OCEAN CITY — The first phase of the effort to tighten security and limit vehicular access points on the Boardwalk will be ready for the summer season, but it won’t necessarily be pretty.
At Monday’s Mayor and Council meeting, City Engineer Terry McGean provided an update on the Boardwalk access control project, which will tighten security at the numerous open access points along the famed promenade. After several events in the U.S. and around the world in which terrorists killed and injured dozens of victims by driving trucks and other large vehicles into large public areas where crowds gather, Ocean City officials last year began exploring ways to ramp up security in the form of vehicle access controls on the Boardwalk.
McGean explained the project is planned in two phases with the first phase ready to go to bid and be in place before the start of the upcoming summer season. The total price tag for the Boardwalk access control project is $1.2 million spread over two phases and two years. On Tuesday, during his annual budget pitch to the Worcester County Commissioners for unrestricted grants, Mayor Rick Meehan asked the county to provide assistance in the funding of the project at about $600,000, or half of the total cost, which could be spread over two years.
In order to expedite the first phase of the project for the start of this summer season, McGean explained the project will be effective in achieving the desired goals, but won’t look much like the planned final design.
“This summer is going to be jersey barriers and metal gates that honestly won’t be that attractive,” he said. “It won’t be the most aesthetically pleasing project.”
Councilman Matt James voiced concern about the appearance of concrete barriers at access points along the entire length of the Boardwalk this summer. However, McGean reiterated the first phase is just temporary and the finished will be much more attractive.
“This is just for this year,” he said. “By 2019, the second phase will have architectural bollards and planters and will be much more pleasing to the eye.”
McGean said the short-term first phase required some out-of-the-box thinking in certain areas, including the Inlet lot where big trucks make deliveries to Boardwalk businesses daily in the summer. He also said some concessions were made to avoid impacting commerce on the Boardwalk and cited the famed Trimper’s amusement park at the foot of the Boardwalk as an example.
“At South 1st Street, we’re going to move the barrier closer to Baltimore Avenue,” he said. “That came out of a concern from the Trimper family. They had concerns it gave the appearance the park was closed, so we made some concessions there and we’re confident it will achieve the desired results.”
Meehan suggested signage to remind visitors and residents the first phase is temporary and will be replaced with a more attractive system in phase two.
“Any chance we can have some signage up there that says something to the effect that this is a work in progress and bear with us, etc.?,” he said. “I think we need to let our visitors know this is only the first phase and some of these things are temporary.”
