By Donald Wittkowski
Exit 17 on the Garden State Parkway creates a conundrum of sorts for motorists traveling to and from Sea Isle City.
It’s almost like the age-old experiment involving the mouse trying to make its way through the maze to find the piece of cheese.
Where do I turn? How do I get there?
Frustrated with the limited amount of access at Exit 17, Sea Isle officials want to see what is now a two-way interchange turned into a full-fledged, four-way interchange.
City Council unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday calling on the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, the Parkway’s operating agency, to build a four-way interchange linking Exit 17 with Sea Isle Boulevard, the main artery in and out of town.
Councilman Jack Gibson, who is championing the project, said a four-way interchange is needed to improve both safety and traffic flow, particularly on summer weekends, when Sea Isle is flooded with tourists.
“Almost daily, and certainly every weekend, traffic gets backed up all the way to the Ocean View area,” Gibson said.
Exit 17’s limited access causes bottlenecks that spill off the Parkway onto Sea Isle Boulevard and cascade to Route 9, Gibson explained.
Gibson, a civil engineer, has a unique history involving Exit 17. Now 83 years old, he helped to build Exit 17 in the 1950s when he took a job as a laborer with a company that was a construction contractor on the Parkway.
Gibson was an engineering student at Villanova University when he was working on Exit 17. He went on to complete his engineering degree. Now, some 60 years later, he is pushing to have the old interchange rebuilt to make it capable of handling modern transportation needs.
In the 1950s, Sea Isle was a much quieter beach community, hardly the bustling summer vacation resort that it is now, Gibson noted.
“Sea Isle has grown since the interchange was first constructed in 1955,” he said.
In its current configuration, the interchange is split into two parts. Exit 17’s off-ramp on the southbound side of the Parkway merges with Sea Isle Boulevard. For motorists wanting to access the Parkway’s northbound lanes, they must follow Sea Isle Boulevard out of town and then hop on a separate on-ramp.
However, there is no southbound access to the Parkway at Exit 17 off Sea Isle Boulevard. In addition, there is no exit to Sea Isle off the Parkway’s northbound side. Sea Isle lacks an off-ramp northbound at Exit 17.
To access Sea Isle off the Parkway’s northbound side, motorists must take Exit 13 into neighboring Avalon and then crawl along local roads. The trip through Avalon eventually leads to the Townsends Inlet Bridge, crossing over into Sea Isle’s southern tip.
One shortcut that is known by local motorists is to drive a little farther north on the Parkway and then make a U-turn at the nearby Ocean View service plaza. That gives them access to the Parkway’s southbound lanes and the Exit 17 off-ramp to Sea Isle.
In its resolution, City Council noted that more land recently became available to turn Exit 17 into a four-way interchange. The land opened up when South Jersey Gas Co. moved a pipeline that once ran parallel to the Parkway to another location that would not interfere with construction of a new interchange, according to the resolution.
“At the very least, a southbound exit should be possible,” Gibson said of the extra land becoming available for the project. “I don’t believe that would be a major undertaking.”
Gibson estimated it would take about seven years to complete the planning, permitting and construction of Exit 17’s overhaul. He did not have a price estimate.
Arguing there is no time to waste, Gibson said planning should begin immediately for the project.
“If it’s bad now, it’s only going to get worse in seven years,” he said of the traffic congestion.
Hoping to build wider political support for the Exit 17 project, Sea Isle will send a copy of the resolution to Cape May County’s delegation in the state Legislature, Gibson said.
In other business Tuesday, City Council approved an ordinance for a floodplain management plan. The plan establishes regulations for floodplain management and is key for Sea Isle homeowners getting a discount on their flood insurance coverage, City Solicitor Paul Baldini said.
The floodplain management ordinance is part of the city’s goal to increase Sea Isle’s homeowner discount on flood insurance from 25 percent to 30 percent, according to Baldini.
The homeowner discounts are done through the National Flood Insurance Program, under a community rating system administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Sea Isle is hoping to boost its community rating by FEMA, which would allow local homeowners to get a 30 percent discount on their flood coverage starting next year. Baldini said FEMA has already looked favorably on the steps the city has taken to secure a bigger discount.
About 25 years ago, Sea Isle was in danger of being removed from the National Flood Insurance Program. Now, Sea Isle’s flood-protection initiatives are considered by FEMA as a model for other communities, Mayor Leonard Desiderio said during his annual State of the City address in February.
