By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Although Sea Isle City’s local streets will never be confused with the Garden State Parkway, they can get pretty hectic during the bustling summer tourism season.
All of the traffic isn’t necessarily cars, trucks and SUVs.
Bicyclists and pedestrians also take up space on the roads – a potentially dangerous mixture of foot traffic, two-wheeled traffic and four-wheeled traffic on the same stretch of asphalt.
As it has done in previous years, the Sea Isle Police Department hopes to avoid conflicts between bikers, pedestrians and motorists through a public safety campaign over the summer.
“We plan on doing what we’ve done before,” said Capt. Anthony Garreffi, officer in charge of the police department.
Garreffi explained that the hiring of more summer police officers this month will help the department step up its patrols while enforcing the traffic laws.
Sea Isle, fortunately, has had no serious accidents involving motorists hitting bicyclists or pedestrians in 2021 or so far this year, Garreffi noted.
Like other shore communities, Sea Isle teems with bikers during the summer season. Over the years, Sea Isle has had crashes between bikes and cars, although most of them have been relatively minor. There have been no deaths, police said.
Although no one has been struck by traffic this summer, police want to get the message across that motorists must slow down and yield to pedestrians crossing the street.
The pedestrian safety campaign will include a social media component and signs. A series of “Drive Smart” and “Walk Smart” signs were attached to the playground fence on JFK Boulevard last summer to stress the importance of both drivers and pedestrians acting safely.
“Walk Smart. We Look Before Crossing,” one sign says while showing a picture of two pedestrians looking out for traffic while using a crosswalk.
Garreffi pointed out that bikers and pedestrians must also follow traffic safety laws – just like motorists. He also stressed that bike riders under the age of 17 are required to wear helmets. Officers will remind riders of the helmet law when necessary, he added.
Most of Sea Isle’s bike riders favor Pleasure Avenue when they are out on the road. Pleasure is a one-way street, making it safer and less congested for cyclists than riding on Sea Isle’s two other main routes, Landis Avenue and Central Avenue.
Pleasure Avenue, which has a 15 mph speed limit, sometimes seems to have as many bikes on it as cars. It is especially popular with beachgoers on bikes because of its location skirting the ocean.
Pleasure, though, also has a lot of bikes traveling the wrong way. It is on Pleasure that police have concentrated their public safety efforts in the past, including handing out safety pamphlets to bikers.
Police will also be watching out this summer for bikers on the Promenade, the popular oceanfront walkway that runs for about 1.5 miles between 29th and 57th streets.
Bicyclists are permitted on the Promenade on weekdays from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 5 a.m. to noon. Garreffi said police will be cracking down on bikers if they don’t follow the times they are allowed on the Promenade.
Sea Isle’s year-round population is about 2,000, but during the summer vacation season the number of people in town swells to an estimated 50,000 to 60,000.
Recognizing the potential dangers when pedestrians, bikes and cars all share the same space, police say they will be watching the roads to try to keep everyone safe.
