Page 12 The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch November 15, 2013 Open Wednesday-Sunday Daily At 4 p.m. OC‘Road Diet’ ✕✡✒ ✝¤✝❘❘✡✮✌✮☛✘ Concept Studied ✡✠✮✡✘✠✝❜✱¤✧❛✗✘✠✝❜¤ ✳¤✦❛✮✠✝❜w ✮✍✏❜✿ By JOANNE SHRINER STAFF WRITER ✡✮✒✌✟✎¤✘✝✮✠ Just North Of O.C., Just South Of Bethany $19.00 Entrees For Everyone! The Twining Family 302.539.2607 • 800.362.DINE www.nantucketsrestaurant.com Southwest Bar & Grill • 410-208-1383 11033 Nicholas Lane, Ocean Pines • Ocean Pines South Gate Entrance Dinner Specials Monday: $1.25 Taco Night Tuesday: $11.95 Steak Or Chicken Fajitas Wednesday: $5 Burgers And Burritos Thursday: $1.25 Taco Night Friday: Seafood Night Fish Tacos $2 Neptune Burrito $16.95 Saturday: Prime Rib Dinner $13.95 Sunday: $11.95 Steak Or Chicken Fajitas LIVE ENTERTAINMENT OCEAN CITY – The rearrangement of Coastal Highway’s lanes of traffic is currently being studied to provide more space for pedestrians on sidewalks and bicyclists on the road. During Tuesday’s bi-annual meeting between the Town of Ocean City and the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA), District Engineer Donnie Drewer and Assistant District Engineer Ken Cimino updated the Mayor and City Council on the ongoing effort referred to as the “road diet.” In September, Cimino explained the road diet originated from a traffic-engineering study conducted by Wallace Montgomery for the State of Maryland last summer. Currently, Coastal Highway is eight lanes wide with three mixeduse lanes and a bus/bike lane on each side. The road diet concept runs from 59th Street to Convention Center Drive and is proposed to change to three lanes with the third lane being mixed-use for buses and cars and use the 14-foot existing bus lane to become a general purpose lane for bus stops, a right-turn lane and bicycle lane as well as widening sidewalks from five feet to eight to 10 feet. SHAs Office of Highway Design is taking the concept and modeling it under existing traffic conditions to justify if the numbers of traffic lanes are decreased in that portion of Coastal Highway would it adversely affect traffic. “I do have some good news about the road diet … our study to date, we looked at with existing traffic volumes, and under each scenario [exclusive bus lane or mixeduse lane] there are no significant impacts,” Cimino said this week. In studying projected traffic volume in calendar year 2020, there were no significant impacts with either option. However, calendar year 2030 traffic volumes reflected traffic congestion at intersections and where Route 90 enters Ocean City to go southbound on Coastal Highway with an exclusive bus lane but there were no impacts with a SEE NEXT PAGE SATURDAY, NOV. 16: MICHAEL SMITH EVERY THURSDAY: KALEB BROWN HAPPY HOUR EVERY DAY 4 P.M.-7 P.M. • $1.25 TACOS DIRECTONS: Off Rte. 90, Take Casino Exit South And Left At 3rd Light Immediately On Your Right LA HA RITAS $5 • RAIL MARGARITA $3 RAIL DRINKS $3 • DOMESTIC BEER $1.50 IMPORT BEER $2.50 • HOUSE WINE $3 PREMIUM WINE $4.25 OPEN EVERY DAY AT 4 P.M. • WWWOCLAHACIENDA.COM Reservations For Groups Of 8 Or More • Smoke-Free Awarded Hall Of Honor By The • Restaurant Association Of Maryland Baltimore Avenue, Coastal Highway and St. Louis Avenue in Ocean City are pictured. Photo by Chris Parypa