Soon you'll see fresh new sand on Bonita Beach here and up the road on Lovers Key.
The county will be bringing in sand from the gulf to rebuild the beaches that Ian hit hard.
"I am very happy ecstatic actually," said Todd Richards, who runs Lovers Key Adventures and Events on Lovers Key.
Todd Richards runs Lovers Key Adventures and events on the beach. He's happy to hear about the upcoming renourishment project.
"Lee County has almost 50 miles of sandy beaches, and almost half of that has been designated by the state as critically eroded," said Steve Boutelle who manages marine operations with Lee County Natural Resources.
Lee County commissioners approved $39 million to gather sand from offshore and bring it to Lovers Key and Bonita Beach.
They plan to use dump trucks to move more than 50,000 loads of sand to the shoreline.
$39 million may sound like a lot for sand, but the benefits are expected to be big.
"One is that they do protect the infrastructure, not so much on the state park area, but on Benita Beach. It's very heavily developed, and those beaches really do help protect everything that's built landward of them," said Boutelle.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Lee County, Bonita Springs and FEMA are all pitching in to pay for the project.
"All of that is being funded by bed tax revenues. So the tourist tax dollars that are coming into the community are going back into the project that brings those tourists to the community in the first place," said Steve Boutelle.
The project is expected to start on Oct. 15. They believe everything should be finished by June 2025.