By MADDY VITALE
The Cape May County Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution at its Zoom meeting Tuesday seeking safety improvements at Exit 25 of the Garden State Parkway and Roosevelt Boulevard.
“There have been numerous traffic accidents at the intersections of Roosevelt Boulevard and GSP Interchange 25, where vehicles have left the roadway, damaged private property, and place a strain on the already overburdened congestion of the roadway,” the resolution states.
Commissioner Vice-Director Leonard Desiderio, who is also Sea Isle City’s mayor, introduced the resolution, which was seconded by Commissioner E. Marie Hayes, an Ocean City resident.
Specifically, the County Commissioners are calling on the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) in the resolution to conduct a safety study and implement necessary improvements to correct “the hazardous conditions of the intersections at Roosevelt Boulevard and interchange 25 of the Garden State Parkway.” The NJTA is the state agency that operates the Parkway.
Exit 25 serves as both a gateway to Ocean City and the Marmora section of Upper Township. Roosevelt Boulevard is a four-lane highway connecting the two communities. There are also northbound and southbound interchanges for the GSP.
Hayes said in an interview on Saturday that improvements are greatly needed to make the interchange safer.
“It is very busy there,” she said. “There are a lot of issues when people come from the north and drive down the ramp. There is a conglomeration of drivers who come off the exit and it is absolutely overwhelming.”
According to the Board of Commissioners, the congestion at Exit 25 is due, in part, because the Garden State Parkway’s Exit 20 “is missing movements.”
The result is a traffic backup at the Marmora exit, “especially during the summer months,” according to the resolution.
In other matters, Hayes, who is liaison to the County Park and Zoo, shared some information about an upcoming event.
“The Zoological Society will announce shortly a fundraiser to support exhibits for kangaroos, emus and toucans,” Hayes said.
She also spoke about a recent addition and a loss at the zoo.
On Monday, the zoo announced the arrival of an 8-year-old female snow leopard named Maliha.
Maliha was sent to the zoo by the Species Survival Plan (SSP) as a strong genetic match for Bataar, the zoo’s male snow leopard. Himani, a 17-year-old female snow leopard, died in February of cancer.
“As everyone knows, we lost our female snow leopard and we have received a new one,” Hayes said, adding that the hope is the new leopard will be well-paired with the male. “We are hoping love will be in the air.”
She also thanked the board for supporting a resolution that honors women. Specifically, the resolution recognizes “the social, economic, cultural and political contributions and achievements of women.”
The resolution further states that it recognizes “the contributions and achievements of women as celebrated on International Women’s Day on March 8 and Women’s History Month in March.”
