Social distance ambassadors will monitor high-volume areas, such as boardwalks or promenades, and hand out educational materials about the coronavirus.
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Lynne Shirk says her friend’s little granddaughter was nearly struck last year in Sea Isle City.
Not by a car or truck. Not on the road. But on the Promenade – by a speeding bicycle that “zoomed” by at night, she said.
Shirk, who lives on 54th Street, appeared during the City Council meeting Tuesday to appeal for tighter enforcement of the hours that bikes are allowed on the Promenade.
Hoping to gain Council’s attention, she sardonically suggested that the city should simply lift the bike restrictions on the Promenade if they aren’t going to be enforced by police.
Her comments were refuted by Councilman Frank Edwardi, who strongly defended the police department and assured Shirk that the city is serious about keeping pedestrians safe from speeding bike traffic on the Promenade.
“I think they’re doing a phenomenal job,” Edwardi said of the police.
Edwardi went on to say that perhaps parents should be more vigilant in preventing their children from riding their bikes on the Promenade after hours.
“The parents aren’t doing the job,” he said.
The oceanfront Promenade is one of Sea Isle’s most popular attractions, but pedestrians must share the space with bikers.
From May 15 to Sept. 15 – the peak summer tourism season – bikes are allowed on the Promenade during weekdays from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on weekends from 5 a.m. to noon. There are no restrictions on bikers during the offseason, city spokeswoman Katherine Custer said.
Markers designate the bike path on the Promenade.
Police Chief Tom McQuillen said his department does “as best as we can” to enforce the bike hours on the Promenade, including handing out tickets from time to time to offenders.
“It’s kind of a last resort. We understand that it’s a popular mode of transportation,” McQuillen said of police issuing tickets to bikers.
Far more often, police will talk to cyclists who are riding after hours to remind them of the restrictions, he said.
“Certainly, when officers encounter a person on a bike, there is a conversation,” he said in an interview after the Council meeting.
In response to Shirk’s complaints, the Council members assured her that they will ask McQuillen to look into the matter.
Shirk has appeared before Council in the past to urge the city to enforce the bike rules on the Promenade.
“If you’re not going to enforce it, why have it?” she asked the Council members Tuesday.
In an interview later, she said her friend’s 1-year-old granddaughter was nearly struck by a speeding bicyclist one night last year around 9 p.m.
Another member of the public, Joan Burns, told Council that she has been nearly hit “numerous times” by speeding bikes on the Promenade. She also said she heard that a child was struck by a bike on the Promenade.
However, McQuillen said later he was unaware of any children being hit by a bike this summer.
Burns blamed adult cyclists – she called them “professional riders” – for speeding on the Promenade and causing danger for pedestrians and other bikers.
“They’re moving. They’re going very fast and they want you out of their way,” she said.
