Atlantic City, NJ Lawsuit to Stop Shrinking Major Road To 2 Lanes

The Atlantic City, New Jersey casino industry, along with AtlantiCare Regional Medical have filed litigation to try and stop Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small from turning Atlantic Avenue from 4 traffic lanes to just 2 lanes.

It’s nicknamed, “The Road Diet” and it has been roundly criticized and opposed by many since it was first announced.

The casino industry, local business community and residents all believed that this bad idea had long ago been defeated.

In order to pursue this colossally bad concept, The City of Atlantic City was required to appear before the New Jersey Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (NJ CRDA) because parts of Atlantic Avenue are within the Atlantic City Special Improvement District.

The City of Atlantic City never presented an application before the NJ CRDA.

It was also previously believed that New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and the Department of Community Affairs had also driven a stake through this terrible proposal.

Suddenly, with no warning, Small announced that work had already begun, in the form of Phase 1, located from Maine to Tennessee Avenues.

This caught everyone by surprise and sent people scrambling to try and stop it.

No one is against having freshly repaved roads and achieving proper traffic light resynchronization.

However, reducing a 4 lane road to just 2 lanes is believed to be a major problem, especially during the summer season in Atlantic City.

New Jersey Superior Court Assignment Judge Michael Blee will hear the case, beginning on the morning of Friday, January 26, 2024.

Blee denied the applicants request for an immediate work stoppage.

Blee should have granted the relief requested, because the major concern is the paint striping, which will reduce Atlantic Avenue to just two lanes.

By January 26, 2024, the lane reconfiguration will be completed from at least Maine to Tennessee Avenues.

If Blee ultimately grants the applicants requested relief, this will result in having to undo the damage.

Why not just pause the painting until the litigation is resolved? Blee could have let the road resurfacing and the traffic light synchronization continue and put a hold on the painting aspects.

Developing.

SOURCES: Multiple casino sources, Atlantic City Council Members, State of New Jersey sources and business leaders.