One of the city’s hidden jewels, North Beach is a great place to play in the sand and surf between visits to the nearby USS Lexington Museum on the Bay, Texas State Aquarium or downtown Corpus Christi’s S.E.A. District and marina. Photo Carrie Robertson Meyer/Third Coast Photo
Expect to see more patrols on the roads and the beach this Spring Break, which is March 11-19. Both the Corpus Christi and Port Aransas police departments received additional funds to beef up their DUI enforcement, and they plan to use them.
New funds for the cities’ drunk driver programs make more officers available on the road during Spring Break as well as other celebratory times of the year. The Texas Department of Transportation recently awarded Impaired Driving Mobilization grants to the CCPD and PAPD. The money pays for overtime for officers during holidays throughout the year when alcohol-related crashes are most frequent.
In Port Aransas, a city ordinance restricts public consumption of alcohol during the week of Spring Break. The no-alcohol-on-the-beach ban will be in place from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. every day between March 11 and March 19, except Sundays, March 12 and 19, when it will be in place from 6 p.m. to noon.
This rule only applies on the beach; the ordinance does not affect restaurants, bars or other private or public places such as homes, motels and condominiums.
In 2015, a year before the first ban, PAPD officers were assaulted nearly every night of Spring Break by people throwing bottles, cans and other objects at officers patrolling the beach. To protect the PAPD and create a more family-friendly experience at the beach, the 2016 alcohol ban was in put place.
Now in its second year, the ban proved its success in 2016, according to local law enforcement.
“We saw a drastic reduction in nighttime violence on the beach and an increase in family presence,” Port Aransas Police Chief Scott A. Burroughs told Corpus Christi Business News.
For drivers, Burroughs urges extreme caution, especially as construction and no-passing zones on Texas 361 have significantly narrowed the roadway at points. He advises visitors to have a designated driver, spend the night in a motel, take a taxi — anything but drink and drive.
“Visitors need to be particularly cognizant of the speed limit and people working in construction zones,” he said. “Drunk driving is an issue during Spring Break, and officers are specifically looking for those violations.”
While Corpus Christi beaches do not ban alcohol during certain times for Spring Break, common sense and standing laws on public intoxication will be enforced. As usual, a mobile police station will be set up on the Island to facilitate an increased police presence and first aid.
Also from March 11-19, dogs are not allowed on the beach from Access Road 3 to Bob Hall Pier between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m.
