Freeholders Initiate Improvement Study for Sunset Boulevard

COURT HOUSE – Cape May County Board of Chosen Freeholders are initiating an engineering study to improve Sunset Boulevard (County Road No. 606) through West Cape May, Cape May Point and Lower Township.  Sunset Boulevard, a heavily travelled roadway by motorists, attracts users of all types including bicyclists, joggers, walkers, and roller skaters due to the many desirable destinations along the corridor. The major contributing factor to Sunset Boulevard’s appeal, is the natural environment alongside the roadway. In addition to Sunset Beach at the western terminus of Sunset Boulevard, major attractions include Cape May Lighthouse, Cape May State Park and the World War II Lookout Tower.  
A 2016 Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan for Cape May City and Cape May Point Borough funded by NJ Department of Transportation provided a consensus that Sunset Boulevard is a vibrant bicycle and pedestrian route in need of improvements.  The roadway lacks bicycle signage and striping demarcations and has no sidewalk connectivity to accommodate pedestrians. 
The area’s unique environmental setting led to Sunset Boulevard’s designation as a “Bayshore Heritage Byway”.  The “byway” designation is cultural artery connecting the Delaware Bay and Estuary communities and serves as a viewing route of the Atlantic Flyway migration of birds in the spring and fall.  Sunset Boulevard also serves as the only coastal evacuation route for the Borough of Cape May Point.
Currently Sunset Boulevard consists of two lanes, one in each direction, and varying width paved shoulders that are contained within a right-of-way width of 50 feet.  The travel lane pavement consists of asphalt overlay on concrete subbase.  The deterioration of the joints in the concrete subbase has reflected through the asphalt overly, thus causing the rough and uneven riding surface.  A majority of the project length is bounded by South Cape May Meadows.
The balance between preserving the natural resources and making infrastructure improvements along this 2.2 mile corridor is a daunting challenge.   The County is engaging NV5, Parsippany, NJ, under a $330,361 professional engineering services agreement, to perform an in-depth assessment and survey along the route so as to identify and evaluate alternatives to accommodate the various usage on the route as part of the Conceptual Design phase.  The various alternatives will be displayed at a future Public Information Center to solicit input.  The recommended improvement program will set the stage for the subsequent Preliminary Design phase of the project.
NV5 Planning group has assisted NJ Department of Transportation in developing the guidelines and standards for bicycle and pedestrian compatibility that are used statewide and therefore they are ideally suited to provide insight and guidance in the design of this project.  NV5 currently is providing preliminary engineering services for the Main County Park/Zoo complex to address circulation and parking issues and have investigated and provided recommendations for the replacement of culverts on two County roads in Middle Township.  NV5 was one of eight firms that submitted a professional engineering services proposal for this project.
The goal of the County project is improve the pavement rideability to facilitate safe bicycle and pedestrian usage alongside motorists, to correct or upgrade deficiencies to bring the roadway into compliance with current design standards and to address stormwater ponding issues.  This conceptual and preliminary engineering study is expected to take approximately 15 months.  Once the study is completed, the County anticipates immediately proceeding with the final design and securing the various permits that will be required for the construction project from the regulatory agencies.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the County Public Works Department at (609) 465-1035 or by email at countyengineer@co.cape-may.nj.us .