Barnegat Inlet Channel to Be Widened, Prompting Safety Zones

The main channel of Barnegat Inlet will be widened as part of a project that will include repairs to the inlet's north jetty, officials have announced.

The channel within the inlet proper runs alongside the north jetty and has always been notoriously skinny. But while a widening has been long-desired by boaters, the short-term impacts will include work vessels having to operate within the channel.

Petty Officer 2nd Class John Kopp said during the time the project is ongoing, slow-speed safety zones may be enforced in the inlet.

Meanwhile, equipment is in place to begin the jetty repair project, prompting the closure of the jetty to the public. The jetty is a popular fishing location for striped bass and blackfish anglers but, during Superstorm Sandy, suffered the displacement of stone along the 740 feet being repaired.

Agate Construction Company of Clermont, Cape May County, was awarded a $7.6 million contract to make the repairs.

Strengthening the north jetty, state officials said, is especially important because it protects Island Beach State Park, one of New Jersey's last significant remnants of a barrier island ecosystem and one of the few remaining undeveloped barrier beaches on the north Atlantic coast.

Beach buggy access points will remain open during the project.