Good News About Bad Skinny ‘Road Diet’ in Atlantic City, NJ

We have an update regarding one of the worst road ideas in Atlantic City, New Jersey history.

It’s called the “road diet” and there’s near universal agreement that shrinking Atlantic Avenue from 4 lanes, down to 2 lanes is a very bad move.

We conducted our first field test of the "new"Atlantic Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey on January 2, 2024.

Even with light traffic, it was so easy to see what a bad idea this is.

We traveled on Atlantic Avenue and filmed how drivers and bicycle riders were managing the new configuration.

Traffic was light, but, it was a very revealing exercise, because everything that we stated in advance of this new road set-up is already coming true.

Look at the photo above and below:

In this photo, you can clearly see a vehicle that is riding all the way to the right, which is supposed to be the dedicated bicycle lane.

To the left, you can plainly see a bicycle rider, who is riding down the center, between the two car lanes.

This is exactly what we predicted would occur.

Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small continues to brag about getting $ 24 million dollars for this project, which also will result in a newly resurfaced Atlantic Avenue and traffic light resynchronization.

The City of Atlantic City was required to file this plan with the New Jersey Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (NJCRDA) because part of Atlantic Avenue is located within what is known as "The Tourism District."

The City of Atlantic City did not consult with the NJCRDA and instead went rogue and began the road shrinkage project.

All that needed to be done was to resurface Atlantic Avenue and properly synchronize the traffic lights.

The NJCRDA will allow the repaving of Atlantic Avenue to be done, as long as the 4 lanes are maintained.

Shrinking it to 2 lanes would be a disaster.

SOURCE: Atlantic City Council.