Officials said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, along with community development block grants, public assistance grants and other funding, will cover most if not all of the project's costs.

The city intends to open its beaches Memorial Day weekend, and beach passes are expected to go on sale in the coming weeks. Schnirman said that a retaining wall will be one of the first pieces of the project, and that snow fencing will direct beachgoers to ticket-takers. Sixteen-foot-tall dunes have been created, he said, and the beach is currently being leveled and groomed in the center of town in preparation for the summer season.

Department of Public Works Commissioner Jim LaCarrubba told the Herald earlier this week that construction work will begin at National Boulevard, initially heading east, and then moving west as well. “And if they have the ability, and materials come in in a rapid fashion,” he said, “they’ll put two crews on and work in both directions simultaneously. When that work is happening, obviously there will be sections and street entrances where you won’t be able to access the beach from until they pass that area and it’s safe to open that street … for beach access. We’re doing everything we can to try to make it as normal a summer as possible as we move forward.”