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The Greater Atlantic City Chamber would like to thank the following sponsors:
AC Regional Transportation Plan
AC Press
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
May 14, 2009
ATLANTIC CITY - They range from a bike path on the Boardwalk to a billion-dollar monorail system that would whisk visitors into town above congested highways.
In all, $3.6 billion in road, rail and airport improvements are proposed in a major transportation plan that envisions Atlantic City crowded with new casinos and tens of thousands of new workers in the years ahead.
The new plan received the immediate backing of Gov. Jon S. Corzine, who signed an executive order Thursday that directs 15 government agencies to work together to make sure the projects are built.
"We have a lot of good stuff happening," Corzine said in remarks to the South Jersey Economic Development Forum, where details of the transportation study were made public.
Corzine's executive order coordinates the transportation projects with new housing for the casino work force. Known as "AC RIGHT"- short for the Atlantic City Regional Implementation Group for Housing and Transportation - the initiative includes members of the governor's cabinet, state agencies and planning organizations.
The planning group will review projects, recommend ways to streamline the regulatory process, call public hearings and work with business and community organizations to promote economic development.
Thomas D. Carver, executive director of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, said the executive order will not override the power of local municipalities. Rather, it will include incentives for communities that help the planning group to speed up projects, he said.
"We don't have the ability to tell towns what they can and can't do," said Carver, whose state development agency is part of the planning group. "It's not a carrot-and-stick approach, but an effort to bring reality and a strong probability of completion on these things we think are important."
"We don't have the ability to tell towns what they can and can't do," said Carver, whose state development agency is part of the planning group. "It's not a carrot-and-stick approach, but an effort to bring reality and a strong probability of completion on these things we think are important."
Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson said the idea of speeding up approvals for new transportation and housing projects would have been a good policy last year, when new casino developments still were viable in Atlantic City. But with the economic recession, Levinson said the priority now should be to make the existing casinos more competitive against Pennsylvania and Delaware gaming halls and sports betting.
"This executive order, to put it as plainly as I can, is a bit behind the curve on what our area's most pressing economic needs are," said Levinson, who was also concerned that AC RIGHT might add another layer of bureaucracy to the planning process.
Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford said he was not prepared to comment on the executive order, preferring to "see how this rolls out and plays out."
Meanwhile, some of the transportation projects outlined in the new study were previously announced and are already under way. However, funding is still needed for many others. Corzine said a combination of private investment and public transportation funds, including highway tolls, would be tapped.
"Most of them will be financed privately," Corzine said of the projects while speaking to reporters.
When the transportation study began more than two years ago, five new casinos were proposed, 17,000 new hotel rooms were expected to be built and 40,000 new gaming workers were supposed to be hired.
Since then, the recession has put most of those casino projects on hold or killed them altogether. Atlantic City's existing casinos have cut thousands of jobs, reducing the work force to the lowest level since the late 1980s. The only new casino under construction is a $2 billion megaresort by Revel Entertainment Group, but funding shortages have slowed it down and the grand opening is expected to be pushed back from 2010 to 2011.
Corzine predicted the casino industry will recover once the recession is over. He said now is the time to begin construction on transportation projects that will ease traffic tie-ups and draw new tourists to the gambling resort in the next decade.
"We want to be ready to go, to take advantage of it," he said.
Big-ticket items include upgrades for the three entry highways into Atlantic City, the Atlantic City rail line and Atlantic City International Airport. There also are a series of smaller projects that would widen local streets, create a bikeway on the Atlantic City Boardwalk and modernize the traffic-signal system.
Farther into the future, there are plans for a billion-dollar monorail system that could run on an elevated route between the airport and Atlantic City, allowing visitors to avoid crowded highways.
Road projects include:
- A third westbound lane on the Atlantic City Expressway between
mileposts 8 and 31. - Improving the interchange that links the expressway and Garden State Parkway to relieve gridlock.
- Widening the parkway south of Toms River.
- Building a full interchange at parkway Exit 44.
- Rebuilding the Route 40 corridor into Atlantic City, including the possibility of a new twin span for the Albany Avenue drawbridge.
- Creating a new boulevard from Route 30 to the Revel casino in Atlantic City's South Inlet section.
- Converting Pacific and Atlantic avenues in Atlantic City into one-way streets to smooth traffic flow.
- Expanding NJ Transit's Atlantic City commuter line, including more trains, extra stops and a direct link with Atlantic City International Airport.
- Linking the Atlantic City line with two other rail routes, the PATCO High Speed Line that runs between Lindenwold and Philadelphia and the River Line that operates between Camden and Trenton.
- Expanding Atlantic City International Airport, including improvements to the terminal and airfield.
- Attracting new airlines and flights, with service to Chicago among the coveted routes.
- Building an Aviation, Research and Technology Park next to the airport and the Federal Aviation Administration's William J. Hughes Technical Center.
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