By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Sea Isle City officials have a message for motorists who drive on 42nd Place: Slow down.
They mean it, too.
City Council is expected at its meeting Tuesday to introduce an ordinance that will lower the speed limit on 42nd Place from 25 mph to 15 mph.
Motorists will also encounter two new “speed humps” along the road that will force them to slow down. They consist of a slight bulge in the pavement that isn’t as jarring as the better-known speed bumps commonly used in parking lots.
The speed humps, expected to be installed this week, will be painted yellow to let motorists know where they are located on the road, Police Chief Tom McQuillen said.
“This is just to slow everybody down,” he said.
In 2018, Sea Isle installed three speed humps on Venicean Road to get motorists to obey the 15 mph limit there. The speed humps on 42nd Place will be similar to those on Venicean, McQuillen said.
Speed humps were put on Venicean in response to a neighborhood petition drive prompted by the death of a beloved family dog struck and killed by a delivery truck.
The city is looking to slow down traffic on 42nd Place as it prepares for the opening this summer of seven new pickleball courts. Pickleball is a popular sport in Sea Isle and the new courts are expected to generate extra activity – and traffic – on 42nd Place.
The asphalt courts are under construction along 42nd Place across from the city’s marina in an area formerly known as the “clam shell parking lot,” so named because of the crushed white shells that comprised the surface.
Although 42nd Place isn’t a long road, it is a popular route in summer because it serves the marina, a public boat ramp, a large municipal parking lot and the waterfront restaurants located in the city’s historic Fish Alley neighborhood.
McQuillen said the city does not want motorists speeding along 42nd Place heading to and from all of those attractions.
“So for all of those reasons, we want to take additional steps to keep that area safe,” he said.
