Page 8 The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch September 27, 2013 Studies Confirm Need For Two New Traffic Lights In West OC A countdown clock, one of the most recent pedestrian enhancements in West Ocean City, is pictured at the intersection of Route 50 and Golf Course Road. Photo by Steve Green By SHAWN J. SOPER NEWS EDITOR WEST OCEAN CITY – The fatal hit-and-run accident on Route 50 last weekend sparked a renewed interest in improving pedestrian safety specifically and traffic safety in general throughout all of West Ocean City. Even before the fatal hit-and-run accident last Friday that claimed the life of a local man, state and local officials had recognized the need for improved pedestrian and safety measures along the heavily traveled Route 50 and Route 611 corridors, and many State Highway Administration (SHA) projects are already at various points in the planning and implementation process. Among the proposed changes are the possible installations of new traffic signals at known trouble spots, including the intersection of Route 50 and Elm Street where the fatal collision occurred last Friday, and at Route 611 and Sunset Avenue. SHA Assistant District Engineer Ken Cimino has been working on a variety of proposals to improve pedestrian and traffic safety all over West Ocean City, the roads of which are shared with thousands of vehicles, pedestrians, bicycles and scooters on a typical summer day and throughout the year. Cimino said this week one of the West Ocean City hotspots that will likely see relief in the form of a new traffic signal is the intersection of Route 611, or Stephen Decatur Highway, and Sunset Avenue. That has been a dangerous intersection for some time and frequently involves heavy waits for vehicles on Sunset Avenue trying to access southbound Route 611 toward Assateague Island, South Point and the local route to Berlin. “We’ve finished the study of the Route 611 and Sunset Avenue intersection, and it indicates the need for a new traffic light there,” he said. “The plan is to install a new traffic signal at that intersection.” Cimino said the plans in progress also call for a new traffic signal at the intersection of Route 50 and SEE NEXT PAGE