TRENTON – A fallen 187-foot, 75,000-pound concrete beam, part of a construction project on Garden State Parkway Beesley’s Point Bridge early Aug. 5, caused a day-long, southbound traffic jam that stretched 10 miles. The mishap slightly injured a construction worker.
Because of that traffic bottleneck attempting to enter Cape May County in peak tourist season, Sen. Jeff Van Drew and Assemblyman Robert Andrzejczak (both D-1st) wrote a letter to Commissioner Jamie Fox Aug. 7. They called for the state Department of Transportation to do an evaluation to extend Route 55 into Cape May County.
“This incident created a traffic nightmare, backing up vehicles on the roadway for hours, and demonstrated just how vulnerable Cape May County is in terms of motor vehicle access in and out of the county. If we were to encounter this type of large-scale incident again on one of our major roadways and, God forbid, need to evacuate our residents due to an oncoming storm, we could find ourselves in dire straits,” the legislators wrote.
They noted the extension would alleviate long-standing traffic problems and ensure better access for residents and emergency responders in the event of a natural or man-made disaster.
Those who had to travel southbound, and who were alerted in time of the backup, could have taken Route 9 to Somers Point, then on Route 52 into Ocean City, to CR 656, Bay Avenue, and then south to Roosevelt Boulevard to Marmora where they could have accessed southbound parkway.
Few, caught in the traffic jam, had the ability to exit the toll road for that detour.
“Cape May County is considered one of the most vulnerable areas in the country to hurricanes. We have to make sure we are taking all possible precautions to ensure that we are able to respond appropriately and protect our residents in emergent situations,” they stated.
While they acknowledged “environmental considerations that must be addressed” to extend Route 55 from Cumberland County, “We are hopeful that a new study of this proposal, undertaken with fresh eyes, could produce a workable solution,” they continued.
“We have to make sure we are taking all possible precautions to ensure that we are able to respond appropriately and protect our residents in emergent situations,” they wrote.
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