Crosswalk Sought for Hospital Employees

COURT HOUSE – Cape Regional Health System recently broke ground for an ambulatory surgery center on the medical center’s campus in Court House.
As a result of construction activity, almost 170 parking spaces were temporarily lost, many of which were used for employee parking during daytime shifts.
To alleviate the parking problem for employees and to provide parking for hospital visitors, Cape Regional leased 80 daytime parking spaces at the shopping center, across Route 9 from the hospital’s emergency room.
Cape Regional believes it has adequate parking on its complex for the lower volume of cars during the evening shifts.
Signs are beginning to appear, which restrict parking in certain spaces at the shopping center from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
While this may help address the need for employee parking during the day, the problem is the safety of the employees who seek to cross Route 9. Many of them will not walk to the light at Route 9 and Stone Harbor Boulevard.
Cape Regional President Joanne Carrocino went to Middle Township Committee’s work session July 15 to ask for support to get state officials to construct a temporary crosswalk from the parking lot to the hospital complex, approximately at the point of the entry ramp to the emergency room. 
According to Carrocino and Cape Regional’s attorney Anthony Monzo, the crosswalk would be needed for one year, the estimated time for the completion of the surgery facility.
 The governing body approved a resolution of support during its regular meeting.
Committee member Michael Clark welcomed the request as a safety measure which he felt should remain following the construction. He noted the bus stops on each side of Route 9 in that area, along with the many other reasons Cape Regional employees cross the road north of the intersection.
Deputy Mayor Theron “Ike” Gandy said a one-year, temporary crosswalk to support the construction project would be a “litmus test” for whether the crosswalk should be permanent.
The 80 leased spaces in the shopping center lot are distributed with some marked spaces in the lot adjacent to Big Lots, on the other side of Home Goods.
The signs are individual to each spot and state the spot is for “Cape May Regional Parking Only.” Whether all 80 spots will have similar signage or only those along the border of the lot was unclear.
While addressing the issue of the parking spaces lost to construction, the presentation to the committee did not address how many of the parking spaces on Cape Regional’s campus would be permanently lost due to the surgery complex.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.