A county road project to reconfigure the four-lane stretch of West Avenue south of 34th Street to include two lanes of traffic and two buffered bicycle lanes is now off until the fall.
Cape May County had been expected to award a $160,333 contract for work to be complete before July, but County Engineer Dale Foster said Wednesday that all bids were rejected due to an issue with the bid documents.
The project will be rebid in the fall after the peak summer traffic season, he said.
The work will eliminate two lanes of traffic between 35th Street and 55th Street to make room for a bicycle route.
The project will change the road from four lanes of traffic (two in each direction) to two lanes with a center lane for left turns. That will 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.
Foster said the Ocean City Police Department favors the reconfiguration, because a study have shown there are fewer accidents and incidents in the two-lane section of West Avenue.
Foster said the county will conduct additional traffic counts this summer to augment the safety study.
The reconfiguration is a milestone in a years-long effort to create a safe bicycle route running the length of Ocean City.
An existing bicycle corridor runs along Haven Avenue from Ninth Street to 34th Street. The city recently installed a new user-activiated traffic signal to help bicycles cross the busy Ninth Street gateway, and the city has plans for improvements on the north end of Ocean City.
Advocates say changing West Avenue to two lanes would also help improve a dangerous four-lane crossing for pedestrians on the thoroughfare.
But others have expressed concern that the change would slow summer traffic and possibly push through-traffic onto adjacent Asbury and Central avenues.
The stretch of roadway is maintained by Cape May County and not the City of Ocean City.
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