File/Margate commissioners listen to Arthur W. Ponzio about installation of a promenade along Amherst Avenue, Aug. 1, 2019.
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
MARGATE – The Board of Commissioners Thursday, June 4 awarded a contract to study the idea of turning Amherst Avenue into a one-way street.
The board awarded a $15,250 one-year contract to Arthur W. Ponzio Co. & Associates to perform a one-way traffic flow evaluation on Amherst Avenue from Jerome Avenue to Coolidge Avenue.
According to Commissioner of Public Safety John Amodeo, the issue of turning Amherst Avenue into a one-way street came up last year when the commission discussed the parking situation in the marina district.
Amodeo said there were several factors in deciding to conduct the study, which was also prompted by the commissioners’ discussions about finding a safe way to install a bicycle lane along the marina business district.
“With our restaurants and marinas, it’s a busy district,” Amodeo said in a telephone interview Tuesday morning. “This will give us the opportunity to look at various scenarios for parking and bicycle lanes.”
When the bike lane issue was discussed during a presentation on Phase 2 of the Amherst Avenue bulkhead reconstruction project, which includes a promenade, Mayor Michael Becker said the issue was worthy of attention.
“I’m on Amherst Avenue almost every weekend morning and if you want to see an adventure, just go down there,” he said at a meeting held Aug. 1, 2019.
The promenade, which will connect the marina district with the Washington Avenue pedestrian walkway and the central business district on Ventnor Avenue and the Lucy the Elephant tourism district on Atlantic Avenue, was recommended in the city’s 2016 Master Plan Update.
The study will be conducted through the busy summer months but is not expected to affect travel.
“They will probably post monitors or car counters in the street,” he said.
Amodeo said the Police Department is also conducting a study of speeding along the two-lane roadway, which will compliment Ponzio’s study.
“We just want to cross our T’s and dot our I’s and look at all the possible scenarios, before garnering public input on the results,” Amodeo said. “We want to see what the reception is before we make any decisions.”
With the Federal Highway Administration and the NJ Dept. of Transportation pushing to install “sharrows” that instruct motorists to share the road with bicyclists, and residents and visitors increasingly using bicycles for exercise and as a mode of transportation in areas where parking is limited, a study is warranted, Amodeo said.
The study will include looking at angle parking versus perpendicular parking currently in effect along the bulkhead. Amodeo said switching to angle parking could eliminate up to six parking spaces, and with perpendicular parking, there are sight triangle issues.
“It’s a safety issue and we want to be pro-safety especially because we are a resort town,” Amodeo said.
In other business related to the marina district, the Planning Board will conduct a site plan review of the proposed Island Aqua Park at its meeting 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 25. The site plan review, which was originally scheduled for May 28, was postponed because the city did not receive the applicant’s deposit in time for it to be placed on the agenda.
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