OCEAN CITY — Is Ocean City already taking enough steps to be considered a bike-friendly town without the proposed expense and effort to gain approval as an official Bicycle-Friendly Community?
That was a question before the Mayor and Council this week, and after considerable debate, the majority believed seeking the coveted Bicycle-Friendly Community (BFC) designation was the right thing to do.
In and effort to continue progress in making Ocean City more bicycle-friendly and get more bikes off Coastal Highway and onto safer side streets, resort officials have been working for over a year to implement an unofficial bike path for the entire length to town and thus far the effort has been largely successful, if not tedious at times.
The goal is to minimize the need for bicycles to co-mingle and interact with cars, buses and trucks on the major arteries. Thus far, official bike lanes have been established or are in the process of being established on some significant north-south corridors including Sinepuxent Drive, Jamaica Avenue, Assawoman Drive and Wight Street, for example. Adding more major thoroughfares to that growing list could be accomplished by gaining a BFC designation for the town.
Gaining a BFC designation could enhance the town’s ability to secure grants for more bike-friendly projects in town. The belief is the BFC designation could include other benefits for tourism, the town’s reputation as a green community and perhaps even property values. However, gaining the designation is challenging and would come with some up-front and long-term financial commitments.
For example, when Engineering Manager Paul Mauser first pitched the idea to the Mayor and Council last month, he outlined the possible benefits along with potential challenges. Mauser said roughly 800 communities around the country have applied for the BFC designation and thus far just about half have been awarded including six in Maryland.
Most of the steps needed to achieve the designation do not come with a direct cost associated, but would consume considerable staff time. For example, Ocean City would have to establish bike routes where possible, which it is already doing to a large degree. The town would also have to conduct bicycle education at local schools although there is some discretion in what that would entail. In addition, the town would have to establish “bike to work” days, develop a Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee and, perhaps most importantly, develop a “Complete Streets” policy that could involve ordinance changes.
The Complete Streets policy would require the town to establish designated bicycle routes where possible. In other areas where rights-of-way are not wide enough to support a designated bike lane, appropriate signage and other on-street markings such as the familiar “share the road” signs could be employed.
When Mauser pitched the concept last month, the Mayor and Council directed him to come back with some real hard figures on direct costs for some of the possible streets with designated bike paths. On Tuesday, Mauser said two candidates had been identified, including Robin Drive and Oyster Lane could support a designated bike lane, but the cost of signage and thermal-plastic street markings would cost around $15,000 for each, not including long-term maintenance costs.
Councilman Wayne Hartman questioned if the town’s efforts already underway without the added expense of the BFC designation were enough to uphold Ocean City’s reputation as a bike-friendly town.
“I have my concerns,” he said. “If we’re already doing most of these things, do we really need to go through the BFC process? If we don’t do this, why can’t we continue what we’re already doing and be a bike-friendly town without the official designation?”
Councilman Tony DeLuca said he believed the BFC designation would only enhance the town’s efforts to become more bike-friendly.
“The benefit of this first and foremost is safety,” he said. “The second element is the grant money this might afford us. Millennials are buying up bicycles and using them more and more for transportation. It’s a growing thing.”
However, Hartman could not be dissuaded.
“I think we can be 110-percent bike friendly without our hands tied with all of these mandates and expenses,” he said. “I think we’re doing a great job at being bike-friendly without somebody looking over our shoulders. We’re already doing most of these things. We can already advertise with confidence that we’re a bike-friendly town.”
Mayor Rick Meehan said some of the funding concerns might be overstated.
“I like the idea of becoming a Bicycle-Friendly Community,” he said. “We’re already doing a lot of these things, so we’re already expending some of that money.”
The council voted 6-1 with Hartman opposed to direct Mauser to continue the effort to gain the BFC designation.
