By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
SOMERS POINT — It was three years in the making, but the city’s bike path improvement project is finally complete.
“People are raving about it,” Mayor Jack Glasser said Thursday, Oct. 1. “What a great addition to Somers Point.”
City engineer Greg Schneider, of Mott Associates, said the contractor is putting the finishing touches on the project.
Schneider presented the plan to City Council on Feb. 23, 2017, detailing the project.
At the time, Schneider said the city received a $755,000 Transportation Alternative grant from the New Jersey Department of Transportation to make improvements from Ocean Heights Avenue to New Jersey Avenue.
City Administrator Wes Swain said the city later received a second grant, with the two totaling $1.46 million, enough to pay for the entire project.
“We were lucky enough that through Economic Development (Advisory Commission), City Council and (planner) Jim Rutala to get grants to complete that,” Glasser said. “In doing that, it really saves a lot of taxpayer money and we came out with such a great project.”
The city hired Michael Baker International to design the project and the $1.4 million contract was won by Kane Communications of Trenton, an electrical engineering firm.
The project included relocating the existing light fixtures and electrical services, milling the existing path and paving 2 inches of road surface-quality asphalt to the new 14-foot width of the path. Lighting, landscaping, benches, fencing, bicycle racks, traffic signs and wayfinding signs were also installed.
The original bike path was built on the former tracks of the Atlantic City and Shore Railroad, which operated from 1906-46. In the 1970s, the city removed the tracks and converted the space into a walking path complete with street lights and stop signs. It has provided a safe place for children to get to and from school, as well as an exercise and recreation gathering spot, for decades.
Schneider said during his presentation that the existing lights were more than 20 years old and reaching the end of their useful life. They were replaced with LED fixtures that will cut electricity usage by at least half, he said.
“It’s a wonderful thing to have in our town, and now that we had the money to redo it and add new lighting, I think it’s great,” Glasser said.
Safety measures were also added, including ADA-compliant ramps at intersections and flashing lights at pedestrian crossings at Bethel Road and Maryland Avenue, Schneider said.
Work started in March but was slowed by restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The city now is planning a dedication ceremony.
Glasser said it took a lot of cooperation to bring the improvement project to completion, with City Council, the Economic Development Advisory Commission, Planning Board and others “working together and keeping Somers Point unique in its own way and marketable in its own way.”
The mayor said improvements the city has made over the past several years help put a better face on Somers Point.
“So many people want to come and live here now — you can tell by sales of homes — because we have so much to offer and this just adds to it,” Glasser said. “It’s another asset to our wonderful little town.
Last year, City Council renamed the bike path Purple Heart Way, dedicating it to service members who were wounded in battle.
“Somers Point has very strong ties to veterans and is very supportive of veterans,” Glasser said. “That was just another way the city celebrates its veterans and thanks them for all of their service.”
Glasser said the name is apt because Purple Heart Way passes by the city’s submarine veterans memorial, Patriots Park, VFW Post 2189 and Clark-Eliason American Legion Post 352.
He gave credit for getting the path renamed to local veterans advocates such as Marco Polo Smigliani, a four-time Purple Heart recipient; Bob Frolow, the city’s American Legion commander; Fred Vineyard, first vice commander of AMVETS Post 911; Tom Innocente, chairman of the city’s Veterans Advisory Board Commission; and others.
“Everybody worked together to come up with a way to honor veterans,” Glasser said. “These guys were actually wounded in combat. We have to remember the sacrifices and what they have gone through.”
