Shore Bets To The Beach, Part 1: Ocean City, NJ
Some roads to the South Jersey shore have a new look. KYW's Mike DeNardo explains what has changed in the off-season on the way to the beach.
By Mike DeNardo
OCEAN CITY, N.J. (CBS) -- Perhaps the most dramatic improvement that shore travelers will see on the way to Ocean City, NJ is the new Route 52 causeway linking Ocean City with Somers Point.
"There used to be huge lines when there was a circle there," recalls one man.
Now, the Somers Point circle is gone -- replaced with a signalized intersection.
And after six years and $400 million worth of construction, the creaky drawbridges have given way to two modern dual-lane spans.
"We are so excited to have a normal traffic pattern in Ocean City," says Ocean City Chamber of Commerce executive director Michele Gillian (right). "Also, we won't have bridges going up and down. So the flow's going to be even easier."
And Gillian expects the causeway bridge will become an attraction on its own, with a new visitors' center being built mid-span.
"People are going to enjoy just the bridge itself," she tells KYW Newsradio, "because there's so many things you can do on it: crabbing, fishing, boating, waterskiing, kayaking. We're going to have all those resources right there."
Gillian says fully 80 percent of Ocean City's visitors enter by the causeway.
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"Shore Bets to the Beach."
