The Ordinance Changes being raised by the Department of Police Services due to a successful one-day traffic pattern change to facilitate Safety for Night in Venice seems understudied and unnecessary.
We are in receipt of the department handout letter dated September 13, 2024 and distributed on Sunday September 22, 2024 to residents on (I assume) the blocks of Spruce and Walnut Roads that were temporary ONE-WAY traffic patterns this past Summer during the Night in Venice boat parade. Due to the brevity of your letter, we do not know what addresses you have notified, what streets would remain TWO-WAY and what study was completed to show any benefits these changes would have for the 319 addresses it would affect.
A quick consideration should include families currently living in our area including all those living on Glenwood, Ferndale, Leyte, Grenada, Barbados, Marianna, Tobago, Pine, Rosemar, Spruce and Walnut. These full-time residents and owners who currently utilize these addresses as secondary residences need to be apprised of the total effect ONE-WAY Traffic can bring to a neighborhood. I have outlined below a few concerns we would have for our neighbors if such a change was implemented; they should all be fully informed.
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*THERE ARE SIMPLY MORE (30-40%) MORE VEHICLE/PEDESTRIAN CONFLICTS WITHIN A ONE-WAY STREET NETWORK THAN IN A COMPARABLE TWO-WAY SYSTEM.
*TWO WAY STREETS IMPROVE THE LIVEABILITY OF A NEIGHBORHOOD, REDUCING CRIME, COLLISIONS AND INCREASE PROPERTY VALUES.
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*ONE-WAY STREETS INCREASE TRAVEL DISTANCE FOR PROPERTY OWNER, CAUSE DRIVER CONFUSION AND MORE DIFFICULT EMERGENCY VEHICLE ACCESS.
*ONE WAY STREETS WORK BEST IN DOWNTOWN OR CONGESTED AREAS; THE SUBJECT AREA OF THE RIVIERA IS NOT NORMALLY CONJESTED.
*THE TWO-WAY STREET PATERNS CURRENTLY IN PLACE KEEP TRAFFIC AT A SAFE SPEED FOR MOTORIZED VEHICLES, BIKES, WALKING ADULTS AND CHILDREN AT PLAY.
*ONE-WAY STREETS PRODUCE MORE COMPLICATION AT TWO-WAY INTERSECTIONS; STREETS SHOULD BE PREDICTABLE AND INTUITIVE AS POSSIBLE.
*ONE-WAY STREETS TEND TO HAVE HIGHER SPEEDS CREATING A NEW SET OF PROBLEMS.
* IN SOME COMMUNITIES ONE-WAY STREETS HAVE HIGHER RATES OF CHILD AND PEDESTRIAN INJURIES.
*ONE-WAY STREETS CAUSE INCREASE TRAVEL DISTANCES OF MOTORISTS/RESIDENTS AND CREATE SOME CONFUSION, ESPECIALLY FOR NON-LOCAL VISITORS.
We believe our streets are safe the way they are currently patterned. Any conversion should have a complete evaluation completed prior to simplistically asking for a “for or against’ reply from a Major Neighborhood within Ocean City. Discussion of a MAJOR ONE-WAY CHANGE thru a distribution of an off-season handout, seemingly lacking support and short-sighted is not appeasing to us.
We are STRONGLY OPPOSED to any permanent change to the current traffic pattern on Walnut Road.
Walnut Road Resident
Ocean City, New Jersey
