apply some common sense when they see a handi-cap placard and show a little patience , if you or them had COPD perhaps you could understand that stress can and does trigger an attack . I have been social distancing and living under COVID like protocol for 5 years with mask and avoiding people and their germs because of having COPD , again i will state i was in my vehicle with the windows up , alone , and more than 1,000 feet from any other person or vehicle posing zero threat to anyone .
Yes I agree with you. I’m just as broken hearted for not spending this time at PA. This virus has completely disrupted our lives and financial status but we all have to be safe rather than sick or worse…dead.
Ridiculous. Let’s all pile into Walmart but thousands of square feet of open space is blocked off.
Chill out folks. Charles is in charge … and he’s making smart decisions in the interest of safety.
I happen to think he’s doing the right thing. And yes, his decision adversely effects my beachin’ ebike plans as well.
A few more weeks of isolation won’t kill anyone. The opposite action will-!!!
Your at the ocean, the wind is always blowing, please tell me HOW I could possibly catch anything from anyone as long as we aren’t swapping spit or holding hands? Everyone is just playing follow the leader without using their own common sense. Everyone just ignores the fact that even IF you catch the virus, only 2 out of 100 die, and 99.9% of those are either very old or have pre-existing conditions. Large crowds, orgy’s, I get that, but standing on the jetty or the pier and fishing is just as safe as it ever was. And in 2 months when you are well into the depression and there is NOBODY there spending money, you will understand how Big a mistake this was.
One can support the temporary expanded restrictions, or not. But, everyone has the right to express their criticism or support. It is called freedom of speech.
Personally I do not trust politicians when they are not kissing babies they are plotting ways to steal their lollipops. Every action they take should be questioned (obeyed if required, but questioned).
Now that is out of the way let’s have some sympathy for the poor men & women who have get up in the middle of the night to have all those silly sand piles and barrels removed by 6.00a on Monday morning. Agree or disagree with the mayor, but place our sympathies were that really belong. How can one volunteer to help these poor folks?
Port A – it’s your town. But you are closing down and destroying your local business, revenue, and economy on the premise that the government, the tax payers will pick up the tab down the road! Tell me what your decision would be if your mayor said we are financially on our own – no money from the State or Fed Govt? This isn’t like a hurricane, this is a choice – and this applies to every city govt and county making this choice. Now I live in the big city, COVID apocalypse! My county of 1 million plus has had 494 cases, only a 3% hospitalization rate [which declines every day – it started at 6.5% early on] and only 10 dead [2%]. Of those 10, six were 80 or older [so the under 80 death rate is 0.8% as of today] All 10 had pre-existing health conditions and only 2 of 10 were under 65 (53 was youngest). Again, that’s today in the big disease city with 1+ million. Believe what you want about all of this, but those are real numbers in Texas – and numbers don’t lie. [in Italy, 86% of the deaths are older than >=75 – also a FACT]. I have a boat, I would be there now, my entire family makes 6+ trips to Port A a year and we spend a lot of money there. If we are not wanted now, fine, it’s your town. There are other boat ramps in the sea.
One of the silver linings of the virus cloud is that some people are becoming aware of what rights are accorded to US citizens. The fact that 5 of the most important are in the first amendment to the constitution should be known by all citizens. Assembly, press, petition, religion and speech are sacred rights of a free people.