Gridlock Looms, Rt. 55 Lingers

DENNIS TOWNSHIP – While shore towns complete their preparations for the summer of 2018, many of the residents of rural Dennis Township are preparing for a siege, or at least for intense traffic backups. 
Almost all summer visitors using Route 55 to reach Cape May County travel either Route 47 or Route 347 from where that four-lane highway abruptly ends in Maurice River Township.
Both routes head through the otherwise quiet community of Dennis Township on the border of Cumberland County.
When Route 55 was built, the original plan was to extend the highway into Cape May County, but those plans fell short, mired in the wetlands of the original proposed route, and the protections afforded to the habitat and to the endangered species that live there.
Like many officials in Cape May County, Dennis Township Mayor Zeth Matalucci is not sure what can be done. He says things can’t continue the way they are.
“Something absolutely needs to happen,” he said. “Here in the summertime, it’s absolute gridlock.”
He lives on Route 47, sometimes known as Delsea Drive, so he’s intimately familiar with the problems.
On summer weekends, traffic backs up for miles. Residents know better than to try to get groceries or run an errand on a Saturday or Sunday or to be prepared to inch their way back home, taking hours to drive a distance that would normally take 15 minutes.
“But the weekends seem to have gotten a lot longer than they used to be,” said Matalucci, who became mayor in January 2017, after an election that tipped the balance of power on Dennis Township Committee to the Republicans.
Visitors trying to beat the summer crowds have taken to waiting until Monday morning to head home or heading down on Wednesday or Thursday, which means those traffic tie-ups happen on more and more days through the summer.
“Our roads weren’t designed for this amount of traffic,” he said. Adding to his concern, impatient drivers are looking for ways around the gridlock, putting more cars on Route 83 and other roads.
It’s been almost a decade since a $4-million-plus state project improved the intersection there, among other changes.
Matalucci said that intersection remains dangerous. He said accidents are far too common there.
Echoing comments from Cape May County Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton, Matalucci said more efforts go toward protecting lizards than toward keeping the human beings safe who use the roadway.
State, Federal Interest Needed
Thornton has pushed for an extended Route 55 for years. Most recently he advocated for the South Jersey Transportation Planning Organization to take a fresh look at traffic and safety issues.
To the surprise of no one, the latest paper, a purpose-and-need statement released last spring, found serious traffic deficiencies and raised concerns about the number of traffic accidents along routes 47 and 347.
In a recent interview, Thornton remained committed to the project but suggested the county may be at a dead end.
Even planning the roadway would cost millions, and actual construction would be far, far higher, well out of the county’s reach even if the county government had the authority to build a highway on that scale.
“The state has to come on board, and if the state gets on board then we could reach out to the federal government,” said Thornton in an April interview.
State Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-1st) has pushed to design a Route 55 extension. In previous interviews, he’s said there had been enough studies; it’s time to take another step.
So far, those efforts have not moved forward. In a recent interview, Van Drew said he’s trying to get it included in the capital plan for the New Jersey Department of Transportation. He expects word soon but does not yet have an answer. 
The design work will cost millions of dollars. An actual road extension? Billions.
In several interviews, Van Drew has warned that a Route 55 project will not be fast, and will not be easy. In addition to the extensive environmental concerns, which have so far seemed insurmountable, the engineering and expense of extending the highway will each be monumental tasks.
In a recent interview, he said that does not mean it’s time to give up, rather that residents should understand the magnitude of the undertaking.
As Thornton indicated, before getting any federal attention, the Route 55 issue would need to be included as a state priority. That looks unlikely to happen. So far, officials with the DOT have said there are more pressing needs and finite funding for state roadways.
Return On Investment?
Thornton’s primary argument for action on Route 55 has always been safety. He argues that the roadway is too dangerous for the drivers who use it.
There are also concerns about emergency responders making their way through the gridlock as well as evacuation delays ahead of a severe coastal storm.
Is there an economic justification for putting what could be billions of dollars in taxpayer money into another road project?
Thornton believes a faster route is certain to bring more customers and tourists to the shore, just as the removal of the traffic lights on the Garden State Parkway improved traffic flow.
There is no doubt that tourism is big business in Cape May County and around the state. Reports from the Cape May County Department of Tourism indicate tourists spend billions annually in the county. Most jobs in the county stem from tourism, a 2017 report found, either directly or indirectly, with more than 43 percent of the jobs in the county directly related to tourism.
Some advocates for expanding Route 55 say improving local infrastructure will inevitably improve the local economy. It turns out it is not as clear a picture as some might expect.
A report from the Brookings Institute in December 2016 called infrastructure investment vital for economic growth, but found that how funds are spent can be as important as how much is spent.
The report cites massive investments in roads and bridges in Japan and China as helping stave off an economic downturn, but indicated investments in technology and social programs can also be required for the economy to grow.
More recently, a January report by Jeffrey Stupak for the Congressional Research Service indicated it is extremely difficult to precisely connect infrastructure projects with job creation.
“Current research surrounding the employment impact of additional public investment is difficult to summarize, as researchers use different measures of employment, including overall labor demand, employment levels, and the unemployment rate,” that report states. The impact of public investment on jobs ranged from an improvement to no impact.
The report concluded that in the long term, public investment is a necessary part of economic growth.
But for Dennis Township’s Matalucci, the economic argument may be missing the point.
Drivers heading along Route 47 through his township pass turf farms, woods, wetlands and residential areas, as well as the small business centers in South Dennis and historic Dennisville.
He figures the intense traffic probably helps some of the businesses in his community, as drivers crawling along the bumper-to-bumper traffic stop for gas or to take a break with a sandwich or coffee. 
Besides, he said, it doesn’t seem to him that Wildwood, Avalon, Cape May and the other shore communities could really fit that many more visitors in the summer, regardless of the traffic problems coming and going.
For him, safety in his community and quality of life are the main concerns.
“I think our islands are pretty packed as it is,” he said. Improving the roadway would make things safer for those that do come, he said, and those who live in the county.
“I just think of it as a benefit for our neighbors,” he said.
To contact Bill Barlow, email bbarlow@cmcherald.com.