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July 10, 2007

DEM: State beach traffic back to normal / Photo

Journal photo / Kathy Borchers
By 10:45 a.m. today, a crowd had gathered at Misquamicut State Beach in Westerly, where the forecast calls for hazy sun and a high in the low 80s.

Beach traffic in Rhode Island today is what you’d expect on an ordinary summer Tuesday.

“It’s a typical summer weekday,” said Gail Mastrati, spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Management, which manages the state beaches. “Parking lots are moderately full. It varies from beach to beach. Some are about half full.”

Two days after the busiest beach day those at the DEM can recall, there’s “nothing out of the ordinary,” Mastrati said.

The DEM took the unprecedented move mid-afternoon on Sunday to close the parking lots for all state beaches. In all the years DEM has been managing the state’s beaches, they’ve never before seen all the state beach lots filled to capacity, Mastrati said.

Like today, yesterday was uneventful, also, with not nearly enough people flocking to the beach to cause any problems.

Your turn: Check out what projo.com readers have suggested to ease congestion at the beaches – and weigh in yourself on our survey.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson  at 11:59 AM | Permalink

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dave | July 10, 2007 2:54 PM link

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