OCEAN CITY – An idea to have the town install bike repair stations on the Boardwalk was discussed at length during a recent resort committee meeting.
Last week, members of the Ocean City Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee began exploring the idea of installing bicycle repair stations on the north and south ends of the Boardwalk.
Council Secretary Tony DeLuca, committee liaison, told members the proposed project – introduced by committee member and local bike shop owner Joe Marx – should be included in the committee’s list of goals for the coming year.
“I don’t know what approval we need,” he said. “We probably need public works approval, we probably need planning and zoning, we probably need the city council. We’re going to need approval to do it, but it’s just an idea.”
Last month, Marx suggested to committee members that the town provide bike stations on the Boardwalk to repair flat tires. In last week’s meeting, he agreed to explore cost estimates for installing two stations.
“It’s about eight inches in diameter and bolts to the ground to a piece of concrete,” he explained. “It’s just a manual pump, but it looks very commercial.”
When asked for his input, Public Works Director Hal Adkins said he had no objections to the proposed stations.
“I just want to make sure we position or mount them where they’re not in the way of the turning radius of the trams …,” he said.
Ocean City Police Department Sgt. Allen Hawk, committee vice president, also suggested the stations be placed near City Watch surveillance cameras. DeLuca agreed.
“We definitely want to get it out of traffic,” he said, “and we definitely have to find out where the cameras are.”
Adkins added that the stations would also require signage.
“If the engineering department could survey or identify locations, I have no issue whatsoever mounting them and making sure they are not going to impact any operation up there,” he said. “I know we’re going to have to do something in the way of signage, not only to identify it to the public … but it’s very low in elevation. It could be a tripping issue if you are not looking at it.”
Committee President Paul Mauser, Ocean City’s engineering manager, told members last week his department could begin exploring locations at both ends of the Boardwalk.
“Who’s going to pay for it?” he asked. “Is that something that can come out of public works?”
Adkins noted it would depend on the cost of the stations.
“I can’t answer that until you tell me what it costs …,” he said. “I would think if the chairman of the bike committee elevates it to the council level and during the discussion of the minutes there’s buy-in, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
DeLuca agreed.
“But we’re going to need their approval,” he said.
