Bike OCNJ's annual public forum Tuesday served as a bit of a celebration of all that Ocean City has accomplished in the past seven years to create bicycle-friendly amenities on the island.
Seven years ago, Ocean City had the boardwalk, Bike OCNJ member Drew Fasy said. Beyond that, bicycle riders were on their own on the streets.
A bicyclist crosses Ninth Street in Ocean City using the new HAWK signal and crosswalk near the Haven Avenue intersection.
But the city this year put the last pieces in place for a safe bicycle route that runs the length of the island north-to-south (
read more). The route features marked bike routes, various features that slow car traffic, a new user-activated signal to help bikers cross the busy Ninth Street corridor and a reconfiguration of West Avenue at the south end of the island to create buffered bicycle lanes.
Bike OCNJ, a volunteer group that promotes safe cycling in Ocean City, hosted about 50 members of the public at the eighth annual forum Tuesday at the Ocean City Community Center.
With a bike route successfully in place, the group is now advocating for more improvements to the bicycle corridor — including better signage and measures that would allow the city to eliminate stop signs while diverting or otherwise slowing car traffic.
The forum invited the public to share opinions and ask questions on bicycle-related issues.
Sgt. Brian Hopely, head of the Ocean City Police Department's Traffic Safety Unit, responded to some of the issues raised:
- Lack of enforcement of bicycle laws: Hopely said bicycle laws are enforced, primarily through a warning system — a "soft-handed approach" that with the encouragement of the city administration doesn't rely on heavy fines for bicyclists in a tourist town. He said the department works through "engineering, education and enforcement" to promote safe bicycling.
- HAWK signal at Ninth Street: Hopely said the department has been disabling the signal on busy summer weekends in an effort to "flush (car) traffic into Ocean City." He said the signal is otherwise synced with the signals and Ninth Street and West Avenue and never activated until a pedestrian or cyclists pushes the button. When the signal is not activated, bicyclists can cross at West Avenue or Bay Avenue, he said. He also said the department is trying to educate motorists on how the signal works (vehicles can proceed after stopping on a flashing red signal, if there crosswalk is clear ... see PDF below for full explanation).
- West Avenue bike lanes: He said bike crash numbers are "plummeting" at the south end with the new buffered bike lanes. "What an improvement," he said.
- In-street bike racks: He said the city will continue a program to buy and install in-street bike racks, including at locations like the Flanders Hotel (11th Street and Boardwalk), Bob's Grill (14th Street and Boardwalk) and the Island Grill (First Street and Atlantic Avenue).
- Getting from Ninth Street Bridge to the Boardwalk: Until any other plan is implemented, Hopely said bicycles coming off the new Route 52 causeway path can continue down a shared-use sidewalk along Ninth Street to West Avenue. He said he doesn't recommend continuing down busy Ninth Street on the roadway. He said the lights on 10th Street are timed to move traffic eastbound toward the ocean, and the lights on 8th Street are timed to move traffic westbound back toward the bridge. Those roads include sharrows to mark bicycle lanes.
Read more about some of the changes in the past year:
[gview file="https://accessglobal.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/siteimports/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/DC-HAWK-brochure.pdf"]
