Woodbine Awards Contract For Next Phase of Bikeways Program

WOODBINE — The Borough of Woodbine received bids July 15 for the next phase of the borough bikepath and awarded the contract at the July 15 council meeting to low bidder, Marandino Concrete of Milmay.
This project is being funded by New Jersey Department of Transportation 2010 Bikeway Program in the amount of $325,000.
Bids received: Bud Concrete, Sewell, $172,008; Command Co. Inc. Medford,$188,263.20; Fred Schiavone Construction, Inc., Malaga, $182,881.72; Lexa Concrete, L.L.C., Vineland, $173,082; Marandino Concrete, Milmay, $128,149.50; Site Contractors, Inc., Hammonton, $164,554.75; SMB Paving, L.L.C., Deptford, $244,663.50; Paramount Enterprises, Inc., Cherry Hill, $273,440.
This shared use path will be an eight-foot wide bicycle/pedestrian trail constructed within the street right-of-way on both Heilprin Avenue and Webster Street. It will link the main bikeway to the community school complex.
It will also extend a portion of the bicycle/ pedestrian path along Webster that will be necessary as a future connection to the approved bikeway being designed along the Cape May Seashore Line and funded with NJDOT 2009 Bikeway funds.
This is consistent with the Shared Pathway element of the Borough’s Local Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning Assistance Study. Previous elements were the Gateway and Pedestrian Enhancements, Bicycle Routes and Sidewalk Network; portions of the studied area have been completed using a variety NJDOT funding sources.
The study proposed a shared use path to provide an off-road bicycle and pedestrian connection from the Woodbine Community School Complex to Lincoln Park, which are frequent destinations for residents. The Community School Complex also includes the Woodbine Community Gymnasium and the Woodbine Branch of the Cape May County Library.
Lincoln Park is the main outdoor recreation complex of the Borough with basketball, tennis, baseball and playground equipment for all age brackets. It is presently undergoing upgrades under a Department of Community Affairs Small Cities grant in the amount of $500,000. Adjacent to Lincoln Park are the Woodbine Community Center and Social Services Center. Additionally, the path will extend along Webster Street east to the Webster Street entrance to the Woodbine Developmental Center.
The path extend from the Woodbine Developmental Center driveway entrance on Webster Street continue west on the north side of Webster Street and then north on the east side of Heilprin Avenue. The path would terminate at the existing sidewalk on Heilprin Avenue and DeHirsch Avenue, where there is a bus stop and is directly across DeHirsch Avenue and Route 550 from Lincoln Park. The total length of the recommended path is approximately 3,200 feet (0.60 mi.).
The shared path will also serve the community by adding an additional walking and bicycling loop for residents and employees of the Woodbine Development Center. The path would connect to the Woodbine Bikeway system that extends the length of the Borough on the old rail right-of-way along Route 550 from Belleplain State Forest to the border of Dennis Township, with a spur bikeway from Route 550 along the Cape May Seashore Lines excursion rail line again terminating at a border with Dennis Township.
In the future, if the main bikeway can be extended into Dennis Township it would eventually connect with South Seaville and the Middle Township Bikeway in Cape May Court House. The spur bikeway if extended would go to Dennisville.
Woodbine has been certified by Sustainable Jersey as a sustainable community.
The mayor indicated that the Borough is now seeking a “Silver Certificate” to advance the cause of sustainability. Woodbine was honored particularly for the work on its comprehensive Rural Sustainability Plan, which resulted from a coalition of efforts over this past year; for its ordinances on land management and forest conservation; for its long-standing effort to create new bike and hiking trails; and for its innovative initiatives to promote sustainable energy development.
Woodbine has also been noted as a highly walkable community, a major component of sustainability, with its “walkability network”. This will be further enhanced by the extension to its bikeway and walking path under the current grant.
“Work is expected to begin on this project within the next two weeks and to be completed within 60 days thereafter”, said Mayor William Pikolycky.