OCEAN CITY – A plan to create a bike rack dedication program on the Boardwalk will advance to the Mayor and Council after discussions at the committee level this week.
On Wednesday, the Ocean City Bike and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) resumed its discussions on a proposed Boardwalk bike rack dedication program.
In January, Council Secretary Tony DeLuca, committee liaison, presented BPAC members with a proposal to replace 47 aging bike racks along the Boardwalk. While BPAC members have spent recent years identifying locations to add bike racks near the oceanfront street ends, DeLuca noted the idea of replacing the Boardwalk bike racks came forward as part of those discussions.
With options for replacement racks narrowed down, committee members began looking at ways to fund the potential project. While there has been some discussion of purchasing the racks with leftover funds from the Boardwalk redecking project, Ocean City Development Corporation (OCDC) Executive Director Glenn Irwin also presented the idea of a bike rack dedication program.
“Tony discussed with the council at the April 18 meeting about the bike rack dedication program,” City Engineer Paul Mauser, committee president, said this week. “It went over really well.”
Officials said the potential funding mechanism would be similar to the town’s Boardwalk bench dedication program, in which benches are purchased by families and dedicated to loved ones. In recent years, however, the bench dedication initiative has reached a waiting list of 700 people.
“This really is a solution,” DeLuca told the committee. “It’s only 47 bike racks, for around $2,000.”
Mauser noted that the replacement racks were expected to cost roughly $1,700, but that the cost of a dedication plaque and installation would bring the total to around $2,000.
“We’ll have to fine tune that cost,” he said.
When asked where the plaque would be placed, DeLuca said it would be mounted behind the rack.
“You can put it on the sea wall,” Mauser added.
DeLuca said he would bring the concept before the council again. Officials said the council’s approval would allow the town to begin testing the program.
“It’s a great way to test out the product, make sure they are solid and sturdy and make sure the plaque goes on the way we want it …,” Mauser said. “It’s good momentum.”
DeLuca agreed.
“I think it’s a good idea …,” he said. “It’s different then having a bench, but that option’s not there anymore.”
