Longboat Key receives permits for Canal 1A dredging

Permits in hand to dredge constricted waterway before larger project begins.

Longboat Key has plans to deepen where Canal 1A meets Sarasota Bay on the northern tip of the barrier island.

Sand from nearby beaches facing the Gulf of Mexico has filled the eastern spit of the Greer Island shoreline for years. Longboat Key town projects manager Charlie Mopps said the spit is blocking Canal 1A.

“Even since the time that I started with the town back in April of last year, it seems like it’s growing quicker,” Mopps said. “When I first got here, it wasn’t that bad, but then it just kind of accelerated the growth of the spit on the end of Greer Island, and so we have to do something.”

The town has permits in hand from both the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to dredge 1,000 cubic yards at the canal's entrance just east of the Longboat Pass bridge, according to Mopps. A typical dump truck holds about 10-14 cubic yards.