Stone is arriving at the east end of Bay Street. At the river's edge between South Davis Street and South Atlantic Avenue, crews are building a rock revetment. East Bay Street is closed through that stretch, and the city expects the closure to last through mid-November.
That stretch was supposed to come last. The city's Southport Shorefront Improvements Project page says the work would move west to east, with the eastern segment scheduled for February 12 to March 23, 2027. The contractor started at that eastern end anyway. Once it is finished, the city's October 26 update says the crew plans to move west to Segment 1 and begin the breakwaters and the beach and dune work. If you walk the waterfront this winter, the posted calendar and the order of work on the ground no longer match. The order on the ground decides which part of Bay Street you can use and when.
What's closed this week
The project covers the waterfront along West and East Bay Streets from South Caswell Avenue to South Atlantic Avenue. The eastern piece is the only part with a clearly marked street closure, and it runs from Davis to Atlantic. The October 26 update says revetment construction there is ongoing, "including stone deliveries and placement."
The update built in one break. For Halloween weekend, the contractor planned to consolidate equipment toward the eastern end of the work area and reopen East Bay Street temporarily for the Halloween festivities and the car show, with the closure otherwise running through mid-November. The city also warns that every date in the project can move with weather, field conditions and other factors.
The calendar, as posted and as it's actually running
Here is the city's posted schedule, with notes from the latest update on how each segment is going.
| Segment | Posted dates | Status as of the October 26 update |
|---|---|---|
| Segment 1, western area | October 1, 2026 to February 8, 2027 | Next in line after the east end. Marine mattresses are being prepared for use here |
| Segment 2, central area | December 16, 2026 to March 1, 2027 | Not yet started |
| Segment 3, eastern area | February 12, 2027 to March 23, 2027 | Underway now, with revetment stone going in between Davis and Atlantic |
The city says the whole job should be finished by March 31, 2027, and it notes that the segments may overlap. On Thursday, October 29, the contractor's supplier ran a training day for contractor and consultant staff on filling marine mattresses for Segment 1. When the training is for the next segment's materials, the move west is already being planned.
A small footprint downtown
When the Board of Aldermen awarded the contract on June 11, 2026, much of the discussion was about how much of downtown the work would take up. According to the council minutes, Jeremy Packard of the engineering firm Foth said on-site staging would be limited to two places. One is the parking lot beside Oliver's restaurant. The other is the harbor walk area along the park. Everything else is stored off-site, and the contractor may bring in only one day's worth of material at a time.
With so little room set aside for storage, material has to arrive in deliveries over the life of each segment. The city tells residents and visitors to expect more construction traffic, heavy equipment, temporary work zones, occasional noise, and possibly some parking or traffic limits. Parts of the project area may be closed to the public for safety.
The contract also protects the streets the trucks use. The minutes say vibration will be monitored continuously during construction, and inspections before and after the work will record existing conditions and document any damage. The contractor must repair or replace anything it damages and provide a one-year warranty. If the work runs past the contract completion date, liquidated damages of $500 a day apply.
December 12, then December 16
The 32nd Southport Winterfest Flotilla is on Saturday, December 12, 2026, at 6 p.m. The sponsors are the Cape Fear Yacht Club, Downtown Southport, Inc. and the City of Southport. Boats will run from Old American Fish to a lighted buoy near Kingsley Street Park and back, weather permitting. The buoy is new this year. Downtown Southport, Inc. says to bring chairs and blankets. Cape Fear Radio will broadcast the parade live, and students from the Southport Elementary School Art Program will judge the sail and power boats. Their artwork will hang at the NC Maritime Museum at Southport through December.
The central segment is scheduled to start on December 16, four days after the flotilla. On the posted calendar, the parade comes before the middle of the waterfront becomes a work zone. The rest of Southport's Christmas season is listed on the city's Winterfest page, which describes a week-long celebration and links to the city calendar for each event. The project schedule can change with the weather, so check the city's project page during flotilla week.
Why the rock is going in
The river beach along Bay Street has been losing ground for years. In 2022, the StarNews reported that waves from passing vessels were wearing away the shoreline, and officials were concerned about what erosion near Bay Street meant for infrastructure and homes. The State Port Pilot listed the causes as storm waves, boat and ship traffic, and rising water levels. The Pilot also reported that these pressures were expected to grow as larger commercial ships, arriving more often, use the deepened Wilmington Harbor Navigation Channel.
The Pilot quoted City Engineer Bob Jarvis's report to aldermen:
"The shoreline within the project area will continue to erode and impact adjacent properties and city infrastructure."
The finished project has five parts, according to the June council minutes:
- Offshore breakwaters
- Beach nourishment
- Dune restoration
- Native plantings
- Rock revetments
The revetment going in at the east end now is the fifth item. The October 26 update says the breakwaters, beach and dunes come next, starting in Segment 1. An earlier design described in the Pilot's coverage placed one breakwater in front of the pilot's tower on Bay Street, with a short stem reaching a little way into the river. Two shorter breakwaters would run parallel to the shoreline. That plan also included reinforcing the bulkhead at Waterfront Park. Those details come from the planning stage and give a sense of the shape the city had in mind.
How a $5 million grant became a $3.3 million contract
State Rep. Charlie Miller and State Sen. Bill Rabon secured the funding in December 2021, a $5 million grant from the legislature's State Emergency Response and Disaster Relief Fund. The grant covers the whole project, and the city had to put up no local match. It came with a deadline. The money had to be obligated by June 30, 2026, and the contract award came on June 11.
The city received four bids, ranging from about $3.3 million to $4.3 million. Civil Works Contracting, LLC was the lowest responsive bidder at $3,294,674.47, almost exactly the engineer's estimate of $3.3 million. Jarvis told aldermen the three lowest bids were within about four percent of one another. Because the bids came in under the available budget, the city took both the base bid and the alternate segments. Aldermen approved the award unanimously.
Mayor Joe Pat Hatem traced the project back to former Mayor Robert Howard and a committee chaired by Tommy Harrelson. He told the board the waterfront had experienced ongoing erosion and that the project mattered to Southport and to the state. Over several years, the city completed the surveys, engineering design, easements, permits and public workshops. On-site construction was set to begin around October 1, in line with environmental permit restrictions.
Keeping track through March
Two city pages give the current status. The project page on the city's engagement site has the full segment schedule. The Shoreline Improvements Project page on cityofsouthport.gov posts the dated updates and three-week lookaheads, which cover closures like the one on East Bay Street. The next milestones to watch for are the eastern closure lifting, which is expected around mid-November, and the move to Segment 1. The central segment is scheduled to begin December 16, and the city expects the work to be finished by March 31, 2027.
Bay Street's waterfront is part of what makes downtown Southport feel like home. If you'd like to talk through how this winter's shoreline work fits the blocks near the river, the team at Vic's Picks is happy to share what we're seeing on the ground. Contact Us whenever it's convenient.
