Surfside is spending $2.5 million on its beach path. According to the Town Manager's August 11 report, the money pays for a new walking surface the contractor calls "Surfside mix." It also covers post-and-rope fencing that starts at 96th Street and runs south, and small diverter dunes at every beach access point, built "to help direct pedestrian circulation and enhance dune protection." The contract with Dickerson Construction is $2,549,630.60.
With the fencing and access dunes, the walk between 96th and 87th Street becomes a defined route with fixed entry points. The Town's fall events are clustered near its north end at 96th Street, and the permanent Champlain Towers South memorial is planned for the 88th Street street end near its south end.
What the contract paid for
The Town's May 8 construction notice set the scope as the beachfront from 87th Street to 96th Street. The work covers raising and stabilizing the existing dunes, planting native dune vegetation, and "maintenance and enhancement of the existing pedestrian beach walking path." The notice said work would begin at the beach access crossing and continue through the stretch of dune between 90th and 92nd Street that was built earlier, following guidance from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
The project went through two rounds of bidding. The Town reissued its invitation to bid on January 9, 2026, after amending the design. The new version added a section of walking path the first plan had left out because a private developer had built that segment. Bids opened February 17, and three firms responded. Kimley-Horn designed the project under a $150,956 consulting contract.
One planned item was dropped. The Commission directed staff to take the concrete benches out of the construction contract, which the August report says let work continue without a separate purchasing process for the benches. The path is getting fencing and access dunes but none of the concrete seating that was once in the plan.
| Milestone | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Bid invitation reissued with amended path design | January 9, 2026 | February Town Manager report |
| Bids opened, three firms responding | February 17, 2026 | March Town Manager report |
| Construction start | May 11, 2026 | Town notice |
| Projected substantial completion | August 10, 2026 | August Town Manager report |
| Projected final completion | September 8, 2026 | Town notice and August report |
| Path described as "underway and open" | October 2026 | Surfside Gazette |
Why the path closed in the middle of summer
The path was closed for part of the summer because of how much it was being used. The Town Manager's July 16 report says the contractor asked for a temporary closure of the hardpack walking path because heavy foot traffic was slowing the delivery of materials and the construction work.
By the August 11 report, the path was finished from 96th Street down to 93rd Street, and new Surfside mix was going down south of 93rd as the crew moved south. The project was 55 percent complete, and 20 percent of the contract had been paid.
The September Surfside Gazette still expected the dune project to finish that month. Vice Mayor Dayana Benmergui wrote that the compressed sand around the boardwalk would allow "residents and visitors to once again comfortably enjoy one of the most beautiful parts of our Town." The October issue is the most recent public update. In it, Commissioner David Weingot calls the dune and beach walking path "underway and open." The path is open to walk. The Town has not published a notice saying the work is finished.
The north end at 96th Street
The stretch from 96th to 93rd Street was the first section the Town reported complete, and the 96th Street end has the most going on this fall.
The 96th St. Surfside Farmers Market is at the 96th Street beach entrance on Saturdays and Sundays from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The Tourist Board sponsors it, and the season runs from early October through late May 2027. The Town's two event listings give slightly different start and end dates, but both put the market at the same entrance on the same weekend hours.
A block inland, 96th Street Park has a resodded athletic field, which the October Gazette lists among the Commission's recent accomplishments. The park also hosts the biggest event on the Town's October calendar. Here is what is scheduled near this end of town for the rest of the month:
- Surf-Bal-Bay Night Out, Thursday, October 22, 6 to 8 p.m., at Bay Harbor Terrace between 96th and 97th Streets.
- Spooky Spooktacular, Friday, October 23, 6 to 9 p.m., at 96th Street Park, open to Surfside residents and hotel guests.
- Surfside Police Halloween Block Party, Saturday, October 31, at 6 p.m. The Town's calendar does not yet list a location.
The Community Center's beach service is set to grow too, though the changes are funded, not finished. Weingot wrote that the new budget pays for more beach chairs, longer hours, and cold water service for Surfside residents.
For food near the north end, the newest option on Harding Avenue is Bibi's Burgers at 9505 Harding Avenue, a kosher burger restaurant. The Town lists it on its Visit Surfside food and beverage page, and The Infatuation posted a page for it on July 30, 2026.
The south end at 88th Street
The path runs to 87th Street. One block before it ends, at 88th Street, is the street-end park the Town has chosen for the permanent Champlain Towers South memorial, honoring the 98 people who died in the 2021 collapse.
The Town Commission gave the memorial final approval at a special meeting on August 6. The September Gazette says the final design came from feedback from victims' families, survivors, first responders, residents, and the Planning and Zoning Board. A proposed image of the collapsed building was replaced with an image of hands, the symbol the Memorial Committee first approved in 2022. The design also includes 13 Pillars of Light that start near the Collins Avenue entrance and hold rebar and debris from the building inside the columns, as family members on the committee requested.
The approval also changes what people see on the way past the site today. The Commission voted to remove the concrete slabs and rebar that had been laid out across the street-end park. The Town called them a safety hazard, and the Gazette reports they caused pain to families, survivors, and residents who pass by. The cost was reduced from about $7.5 million to about $3.5 million, including a $1 million state grant, which let the project go ahead without a public referendum.
In the September Gazette, Mayor Shlomo Danzinger described what the site will give the town:
"For five years, this community has carried the weight of remembering 98 friends and neighbors without a permanent place to do so. This memorial gives us that place."
The October Gazette reports the next step. The Commission has approved engineering work below ground at the memorial site, which must be done before construction can begin. The Town has said it will share more about the construction schedule as the project moves forward.
What still has no date
Several pieces of the route are still unscheduled. The Town has not published a final-completion notice for the dune project. September 8 was a projected date, and the latest description in October is "underway and open." No start date has been set for building the memorial at 88th Street. The Community Center's extra chairs, longer hours, and cold water service are in the new budget but have not started.
The bay side of town is next. The October Gazette reports that surveys of the bayfront street-end parks are underway and design work is moving forward on those small waterfront parks.
Surfside's oceanfront buildings sit right along the new path, and how a building's beach access lines up with the new crossings is part of daily life there. Wolsen Real Estate tracks these Town projects building by building along Collins Avenue. Book an appointment to talk through how the new path and access points affect a property you own or are considering.
