By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
By Councilman Dave Winslow’s count, there are 30 different signs lining the busy 34th Street corridor in Ocean City.
“Many of them are faded. Many are a hodgepodge. There’s no ‘Welcome to Ocean City’ sign,” Winslow said.
Perhaps it is fitting that there is no “Welcome to Ocean City” sign on a corridor that is less than welcoming.
Although it is the city’s second-busiest gateway, the 34th Street corridor is an uninviting roadway in need of a makeover, Winslow pointed out.
“I think we have a real opportunity to really make this whole roadway from the bridge to the ocean a really attractive gateway. Right now, it doesn’t look that way,” he said.
Winslow is hopeful that the roadway can be transformed into more of what he called an “Oh, wow” gateway into town following City Council’s vote Thursday night to eliminate some outdated design standards that had been in place for the 34th Street corridor for the last 14 years.
City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson told the Council members that the design standards had included specific requirements for such things as trash receptacles, light fixtures, pavers and even cobblestones.
McCrosson noted that many of those decorative features had simply given the 34th Street gateway a “hodgepodge” appearance and made it more expensive for businesses owners to develop their properties.
Mayor Jay Gillian’s administration wants to simplify the 34th Street gateway and “bring the whole corridor into a consistent appearance,” McCrosson said.
Winslow is the Fourth Ward councilman who represents the southern part of Ocean City, including the 34th Street corridor.
He wants to see the corridor spruced up all the way from the 34th Street Bridge to the ocean, including both the residential sections and the business district.
“When I moved here 40 years ago, 34th Street was kind of a sleepy corridor in town. There wasn’t a whole lot going on there. The main gateway was through Ninth Street. Now, 34th Street has become a major, major gateway to the city and the development in the south end has been astronomical,” Winslow said during the Council meeting.
He suggested that the city should consult with engineers and possibly form a community group to begin discussing ways to enliven 34th Street.
“So, I would like to keep the conversation going – that we have maybe a committee or engineers or a citizens group to get together and say, ‘What should this gateway look like?’” he said.
This is not the first time that an elected official has drawn attention to the appearance of the 34th Street corridor. Winslow’s predecessor, former Fourth Ward Councilman Bob Barr, also wanted to transform the corridor into something more attractive.
Barr, who now serves as a Cape May County commissioner, thought that even the pine trees planted on a grassy median strip along the corridor were ugly. Bent, gnarled and twisted, the trees are part of the haphazard landscaping for the 34th Street artery.
The 34th Street corridor ties in with Roosevelt Boulevard to link Ocean City’s southern end with neighboring Upper Township. The roadway, including the 34th Street Bridge, spans about two miles from Route 9 in Upper Township’s Marmora section to Bay Avenue in Ocean City.
The road is under Cape May County’s control, which prevents Ocean City from simply using its own money to spruce it up.
Winslow said other Cape May County towns have jazzed up their gateways at relatively low cost, which has encouraged him that the same thing could be done for the 34th Street artery.
Among the possible improvements, he envisions not only having a “Welcome to Ocean City” sign to greet motorists entering town, but also an outbound sign that says, “Thanks for visiting. Please come back.”
But at this time, “It’s not welcoming at all,” he said.
