WEST CAPE MAY — The Beatles sang about a “shelter in the middle of roundabout and a pretty nurse selling poppies from a tray on “Penny Lane.” In two years or so, the borough may have its own roundabout to sing about.
The roundabout, similar to a circle, would be created in what is referred to as the “CVS Intersection,” at Park Boulevard and West Perry Street
In 2007, planners and landscape architects, Rhodeside and Harwell, of Alexandria, Va. presented a vision plan for an improved West Cape May business district which included new buildings at the corner of Broadway and Sunset Boulevard. None of that has come to fruition to date.
At that time, Elliot Rhodeside, director of Rhodeside and Harwell, presented a plan to a create circle at the Park Boulevard/West Perry Street intersection to act as a gateway entrance to the borough. At the center of the circle would be a monument, a statue or sculpture, he said.
Currently, the intersection has six points of access, said Rhodeside. He said circles are supported by the state Main Street/Smart Growth guidelines.
In 2009, students from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University created a 164-page document and a PowerPoint presentation covering the sustainability of West Cape May in the future.
Student Matthew Ward endorsed building a circle in the Park Boulevard/West Perry intersection, referred to as the CVS intersection by locals.
At a Wed., April 25 Borough Commission meeting, Mayor Pamela Kaithern said she met one week ago with the county engineer and Urban Design, a firm that has been awarded a contract to design a roundabout for the “CVS Intersection.”
“Roundabouts are not circles, they’re not high speed devices that are put into roadways,” she said.
Kaithern said a letter has been sent to residents in the area of the proposed roundabout. Urban Design will begin surveying and create a plan for the project.
The mayor said the planning and permitting process would take about one year. She said the center of the roundabout would have a small “green space area” at its center.
Kaithern said roundabouts are designed with a “bumper” that cars will not drive over but tractor-trailers could utilize.
“We’ve had a lot of problems with traffic there for years,” said the mayor. “Several years back the county painted some stop lines in the roadway, which helped a little bit, but it is a confusing mass of roadways….”
Kaithern said Urban Design said was the premiere firm for producing roundabouts.
What is the difference between a roundabout and a circle? According to DOT, roundabouts require drivers to wait for a break in traffic before entering.
Roundabouts are designed for low speed driving and have a narrow diameter than a circle.
