STONE HARBOR — Pedestrians, in the future, attempting to go from shop to shop on 96th Street (C.R. 657) from Great Channel Bridge to Third Avenue may find it easier and safer to cross the busy street.
Freeholders approved a resolution Tue., Sept. 14 to place two mid-block pedestrian crossings with flashing beacons.
The action was taken after a study was done by traffic engineers Orth-Rodgers and Associates, Inc. of West Trenton.
Orth-Rodgers Project Engineer Brian M. Stankus detailed the need for those beacons in an Aug. 25 letter to County Engineer Dale Foster.
Since the street is the “major roadway connecting this barrier island community to the mainland, it is heavily traveled during summer.
The 96th Street and Third Avenue intersection is the borough’s center, with shops and residences on both sides.
“Pedestrian traffic during the summer resort season is very significant. Angle parking is practiced along 96th Street in this area, Stankus wrote.
The sole intersection between the bridge and Third Avenue is Sunset Drive, a “T” type intersection, he noted.
Both sides of the street are “fully developed” with shops and condominiums.
“Obviously, there is a pedestrian demand for crossing from one side of 96th Street (C.R. 657) to the other, from shop to shop or to-from the condominiums, as well as from the parked vehicles to the shops and condominiums…”
“It is unrealistic to expect pedestrians not to cross mid-block between Third Avenue and Sunset Drive, as these two intersections are 1,050 feet apart and only one of these intersections is signalized.
“Therefore, the establishments of mid-block crosswalks is a reasonable solution that should enhance the safe crossing of the pedestrians,” the engineer wrote.
The areas have “bump outs” which will be “good locations to accommodate mid-block pedestrian crossings in the area,” he wrote.
Because of all facts in his letter, Stankus stated it was “in the best interest of pedestrian safety and that of the traveling public in general, and will contribute to the overall safety of the road.”
In a separate resolution, unrelated to the above, freeholders awarded Orth-Rodgers a $122,335 contract to perform traffic studies in various placed for the 2010 County Roads Improvement Program in Middle Township.
Parts of this story were first published at capemaycountyherald.com
Contact Campbell at (609) 886-8600 Ext 28 or at: al.c@cmcherald.com
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