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Completion of State Highway Route 55
The roads extending from the current southern terminus of State Highway Route 55 through Maurice River, Dennis and Middle Townships are grossly inadequate to accommodate the traffic loading conditions and as such create a severe health, safety and welfare transportation issue for Cape May County. State Highway Routes 47 and 347 reflect the design and capacities of earlier times. Therefore, Route 47/347 provides neither safe nor efficient ingress and egress to Cape May County, its residents and the tourists who support the $3.64 billion tourist industry (2001).
The Shore connection Committee Report concerning the State Highway Route 55/47 Corridor Transportation Study prepared by the South Jersey Transportation Planning Organization (November 1998) concluded in the Project Need Section that "The Routes 55/47 Corridor experiences significant seasonal variation due to the influence of recreational travel. Average daily traffic during summer weekends increases approximately 70 percent over non-summer periods. At present, the existing routes provide a satisfactory Level of Service (LDS) for an average day, but summer weekend traffic experiences heavy spot congestion. Year 2005 traffic estimates generated by previous transportation studies predict limited spot congestion for an average day, but sever, widespread congestion during summer weekend periods." This congestion, including traffic jams that frequently extend more than 12 miles, along with the outdated roadway design, has resulted in a highway that has a high frequency of accidents - 1,219 accidents between 1995 and 2000. These accidents have resulted in 640 injuries and nine deaths during this period.
Emergency management agencies have found that these roads are inadequate to evacuate visitors and residents of Cape May County in the event of catastrophes, especially major coastal storms. Further traffic jams that create a veritable parking lot of Route 47, for sections as long as 12 miles during the summer season, result in unsafe traffic conditions for emergency vehicles and local residents.
During the hurricane season, extending from June to November, it will be impossible to evacuate up to 650,000 visitors and the residences of 16 municipalities, 37 schools, 11 nursing homes and our regional hospital without a risk of significant loss of life. It is indisputable that the existing roads are inadequate to accommodate the traffic. Under a Category 1 hurricane (least sever), many of the evacuation routes, including Route 47, will be closed due to flooding. All other routes for leaving the County will be closed during Category 2, 3, or 4 hurricanes. Exacerbating this condition further is the fact that the Cape traffic flow will be seriously impeded by congestion of highways to the north that are used to evacuate coastal Atlantic County. Since Cape May County contains no sheltering capacity, the movement of people to the safety of higher areas to the north and west of the County is essential. Further evacuation of people to the north requires the completion of Route 55 to avoid the conflict between Cape May and Atlantic County traffic.
From an environmental perspective, the traffic congestion along extensive areas of Routes 47/347 creates significant pollution problems. Hundreds of idling vehicles frequently discharge unhealthful and phytotoxic air pollution. In addition, the stormwater drainage systems are not designed to meet current standards of retention and water quality treatment. Therefore, other pollutants discharged from the idling vehicles, such as hydrocarbons and heavy metals, are washed from the roadways into environmentally sensitive streams, wetlands, wildlife habitats and eventually into the Delaware Estuary.
Finally, Cape May County is the "goose that lays golden eggs" for our state and federal treasuries. The $3.64 billion annual tourism economy (2001) and its associated 121,800 tourism related jobs (2001) in Cape May County yields more than $429 million in tax revenue to the New Jersey state treasury and more than $201 million in local tax revenue. In addition, Cape May County tourism generates mort than $265 million in taxes (not including fuel tax revenue) to the federal government. The states of Delaware and Maryland are completing congestion-free access to their coastal resorts from the metropolitan areas between Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia. Our southern resorts and businesses will not only suffer but also lose their competitive advantage of offering tourists a high quality environment due to the unsafe and inadequate roadways through southern Cumberland and Cape May Counties. Not only will this condition result in economic losses to our resort economy but also loss of tax revenues to our local, stat and f3deral governments.
After careful analysis and in recognition of the environmental protection controls provided for all new road construction projects, we are convinced that this highway can be completed in a manner to protect the environmental and cultural resources along its alignment through public participation and review by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. National Marine Fisheries, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The permitting programs associated with these agencies will ensure that the completion of State Highway Route 55 will be accomplished in a manner consistent with the highest standards of human and natural resources protection.
It is for these reasons the completion of State Highway Route 55 is essential to the economic well being and the health, safety and welfare of the residents and visitors of Cape May County, in addition to the tax revenues generated by Cape May County businesses for local, state and federal governments.
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