Resort Bike Strategic Plan Schedule Outlined

OCEAN CITY – Officials say plans for a bike strategic plan are moving forward.

In a meeting of the Ocean City Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) last week, President Paul Mauser announced the project schedule for the development of a resort-wide bike strategic plan.

“I announced at the last meeting that Toole Design Group was awarded the contract and notice to proceed,” he told BPAC members on Wednesday. “Everything is fully executed, and they are moving along. They issued me a project schedule that essentially extends from now until the end of April for final plan submittal.”

Last year, the town received $79,700 through the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) Bikeways Program to hire a consultant for the development of a strategic plan that will be used to expand Ocean City’s bicycle network.

In recent years, the resort has embarked on a multi-phased initiative to install a continuous bike path from one end of town to another without using Coastal Highway.

With the help of a strategic plan, officials say the town will have designs and cost estimates for several proposed biking corridors, including 94th Street, 146th Street, town alleys from 27th to 62nd streets and 62nd to 94th streets, and a 10-foot construction easement west of the dunes from 94th to 118th streets.

“It’s a seven-month, eight-month project,” Mauser said this week.

In December, BPAC members concluded their review of a Request for Proposal document seeking engineering services for the development of a bike strategic plan. And in January, following approval from MDOT Bikeways, the town moved forward with the bidding process.

Mauser told committee members last month the town had awarded the contract to Toole Design and would work with the company’s staff from Silver Spring, Md., to finalize a project schedule.

He noted this week that the council would meet with company representatives at two meetings, one in October and another in January. Toole Design will also meet with BPAC members in the fall.

“We haven’t had the official kickoff meeting yet …,” Mauser added. “But I have had some interactions with their project manager, and he is what I expected from a national consultant.”

About The Author: Bethany Hooper

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Bethany Hooper has been with The Dispatch since 2016. She currently covers various general stories. Hooper graduated from Stephen Decatur High School in 2012 and the University of Maryland in 2016, where she completed double majors in journalism and economics.