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Home >
OC News > > February 2006
02/24/06 -
Dredging
02/23/06 -
Route 52
02/02/06 -
Merchants Want Say
02/02/06 -
Ocean City Chamber Traffic Study
State discusses reopening
Route 52, going out to bid
e-published 02/23/2006
Ocean City Gazette
OCEAN CITY – State and local officials met again Wednesday, Feb. 22 for a
progress report on area traffic improvements including the Route 52 causeway.
For the first time since partially closing the span in January, that state
revealed it will attempt to re-bid the Route 52 reconstruction project in June.
Bids are expected to go out then on the first phase of the project, creating a
new, elevated causeway to replace the ground-level one. Initial bids were
rejected when they came in about $90 million higher than the $150 million the
state originally budgeted for the work.
There was also talk of reopening the roadway – closed from four lanes to two –
at the very least for the upcoming tourist season. Local officials stressed the
importance the span has on emergency and rescue personnel, as it is a direct
route to Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point.
The state says it is working on it.
In the meantime, state Department of Transportation officials have promised some
relief in the form of a longer off-ramp at Exit 25 of the Garden State Parkway
and an additional turn lane there by Memorial Day. Trucks over 4 tons have been
banned from Route 52 while it is partially closed because of its rapid
deterioration factor, also a main reason for the causeway’s closure. Those
vehicles are now using Ocean City’s 34th Street bridge, in close proximity to
Exit 25 of the Parkway. This detour has been causing traffic snarls in the
Marmora section of Upper Township, where officials are extremely unhappy. They
fear the situation will only get worse as the summer approaches.
Upper Township Committeeman Jay Newman, also the Marmora fire chief, has been
vocal at township meetings on the issue and called Wednesday’s meeting in Ocean
City another round of all talk and no action.
He said he was tired of going to meetings that discussed what could happen and
would rather see immediately what would happen to remedy this situation.
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O.C. likely to
reject marina dredging bids
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Published: Friday, February 24, 2006
Updated: Friday, February 24, 2006
City Council likely will reject bids to dredge eight marinas after the initial
numbers came in greatly over budget.
The low bidder, Caldwell Marine of Toms River, submitted a price of $1.67
million to dredge approximately 40,000 cubic yards of silt and sand from the
marinas.
That is $669,000 more than the $1 million the city budgeted for the job, Public
Works Director George Savastano said Thursday.
The higher of the two bidders, Barnegat Bay of Harvey Cedars, submitted a price
of $2.3 million.
The city planned to share costs with the private marinas' owners. The owners
would pay for the actual dredging. The city would pay to mobilize the dredge and
secure a disposal site, likely one in Egg Harbor Township two miles north of the
city.
Under this arrangement, the city agreed to pay for no more than 50 percent of
the total job.
The marinas are free to act independently of the city and strike their own deals
with a dredging company. But Savastano on Thursday urged council to reject the
bids. A formal vote is expected next month.
Ocean City has a narrow window to dredge its bays under the state permit because
of protections on winter flounder and shellfish beds in the area. The city can
dredge only between June 1 and Sept. 30. That likely means the marinas will go
un-dredged until next year unless the private marinas take action independently.
As part of the dredging package, the city planned to include the public Bayside
Center and some street ends, which comprised less than 5 percent of the total
job, Savastano said.
Some residents have questioned the propriety of the city's dredging private
marinas. The marinas in question are Nor'easter, Sunset Bay, Bay Club, Great Egg
Villas, Harbor House, Favorite Harbor, Bay Villas and Brittany Drive. Each has
its own condominium association.
The city expected more interest from area dredge companies. But only two bidders
responded.
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Published: Thursday, February 2, 2006
Press of Atlantic City
O.C. merchants
want say on Route 52 traffic woes
The Chamber of
Commerce is trying to find out how traffic gridlock in the area will affect
summer tourism.
With the closure of two lanes on Route 52, the main entrance to town, some
merchants fear day-trippers will venture elsewhere in search of easier access to
the beach.
Leaders at the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce are creating a task force
to evaluate how traffic tie-ups may affect tourism.
The city has asked the state to lengthen the interval between drawbridge
openings to prevent traffic jams. But tour-boat operators need to know now
whether the state will act on that request so they can change their advertised
tour times on brochures and advertising, chamber Director Joann DelVescio said.
The state is detouring truck traffic from Route 52 to Exit 25 of the Garden
State Parkway in Upper Township and over the 34th Street bridge into Ocean City.
“If traffic starts to back up onto the parkway, it will turn some people off,”
she said. “We need to make sure the (detour) signage is great and that 34th
Street continues to move.”
The chamber staffs a popular Welcome Center off Route 52. It is considering
opening a satellite tourism center around 34th Street to cater to visitors who
take this alternate route into town.
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Published: Thursday, February 2, 2006
Press of Atlantic City
O.C. chamber to study
trafficLeaders at the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce
are creating a task force to evaluate how traffic tie-ups may affect tourism.
With the closure of two lanes on Route 52, the main entrance to town, some
merchants fear day-trippers may go elsewhere in search of easier access to the
beach.
The city has asked the state to lengthen the interval between drawbridge
openings to prevent traffic jams. But tour-boat operators need to know now
whether the state will act on that request so they can change tour times on
brochures and advertising, chamber director Joann DelVescio said.
The state is detouring truck traffic from Route 52 to Exit 25 of the Garden
State Parkway in Upper Township and over the 34th Street bridge into Ocean City.
The chamber staffs a popular Welcome Center off Route 52. The chamber is
considering opening a satellite tourism center around 34th Street to cater to
visitors who take this alternate route into town.
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