Bayshore Road Residents Demand Board Make Road Safer

CREST HAVEN – Residents along Bayshore Road in Green Creek, where two girls, 13 and 15, were killed walking on the roadside July 31, demanded freeholders take immediate action to make the rural highway safer.
Among demands:
* Double yellow lines to prevent passing
* Reduce 45 mph speed limit
* Place police or sheriff’s officers along the road to issue tickets and slow traffi.
* Sidewalks
“Something needs to be done about these walkways,” said William Gaston, father of Nioami Faith Lazicki-Gaston, 15, of Green Creek, who died along with Ashley Dauber, 13, as they walked along the county road near Green Creek Firehouse, were hit by an alleged drunk driver.
“In the last two weeks I went to the funeral of my daughter and my niece (Dauber). I understand the roads are very old and outdated…I really think it needs to be addressed,” Gaston said.
Greg Lazicki, uncle of Nioami, of Court House told the board he travels Bayshore Road daily and “well under the speed limit.” Speeding there “makes no sense,” he said. “It’s locals on locals. It’s us, the people that reside here.”
“The board is very concerned since this tragedy has occurred…We have studies dating to 2001 and responded every time we had a complaint up until the 26th of June here,” said Director Gerald Thornton. He added that the board must act in concert with recommendations of traffic engineers hired by the board, and they must act in accord with state and federal traffic regulations.
“I emphasize this was a terrible, terrible criminal act. No matter what would have been there, double (yellow) lines or speed limit of 25 mph, wouldn’t have made any difference with that criminal act. What has to be addressed here is the prosecution. That has to go forward. We are not privy to details of that prosecution,” Thornton continued. He noted that the board knows only what it reads in newspapers.
Thornton told the mourners that another traffic study has been ordered to be completed in short order, perhaps by Aug. 23, the board’s next meeting “…To try to make changes. It’s a rural road. There are roads like that throughout the county. We will make a sincere effort to address it.
“This is just simply some big dope criminal created this incident. There is not anything we can say or do other than try to address some of your concerns,” said Thornton.
Len and Terri Guthrie, who live in a house on Bayshore Road built by her grandfather over a century ago, are often the first to respond to crashes on the road.
Len Guthrie told the board that, in the last decade, they have witnessed at least a dozen accidents in front of or within 200 feet of their house.
“Generally, I am first on the scene to see broken up bodies,” he said. He told how he had “passed babies out of” wrecked vehicles to rescuers. “We need double lines. That’s all we asked of the county engineer, lower speed limit and double lines.”
He cited the double yellow no-passing lines on Route 47 that have reduced the number of accidents on that state highway.
“Don’t make us listen to brakes at 3 o’clock in the morning…Please put in double lines,” Guthrie said.
Terri Guthrie presented the board with photographs of the roadway, although Thornton said he traveled it many times and was familiar with the condition of the highway.
She also said getting mail can be a life-threatening endeavor. “We are not asking billions to be spent here. It needs to be made safe…Enough is enough. We are sick and tired of scraping people off the road. My mother had her poodle killed by her side (on the road),” said Guthrie.
“It has gotten worse with the influx of people coming into this county moving to North Cape May and Villas. My kids cannot wait for the school bus on the road. I almost got hit getting the mail three days ago. I almost got hit,” she added.
She questioned the validity and worth of traffic studies, and added that even police are fearful of parking along the road’s shoulder to do radar patrols. “They will get killed,” she said. “It’s a crazy quarter of a mile. We need this done now, not in a year or six months before someone else gets maimed or killed.”
“If another accident happens all of you are responsible,” Guthrie told the board.
Jim O’Brien, a 12-year resident of the road, who is a firefighter and emergency medical technician, told the board streetlights and sidewalks are needed. He said there have been times when Green Creek fire trucks were pulling out of the firehouse, lights and sirens on, when cars speed past. “They don’t slow down,” said O’Brien.
He judged some motorists “go 60-70 mph.” And endanger children getting on and off school buses. He warned of more problems on the road if nothing is done to rectify the road conditions.
Thornton defended County Engineer Dale Foster, a civil engineer, for not doing traffic studies by him or his office. Certified traffic engineers must do such studies to comply with state and federal regulations.
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MIDDLE TOWNSHIP POLICE ACTION ON BAYSHORE ROAD YEAR TO DATE:
Middle Township Police Chief Chris Leusner told the Herald that, since Jan. 1 the department took the following action on Bayshore Road:
Motor Vehicle Stops: 65
Radar Details: 30
Community Policing Contacts: 11
“We must continually look at ways to improve how we deliver police services, especially after such a horrible tragedy,” Leusner stated. “We are actively looking at this situation and will be collecting data soon to see if we need to adjust our enforcement strategy in reference to Bayshore Road.
“The Middle Township Traffic Advisory Committee and the County of Cape May are looking at this roadway. We will work with all of them in evaluating this roadway,” he stated.