West Avenue Bike Path Could Be Reality by Summer 2014

Cape May County Engineer Dale Foster told City Council on Thursday that the county is almost prepared to move forward with a plan to eliminate two lanes of traffic on West Avenue south of 34th Street to make room for a bicycle route.

He said the county will conduct a traffic study first, but that the restriping of the road for bicycle lanes could be in place sometime in summer 2014.

The announcement of the plan is a milestone in a years-long effort to create a safe bicycle route running the length of Ocean City. The effort was bogged down in a debate over the potential cost and environmental impact of using an abandoned railroad bed over the marshes south of 36th Street.

An existing bicycle corridor uses Haven Avenue, "traffic-calming" measures and some stretches of a separate paved bike path to create a safe route from Ninth Street to 34th Street. The city has plans for a safe bicycle crossing of the busy Ninth Street gateway and for improvements on the north end of Ocean City. The area between 34th Street and 55th Street remains a missing link.

The plan proposed by the county, which maintains the length of West Avenue, calls for changing West Avenue from four lanes of traffic (two in each direction) to two lanes with a center lane for left turns. That would leave room for five-foot bike lanes on each side of the road separated by three-foot buffer zones (see diagram above).

The traffic pattern would be similar to what exists on West Avenue north of 34th Street.

The city's capital improvement plan proposes spending $200,000 to help make the bike route happen.

Advocates say changing West Avenue to two lanes would also help improve a dangerous four-lane crossing for pedestrians on the thoroughfare.

Councilman Scott Ping told Foster he believes the change would only add to already heavy traffic in the summer on West Avenue. Foster said the county's study would take into account the potential effect of the change on Asbury and Central avenues, the two other north-south thoroughfares on the south end.

"The south end has been talked about and talked about and talked about," said Drew Fasy, a member of the Bike OCNJ group that has been advocating for development of a safe bike route. "People want this."

Fasy thanked Foster and Cape May County Freeholder Marie Hayes for their work in developing the plans.