OCEAN CITY, Md. — The Town of Ocean City and the Maryland State Highway Administration wrapped up a $7 million project to add fencing along nearly three miles of the median on Coastal Highway.
The fencing stretches north from Convention Center Drive to where Route 90 enters town.
“This is a pedestrian safety project,” said Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan. “This is to direct people to the crosswalks. We have automated crosswalks at all the lights at all the proper intersections and we continue to see problems with people just haphazardly crossing in any location and walking against traffic and creating really a very unsafe condition for not only the pedestrians but the drivers.”
The fencing stands between five and seven feet tall and won’t stop cars from turning through intersections along the highway.
It is strictly meant to keep people from jaywalking through a stretch of road that features popular bars like Seacrets, Fager’s Island and other places.
“It’s a little bit different, it’s going to take a little while for people to get used to,” Meehan acknowledged. “Some people are going to have to walk an extra block to cross the highway and I know at first it’s not something that people are going to want to do. But it’s the right thing to do.”
The fencing is similar to what the state has put up in places like Langley Park and College Park where jaywalking has led to serious and sometimes fatal accidents involving pedestrians.
“And it’s worked,” Meehan said. “We think it’ll keep the families safer, it’ll help people when they’re out there with their kids.”
The median fencing is also going to be illuminated by new, brighter lighting, mean to help drivers spot pedestrians and others along that route.
“We think it’s something that’ll benefit the pedestrians, the visitors, and the drivers,” Meehan said. “They’re really subject to people just walking out in front of them, particularly in the night time hours.”
