So-Called Atlantic City ‘Road Diet’ Is Put On Hold: Here’s Why

Thanks to New Jersey Senator Vince Polistina, R-2 and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy … The Atlantic City, New Jersey “Road Diet” ‘Road Diet’ has been placed on hold.

Polistina is an engineer by profession and he well knows the various issues surrounding this road scheme.

This is a welcome relief to many, who have been politely asking for a pause so that a proper traffic impact study can be done.

There is near universal agreement that reducing Atlantic Avenue in Atlantic City from 4 traffic lanes to just 2 lanes is a bad move.

The comparisons to a similar project in Margate is not analogous because Atlantic City has so much more traffic versus the Downbeach areas.

Rather than shrink the number of lanes on Atlantic Avenue, the citizens and business operators want the traffic lights to be synchronized and a repaving of the roads … many are currently in very bad condition.

In the featured photo above and directly below, this is a section of Atlantic Avenue. Similar and worse conditions currently exist throughout Atlantic City.

Atlantic City Councilman at Large George Tibbitt describes it like this:

The "condition of numerous roads are unacceptable and that there has not been an organized approach exhibited by the administration" said Tibbitt.

"We simply can't wait until February of 2024 to repairAtlantic Avenue. We have an obligation to our residents, taxpayers and visitors to provide safe, well maintained streets," said Tibbitt.

"It's not acceptable to expect the residents and tourists to have to deal with the dangerous conditions of the roads on Atlantic Avenue. We cannot wait another 18 months to have them repaired,” said Tibbitt.

We reached out to Tibbitt specifically regarding the Atlantic Avenue “Road Diet” scheme.

“I’m very happy to be taking a pause and have complete road studies done to see if this is the right way to go with traffic flow,” said Tibbitt.

”It's no secret our road are in terrible shape on Atlantic Ave and the timing of the lights are completely out of sync and look forward to getting the complete studies results and to get moving to make all the correction needed,” said Tibbitt.

A $ 10.7 million federal infrastructure grant has been approved for this project, with the first phase alone projected to cost more than $ 5 million.

Future phases of the project are currently in the design stage, so no estimated costs can be provided by the City of Atlantic City.

Polistina wants traffic to remain in the current four lane configuration on Atlantic Avenue.

Greater Atlantic City Chamber President Michael Chait has publicly stated that a traffic impact study should be completed before proceeding further with this project.

Mark Giannantonio is the President of the Casino Association of New Jersey and Presudent and Chief Executive Officer of Resorts Casino Hotel.

Giannantonio made his feelings known at a recent Atlantic City Clean and Safe committee meeting … specifically questioning if the so-called “Road Diet” would discourage customers coming to Atlantic City during peak traffic times.