By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY

LONGPORT – The borough will soon begin installing sidewalks in areas where there are none. City officials identified the lack of sidewalks in certain areas as a public safety concern, especially for families carting strollers and children to the beach during summer.

On Oct. 21, the Board of Commissioners awarded a $130,520 contract to Hackney Concrete, Inc. to install infill sidewalks in various locations so pedestrians don’t have to walk in the street on their way to the beach.

The borough also recently approved a resolution establishing temporary no parking restrictions on both sides of portions of the streets where sidewalks will be installed.

Streets identified include:

  • South side of Absequam Avenue from 26th to 27th Avenue
  • North side of Amherst Avenue from 36th Avenue to the Margate City line
  • East side of 28th Avenue 250 feet south of Ventnor Avenue to Ventnor Avenue
  • East side of 30th Avenue from Monmouth to Sunset Avenue
  • West side of 34th Avenue from Ventnor to Pacific Avenue
  • East side of Colgate Avenue from Ventnor to Winchester, Winchester to Monmouth, and Monmouth to Amherst Avenue
  • West side of Evergreen Avenue 250 south of Sunset to Sunset Avenue
  • East side of Manor Avenue from Winchester to Sunset Avenue
  • West side of Overbrook Avenue from Ventnor Avenue to Longport Drive

Property owners will be notified when contractors will be working on their street, engineer Richard Carter said.

In other business, the commissioners discussed how neighboring Margate’s plans to turn Amherst Avenue into a one-way street traveling toward Longport will affect traffic patterns in the northern end of the borough.

Carter recommended hiring a traffic engineer to determine how the borough would be affected.

“Directing all traffic into Longport is really not fair,” Carter said. “Why would you want to accept all the traffic that’s being generated in Margate to Longport. You want it to go the other way.”

Carter said the direction should be reversed to go toward Washington Avenue.

Officials said they have no problem with Margate’s proposal to install a road diet on Atlantic Avenue, which would match up with Longport’s roadway configuration.

The board also denied a request from an elderly resident to establish a handicapped parking space in front of his home on N. 31st Avenue.

Police Chief Frank Culmone denied resident Mark Hyman’s request for a handicapped spot because he has a driveway where he can park his vehicle. Hyman appealed to the commissioners to override Culmone’s decision because he finds it difficult to maneuver the driveway’s incline.

Mayor Nicholas Russo prepared an ordinance granting the spot, but the motion to introduce the ordinance did not receive a second and the motion “died on the floor.”

Hyman said the borough was discriminating against him, when there are many other handicapped parking spots located throughout town.

Commissioner of Public Safety Dan Lawler said Culmone followed a pre-established procedure and has denied numerous requests for handicapped spots based on that criteria.

“Frank’s not a doctor or a podiatrist to make that decision for how I’m going to park,” Hyman said. “This isn’t going to go away right now.”

 

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Categories: Longport

Nanette LoBiondo Galloway

Award winning journalist covering news, events and people of Atlantic County for more than 20 years.