Issue Updates - Replenishment/ Boulevard Safety
BLVD Traffic Report
Beach Replenishment Update
Update- posted Feb. 17, 2010:
The completion of the Beach Replenishment project has been pushed back to May 1 after a number of storms have battered our area. Keith Watson, project manager for the Army Corps of Engineers said the delay was not unexpected.
During last weekend's blizzard, crews from the contractor, Weeks Marine, had to stop work at 2am on Sunday. They were back on the job by Monday morning. Watson says the snow has nothing to do with the delays. It depends how rough the seas are. You could have a beautiful, sunny day, but if the winds are whipping up rough seas, the contractor has to stop work.
Watson said that once Weeks Marine's contract was signed in October, the company has 180 days to complete the work- which would bring them almost to the end of April. Watson estimates they have lost between 15 - 20 days due to weather conditions.
The discharge unit is currently just south of Sussex Avenue, close to the half way point and operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The sand has been pumped in a north to south sweep and we understand that this will occur three times to replenish the beaches through out the town.
The dredge is a hoper dredge. It steams out to the collection site, collects the sand, then comes back and connects to a platform with pipe that connects to the discharge and filter unit.
The sand is then pumped from the ship, through the screens and bulldozers push the sand around the beach.
There will be several differences between how the project was conducted in Surf City and how it will be conducted in Harvey Cedars. First, and most important, there is a much finer screen on the discharge unit to ensure that none of the munitions fuses end up on our beaches.
Second, the Mayor and Commissioners feel that the street ends/beach entrances in Surf City look too industrial or commercial, and are not in keeping with our town. They will be working with the Army Corps and the town work crews to make them look much more natural.
The third difference will be the material used on the walkways to and from the beach. In Surf City a material call I5 was used. While this creates a very hard-backed surface making it easy for people to walk, it is also subject to erosion. If you have seen these paths in Surf City, there are small gullies that form from rain run-off. In Harvey Cedars, we will use a material called “infield fill” which is similar to what is used in baseball parks. It forms a fairly hard-packed surface that makes it easy to walk on, but also allows for the water to soak in, not run off so quickly. Therefore we should not see the erosion/gully issues seen in Surf City.
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BLVD Safety Survey Coming to ALL Taxpayers!
You should be seeing a survey regarding Boulevard safety and the proposed traffic pattern the County has introduced as a much safer alternative, in your mailbox within the month. To make sure it encompasses the opinions of all, it will be sent to all taxpayers, HCTA members or not. Please take the time to answer the survey and show your support for a safer Boulevard for all - cars, bikers, joggers and walkers.
HCTA Position Paper on BLVD Safety Model
*** Compiled by Phil Kunz & Bryan Lewis
On July 9th, the Borough Committee invited members of the community, the HCTA, the police department and the volunteer fire department to view the computer simulation of the traffic patterns and delays for the current configuration and the proposed 3-lane configuration. Phil Kunz and Bryan Lewis represented the HCTA at this meeting. This simulation was presented by Frank Scarantino the head of the Ocean County Engineers Office and Jeff Smithline of Stantech engineering, a consultant for the County.
The County and Borough, at the request of the Taxpayers Association, were looking to see what could be done to improve safety for walkers, joggers, and cyclists and people trying to turn onto the Boulevard, and to make sure that these safety improvements would not cause serious degradations in Blvd capacity. To get the number of vehicles to input into a computer generated simulation model produced by Stantech, the county sent people out to 9 intersections to count pedestrians and vehicles by type, lane, direction and turns. These counts took place on July 22, 23 and 29 and August 6 between 10am and 2pm. At the request of the Borough, these numbers were then increased 30% to stress the computer simulation to a point estimated to simulating weekend traffic levels.
The proposed design modeled, provided a 10 foot pedestrian path on both shoulders, one lane in each direction, and a center turning lane. In the words of both the county and the engineer, the new configuration is “considerably safer” and “greatly enhances the level of service from side streets.” The increase in travel time from one end of town to the other is 30 seconds. They felt that the trade-off in travel time (level of service) was far outweighed by the increase in overall safety.
Level of service is defined as the amount of delay at an intersection. There are 6 grades of service; A to F. D is considered acceptable for side streets, C for signaled intersections. To give you an idea of the level of service we have under the existing 4 lanes, Burlington and 83rd street are rated E, 77Th street was rated and F. With the new configuration, Burlington moved up 1 level of service, and 77Th and 83rd moved up 2 levels of service. The service at the signaled intersections will be slightly degraded, moving from an A to a B. but again, across the entire length of town, this adds 30 seconds to the trip, and service level B is still greater than the signaled intersections at the southern end of the island.
The engineer was able to explain, through the computer model, why the 3 lane configuration was almost 95% as efficient as the 4 lane configuration. Anyone who has been in the left lane at a red light in town already knows why – when the light changes and somebody is looking to make a left, that left lane is out of service for through-traffic until the lead driver can make their left turn.
During the meeting, there was opposition to the plan from people who felt that the traffic count numbers were not accurate. The engineer then modified the software to simulate a 230% increase in traffic volumes. Again, the model showed that there was no serious degradation in service, even though this almost more than doubled the traffic coming off of the side streets, which the engineer felt was not a realistic assumption as it would really be much less.
