OCEAN CITY — The new public boat ramp at 64th Street in Ocean City officially opened this week, replacing the aging and over-utilized facility in the Little Salisbury community.
The new boat ramp opened with little fanfare on Monday after an ambitious construction schedule with a target date for completion before the start of the summer season. The two-ramp facility is located at 64th Street bayside near the town’s larger public works complex at the base of the water tower in the area. The public boat ramp will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year.
The project was completed through a partnership with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and came in with a price tag significantly lower than first anticipated. The initial estimate was in the neighborhood of $1.5 million but the Mayor and Council last year accepted the low bid for the construction of the new public boat ramp at a little over $700,000. The DNR fully funded the dredging work needed to accommodate the new ramp along with 50 percent of the site work. The channels around the new ramp have been dredged to a draw of around three feet at low tide.
The pay-to-park truck and trailer rate at the new boat ramp at 64th Street is $2 per day at the unmanned lot and the fees will be collected through the standard Cale parking meters used throughout much of the rest of the resort. The parking fees at the ramp will be imposed from April through October, while parking at the ramp will be free during the offseason. The ramp’s parking spaces are 50 feet long and truck and trailer combinations need to remain attached at all times.
The new boat ramp at 64th Street will replace the town’s only other existing public access boat ramp in the Little Salisbury area. After years of wrestling with an outdated and over-utilized public boat ramp in the Little Salisbury residential area, along with complaints of traffic, parking, noise and litter, the town identified the site at 64th Street as a more appropriate location for the city-owned boat ramp because of it is surrounded by commercial and governmental uses and is located closer to the center of the resort.
The old public boat ramp in the Little Salisbury community remains open although the thought is most boat traffic will go to the more easily accessible new ramp at 64th Street. Currently, the old Little Salisbury ramp is free, but an automated gate controlled by an annual pass card will be installed by the end of May. Anyone can continue to utilize the old boat ramp and the cost of the annual pass card will be $50. The thinking is some local residents in that area will continue to use the old ramp and pay the annual fee. The old ramp will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily from April through October with no time restrictions in the offseason.
