Oceanside’s Tyson Street Beach to get fresh sand this week

Oceanside will widen Tyson Street Beach with about 2,000 cubic yards of fresh sand next week, adding a layer of protection before the winter’s storms.

Trucks began arriving Monday and will continue between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. for about five days, city officials said in a news release.

“This is a milestone for Oceanside,” said Jayme Timberlake, the city’s coastal zone administrator.

“It’s our first official project under the city’s SCOUP permits, and it’s made possible thanks to generous donations of high-quality sand from the Front Wave Arena construction and from dredging that occurred in the San Elijo Lagoon in Encinitas,” Timberlake said.

“Placing sand at this time of year is especially beneficial — it helps build seasonal sandbars that allow waves to break farther offshore, reducing pressure on our built-out coastline,” she said.

California’s Sand Compatibility and Opportunistic Use Program (SCOUP) is a streamlined process for permitting agencies to use up to 150,000 cubic yards obtained from construction and excavation projects.

Oceanside has found similar opportunities in the past. In September 2022 it placed about 300 cubic yards of sand on Buccaneer Beach taken from a catch basin along Loma Alta Creek as part of flood-control work there.

The new sand at Tyson Street, with its small park about three blocks south of the Oceanside Municipal Pier, will be spread above the high tide line to restore dry sand beach areas and enhance public access, the city’s release states.

“Because the placement area primarily consists of cobble and is not a heavily used section of beach, impacts to beachgoers will be minimal,” it states. “The beach will remain open to the public outside of the immediate work zone, and areas under construction will be reopened each afternoon once daily operations conclude.”

Truck access will be from The Strand, which will remain open to one-way southbound traffic. Trained flaggers will be positioned at both ends of the project site to direct vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians safely through the area.

The Tyson Street work is independent of the city’s Re:Beach project, a multi-year, multi-million-dollar project to place up to 1 million cubic yards of sand along about six blocks of eroded shore between Tyson Street and Wisconsin Avenue.

The Re:Beach project, if approved by multiple government agencies, would include the construction of two headlands and an offshore artificial reef to help keep the sand in place.