Those against the plan were still worried about 2 peak times, Friday night and Saturday rental change over. The County will be putting out automated traffic counters over 2 weekends in July to get the actual numbers for input to the model. The amended model will be shown to the public in early August.
It is the opinion of the HCTA Board that even if the amended model comes back and increases the travel time for the length to the town from 30 seconds to minutes for these 3 or 4 peak hours on 2 days out of an entire week, the proposed traffic pattern should be enacted for several reasons:
1. In the opinion of the County and the engineering firm contracted to run the study, this plan is safer. Both gentleman said the plan was “considerably safer, “offered a “big safety benefit,” and that they “especially like this treatment for people crossing the street.” We know from the existing traffic counts and modeling that the increase in transit time is 30 seconds. We will gladly sacrifice 30 seconds in the car to ensure a safer Boulevard. Harvey Cedars is not about speed, it is about quality of life for our families.
2. We feel that we should not judge a plan by 3 or 4 peak hours out of a total of 168 hours. To do so would be short-sighted. While the increased transit time during these peak hours may be greater than 30 seconds, it will still come with increased safety benefits 24 hours a day.
As the engineer put it, in other places they have instituted this treatment, the towns were willing to put up with a significant degradation of service in the interest of safety. That is not a choice we have to make. We get a considerably safer Boulevard and significantly safer access from side streets for the cost of 30 seconds. We feel it is a trade-off well worth doing.
Related News Article from The Atlantic City Press
This article was taken from the Atlantic City Press Website
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/top_three/article_3f55ae60-e08c-11de-8bcd-001cc4c03286.html
HEADLINE: $480,000 assessment for dunes easement could end beach fills
Written By DONNA WEAVER Staff Writer | Posted: Thursday, December 3, 2009
HARVEY CEDARS — Mayor Jonathan Oldham said Thursday beach replenishment projects in New Jersey will end quickly if oceanfront homeowners are entitled to hundreds of thousands of dollars for easements needed to complete them.
A panel of condemnation commissioners awarded the owners of a Harvey Cedars oceanfront property $480,000 Wednesday as compensation for an easement needed for a $25 million beach replenishment project. The panel determined that was fair compensation for the loss of value in the property when a 25-foot dune gets built between their home and the ocean. The borough had valued the easement at $300. Oldham said the borough will appeal the ruling. Having to pay homeowners large sums for easements would add greatly to the cost of beach projects and discourage towns from seeking them, he said.
Martin Flumenbaum and Ruth Hochberger were awarded the $480,000 by a panel appointed by Assignment Judge Vincent Grasso to determine the value of the property the owners would lose when a 25-foot dune is built. Flumenbaum and Hochberger own a two-story home on East 83rd Street that is assessed at $2,674,200, according to Ocean County tax records. Their attorney contends they will lose an 8,500-square-foot portion of the property.
“I was surprised by the amounts. To go from $300 to $480,000 is ridiculous,” Oldham said “No matter what the rulings are, we’ll appeal and appeal until we can’t appeal any more.” The borough is in the middle of badly needed beach-replenishment project that began shortly after the Veterans Day northeaster that caused heavy erosion here and elsewhere along the coast. In February, Donald Molliver, an appraiser hired by the borough, valued eight easements at $300 each. The properties were condemned during the eminent domain process begun by the borough last July. A $25 million beachfill project started last month here, only after officials pursued eminent domain to obtain easements, granting access to complete the project to the state Department of Environmental Protection and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“It’s the chance you take with eminent domain. We knew what the process was, going into this,” Oldham said. Attorney William Ward, who represents Flumenbaum and Hochberger, said Molliver testified there was no damage to the remaining property from the taking of easements. Appraiser Louis Izenberg of Parsippany, Morris County, testified on behalf of the property owners that $480,000 would adequately compensate for the loss of ocean view and damage to the property, Ward said. “We have always felt that the town did not do an appropriate appraisal of the value of the easement. The $300 appraisal was not made in good faith,” said Flumenbaum.
Flumenbaum said the effect on his home is significant because the dune that will be constructed in front of his home will dramatically cut off the ocean views from one full floor of his home, he said.
Oldham said it doesn’t make sense for oceanfront homeowners to receive large payouts for easements because they gain protection for their homes with beach replenishment. “This will really be about the whole island and all of New Jersey. If during the appeal process someone gets a large award, beach replenishment is over,” he said. Harvey Cedars and other shore towns frequently battle beach erosion like that caused by a four-day northeaster last month.
Ward said the biggest difference between the two sets of appraisals was that Izenberg argued that the loss of view due to the construction of a 25-foot dune would diminish the value of the property. “These dunes will impact the view, there’s no doubt about that. The real estate market recognizes the ocean and its value,” said Ward. If the borough exhausts its appeals and the award ruling stands, Harvey Cedars will have to pay out the money to the homeowners, according to Oldham. Ward said Harvey Cedars has 20 days from Wednesday, the date of the panel’s award, to file an appeal. Then the appeal will go to a jury trial on the value of the damages, he said. “The appeal will probably get docketed in January with a trial date probably set in May,” said Ward.
The Supreme Court heard a similar case Wednesday. Six homeowners in Florida’s panhandle are asking that the state be forced to compensate them for their property, which Florida law had long recognized as extending to the water line at high tide.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.