By Kenny Walter
Staff Writer
LONG BRANCH- With the new boardwalk in place, the city is not yet ready to move forward with plans for a bike path.
The City Council announced during its April 26 meeting that it would not be implementing a bike path along the beachfront this year, but may do so in the future.
“We are still figuring out how it is going to work, we are still kind of under construction,” Director of Public Safety Jason Roebuck said. “The traffic guys have an idea how they want to do it.
“The boardwalk being bigger we don’t have as much room as we used to have.”
During the meeting, several residents expressed concern over the lack of a bike lane, specifically saying many are forced to bike amongst high-speed traffic on Ocean Boulevard, which is a Monmouth County road.
However, Councilwoman Kate Billings suggested residents can contact Monmouth County to request safety improvements for bikers on Ocean Boulevard.
“We will try to work with the county about the road, but I would say maybe you should contact the county,” she said.
While the council may eventually allow a bike lane along the city’s Ocean Avenue, Mayor Adam Schneider said traffic patterns and areas designated for bikers and pedestrians is always subject to change.
“It’s set to review and change every year,” he said. “We’ll take a look at it and because we’ll do it this year doesn’t mean we’ll do it next year.
“We may change it between now and the next meeting.”
Michael Shiavo, owner of The Peddler bike store, said one idea would be to eliminate some of the beachfront parking in order to construct an area for bikers.
“I realize that you are bursting at the seams with parking, but I really think we can just get so many more people to come,” he said.
During the proceeding workshop meeting, Roebuck also suggested the city allow temporary parking spaces along the oceanfront to allow beachgoers to park for five-to-10 minutes to unload their cars.
However, the proposal was rejected by the council, citing concerns over adding additional vehicular traffic to an area with increased pedestrian traffic.