Plans Underway to Fix Eroded Milford Beach

A training wall situated between the easternmost part of Silver Sands State Park and coastal homes on East Broadway is in need of a makeover.

The elongated structure, which allows water to flow between the Great Creek Marsh and Long Island Sound, is at least 30 years old, says Milford Mayor Ben Blake.

And the current engineering of the training wall pushes sand westward, toward Silver Sands, and that, the mayor says, has caused beach erosion on the East Broadway side.

Blake says the city is working with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to re-engineer the training wall to reduce erosion and, in turn, rebuild the barrier between homes on East Broadway and the water.

State Sen. Gayle Slossberg, who represents Milford in the 14th Senate District, “has really been pushing for funding for the training wall reconstructing,” Blake says.

Though there’s no timetable for when that “reconstructing” might begin, the DEEP has been busy dredging parts of the Great Creek Marsh, which Blake said, like many areas on the coastline, was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy.