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South Padre Island opened its first public bay access ramp in at least 30 years on Tuesday, according to the city’s Shoreline Director Kristina Boburka.
“Within the city’s jurisdiction, there’s only three free public boat ramps, including this one,” she said.
The new ramp, called the Marisol (Laguna Madre) Boat Ramp, is located at 1705 Laguna Boulevard, a popular entertainment area.
“It provides another bayside access for our fisherman,” she said, adding that there’s always fishing tournaments throughout the city. “Another bayside access is huge.”
As part of the $3.2 million project, the city also built truck and trailer parking, a fish cleaning station and an accessible loading and attendant dock, Boburka said.
The area has 13 parking spaces, one of which is ADA accessible.
The Island’s two other public boat ramps, which do not have designated boat-side parking, are at the end of Polaris Street and at the end of West Palm Street.
Back in 2018, the city was looking into renovating the Palm Street ramp, she explained, but the city council didn’t move forward with that.
The city has maintained the ramps and done minor repairs, she said.
There are a couple of other ramps, some of which are private and require pay, Borburka said. Cameron County maintains a ramp at Isla Blanca Park, which has a parking fee.
The concept for a new boat ramp started around 2014 and 2015 when the Island put in a funding request through the RESTORE Act, she said.
Over time, the city got about $2.4 million in U.S. Department of Treasury funding for the project.
The Island purchased the property after they got a grant of about $139,000 from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for land acquisition and construction.
The city contributed about $769,000 for the project, she said.
The Shoreline Department’s volunteer advisory board and the city council reviewed the project, she said.
“A lot of this is done through public meetings,” Borbuka added.