OCEAN CITY – Improvements to Ocean City’s northern and midtown bike routes were announced this week, but issues remain at two locations that are slowing down progress.
In its midtown location, crews have eliminated one of three landscaping barriers on public property between 51st and 52nd streets, according to Coastal Resources Legislative Committee Chair and Councilman Tony DeLuca.
This eliminated barrier is a success for the route’s progress due to busy traffic patterns from the Roland E. Powell Convention Center to 62nd Street.
“That is what started the whole thing,” DeLuca says. “It really would be nice if we could alleviate those [areas].”
The town has also made headway with its northern extension bike route on Sinepuxent Avenue, where road crews will have a new path finished in the fall.
The path will have stop signs where there are no traffic lights, to allow bikes to cross the highway from east to west.
Progress along the bike route has since stalled because of issues involving fencing and landscaping.
The town has not resolved two obstructions at The Meridian and the Econo Lodge at 60th and 29th streets, respectively.
At the Meridian, fencing that runs from the beach to Coastal Highway is obstructing the route.
Similar landscaping issues are obstructing the path at the Econo Lodge.
Although the transportation committee is talking with the landowners to solve these two problems, the town has yet to resolve 13 easement issues along the path.
“We have legal issues we are still working on, and we really don’t have a clear next step,” DeLuca said to the committee.
An extensive report of the progress will follow at the transportation committee meeting on Sept. 27.
The town has contributed $35,000 to the $92,560 in costs the bike path project would incur.
The Maryland Department of Transportation’s Bikeways Program will provide the remaining $57,560 if it receives the funding applied for earlier in the year.
Gov. Larry Hogan established nearly $15 million in transportation grants in September of last year in an effort to connect and improve the state through bike paths and pedestrian trails.
DeLuca says the odds of Ocean City receiving the grant are favorable, considering that Salisbury received the same grant for the same purpose.
However, the town would need to define an exact bike route before receiving any grant money from the state.
Once the town solves its obstruction issues, officials will have the route mapped out.
“It would be nice to have a mobile app, just like Map My Ride,” Ocean City Environmental Engineer Gail Blazer said.
Currently, bikers who know the area well continue to use quieter side streets and shortcuts through private property that run parallel to major highways in their commute.
Town officials have already made arrangements with landowners to make these shortcuts a continuous biking path with minimal signage.
“Our goal here is to get the bikes off of Coastal Highway and Baltimore Avenue,” DeLuca says.
The bike route is an ongoing effort by the city’s Coastal Resources Legislative Committee, which is also known as the Green Team, to make the town a more sustainable and bike-friendly community.
