Huge crowds clog region's beaches as holiday weekend draws to close
Beach-goers took to the sand in possibly unprecedented numbers Sunday, filling parking lots to capacity and tying up traffic on local roads.
Rocky Neck State Park in East Lyme had to close shortly before noon, and New London police reported early in the afternoon that the city's Ocean Beach Park lot was full. They warned motorists that although parking on side streets was allowed and parking regulations were suspended they should avoid blocking driveways and fire hydrants or occupying handicapped spaces unless eligible to do so.
Dave Sugrue, Ocean Beach Park’s general manager, estimated the park’s crowd at 11,000, nearly eight times the number of vehicles the park can accommodate.
“The parking lot is completely full,” Sugrue said. “A lot of people are walking in now. A lot of them are being dropped off. About 150 people are in line right now.”
Sugrue attributed the turnout to the conditions — “a perfect beach day” — and the ongoing celebration of the park’s well-publicized 75th anniversary, which the community celebrated Friday night.
“This is as good as it gets,” Sugrue said of Sunday’s crowd.
He said the parking lot filled to capacity twice on Saturday, once during the day and again in the evening. He’ll have a better idea of the attendance total for the three-day weekend on Monday, he said, though it’ll still be an estimate due to the large number of people who hold season passes.
Rocky Neck, which closed to new arrivals around 12:30 p.m. Saturday, did so again Sunday shortly before noon.
“There just were not enough spots,” Gary Jost, the supervising park ranger, said. “We thought it would go later today. Yesterday, we had a lot of out-of-staters. Today, it’s more in-staters. Plus it’s nicer today."
Jost said staff closes the park when about 75 parking spaces remain. The park is reopened if as many as 300 spaces become available. Jost did not expect that to be the case Sunday. He was unable to provide an estimate of the number of people at the beach.
Heavy attendance also was reported at Misquamicut Beach State Park in Westerly and at other Rhode Island beaches.
Twitter: @bjhallenbeck
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