WATCH: Aim: More Bikes, Fewer Cars

OCEAN CITY – By next summer, Ocean City will have 43 new bike racks on its streets, including one on almost every beachfront street end, members of the organization Bike OCNJ announced at the group’s 10th annual meeting Aug. 23. 
Known as bike corrals, the racks accommodate multiple bikes. The city has two, including one in front of a popular café on Eighth Street.
Plans call for a considerable expansion in the number of bike corrals, which are placed on the street and may take parking spaces from cars.
“An on-street bike corral is fantastic because it does a couple things. One, it doesn’t encourage bikers to ride their bikes up on the sidewalk. They don’t belong on the sidewalk,” said Tom Heist, one of the leaders of Bike OCNJ, a private, non-profit organization that works with the city to encourage biking and promote safety.
A Biking Community
“Two, it…takes one parking space, where you had maybe one or two people in a car, and now you can have 20 customers in that space. And three, it kind of communicates to everyone that this is a biking community.”
Without adequate racks for bikes, bikers are made to feel like second-class citizens, he said. The bike corrals draw people to the downtown, and spur economic activity, Heist suggested.
Ocean City has bike racks in front of schools, playgrounds and many public buildings, including at the Community Center, but this would greatly expand on-street bike parking.
County Grant Funds
The city will install the new corrals with grant money from Cape May County, Heist said. Contacted after the meeting, Ocean City spokesman Doug Bergen said the county has a little over $220,000 to spend on improvements through the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program.
Once the bike corral project goes to bid, he said, the city will have an exact cost.
Of the 43 throughout town, 33 will be at street ends by the beach.
“To me, this is a humongous project, because a lot of people bike to the beach. This is a beach town. And right now, if you bike to the beach, a lot of times, you’re like, ‘Where do I park?’ You look at a stop sign, and there are 35 bikes locked to the stop sign,” Heist said.
“Making it easier for folks to ride bikes to the beach can only help relieve congestion in the streets and parking spaces,” Bergen said.
The other 10 will be at various businesses, including three in the Asbury Avenue downtown.
“It’s only going to bring more business to these businesses,” Heist said.
Give Lights to Children
The sparsely-attended evening meeting at the Ocean City Senior Center included a rundown of projects undertaken by the group, which included giving front and rear bike lights to students at the three schools in Ocean City last summer, after some residents expressed concern about children riding at night without lights. Heist said Bike OCNJ would do that again.
“One thing I can tell you, people like free bike lights,” he said.
Some members of City Council attended, as did city employees and Sgt. Brian Hopely, who heads up the city’s police traffic safety unit. Some residents who attended called for stricter enforcement for bike riders breaking traffic rules.
Crosswalk Dismay
One man, who did not give his name at the meeting, was particularly concerned with bike riders who believe they have the right of way in a crosswalk. For the past several summers, Ocean City has strictly enforced a state law that obliges traffic to stop for someone crossing a street in a crosswalk. In a town with hundreds of intersections, this has sometimes led to frustration from drivers.
“I think all the bike regulations are wonderful, but I constantly see people who believe bikes have the right of way in a crosswalk. Our police department does a wonderful job of enforcing traffic safety on cars. I see them pulled over all the time. But I have yet to see an officer pull over a bicycle, who is clearly risking his life and the lives of the automobilist,” the man said.
He asked what direction officers were given on stopping and ticketing bike riders.
No Magic Answer
“I feel like every year when we have this meeting the question comes up, why don’t we ticket more bicyclists? I wish I had the magic answer for you,” said Hopely.
“All I can tell is when an officer sees a violation, he’s going to treat that violation with discretion. It could be a written warning, it could be a verbal warning, it could be a ticket.”
He said he has pulled over bicyclists, mentioning one rider he stopped after the man blew through two stop signs. In that case, he gave a warning. He said the man was surprised.
A Stop Sign?
“I said you have to stop for the stop sign. You’re just like a motor vehicle. It was not the greatest interaction,” he said.
“If I had done that in my car, what would have happened?” asked the man who raised the topic.
“We’re not ticket writing machines in Ocean City,” Hopely responded. “I can say that very comfortably. Whether you believe it or not, that’s the case. We’re not under direction from our chief or from the mayor to hammer the public.”
Hopely said a third of the traffic stops in the city result in a citation being issued.
Riding School Bus
The meeting began by showing a video about Ocean City’s riding school bus, an initiative aimed at getting more kids to ride their bikes to school. The riders are joined by Ocean City police officers, using the bike path, the Ocean City Boardwalk and streets. The city adjusted rules to allow the children who use the boardwalk to ride to school to use the boardwalk on the way home as well. The ‘walk is usually closed to bikes in the afternoon.
The video is aimed at bringing Ocean City’s riding school bus model to other communities.
Upgrades for Bikes
Heist cited a number of infrastructure improvements for bicycles over the past decade, including improvements to the Haven Avenue bike path, striping by Cape May County to create bike lanes along West Avenue from 35th Street south, and particularly the pedestrian and “bike-way” created as part of the Route 52 causeway, often referred to locally as the Ninth Street Bridge.
Heavily Used
He said there was some skepticism about that project, but now, about 80,000 bicyclists and walkers use it annually.
Ocean City was one of the first in the region to use road striping known as “sharrows,” which indicate that a lane is shared between cars and bikes.
There are bike routes the length of the island, from the Longport Bridge in the north end to the south end where Ocean Drive enters the city, Heist said.
Going forward, he wants to improve the connections east and west as well, with routes leading to those new bike corrals on the beachfront.
Bike Route on Ninth?
One proposal that proved controversial at previous meetings came up again: the creation of a bike route along Ninth Street leading from the bridge to the boardwalk. This narrow two-lane route is one of the busiest roads in the city.
At previous meetings, some residents balked at the possibility of reducing the number of lanes for cars to give bikes more room, particularly because even at two lanes the street becomes heavily backed up on summer weekends.
Because bikes are not allowed on the sidewalk, there are few options for someone on a bike to reach the boardwalk.
“Right now, you roll off the bridge, heading east, you have the path on the south side of the street. Once you get to West Avenue, you’re done. There’s no way to get to the boardwalk,” he said.
But Heist said he’d love to see the route along the bridge connected to the boardwalk.
“There’s been lots of conversation about; do they turn Ninth Street from West to the boardwalk one lane each way, with a center turn lane, and then you’d have the room for bike lanes on each side of the street?
“Then there’s a fear that it’s really going to create more of a traffic problem for people who want to drive to the boardwalk. Some people have mentioned maybe making Ninth Street one way,” he said.
He suggested more talk on the matter, but said he did not have a solution.
“We can figure this out,” Heist said. 
To contact Bill Barlow, email bbarlow@cmcherald.com.