SHA Assures No Baltimore Avenue Repaving Until OC Undertakes Streetscape Project

OCEAN CITY — After resort officials were blindsided somewhat last summer by a State Highway Administration plan to repave and replace sidewalks along Baltimore Avenue before the town moved forward with a major redesign of the corridor, SHA officials this week said they would stand back until the town is ready.

For the last year or so, SHA contractors have been systematically replacing the sidewalks throughout Ocean City to bring them into Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance. In June, SHA officials told the town a next phase of that project tentatively scheduled for this fall would begin tackling the sidewalks along the Baltimore Avenue corridor.

Resort officials were somewhat blindsided by that announcement because the town was ready to embark on a major rehabilitation of the Baltimore Avenue corridor from North Division Street to 15th Street, including the undergrounding of utilities, the removal of unsightly poles and other aesthetic improvements. If SHA had moved forward to repave Baltimore Avenue and retrofit the sidewalks as planned this year, the major rehabilitation of the corridor would have to be put on hold, perhaps for years. However, SHA Assistant District Engineer Brett Deane on Wednesday eased the Mayor and Council’s concerns about the SHA project interfering with the proposed redesign of Baltimore Avenue.

“The Baltimore Avenue section is on hold per your request,” he said. “While the town looks at a master plan for that corridor, we will not do anything. We won’t do anything until we hear from you and get the go-ahead.”

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