Atlantic City Road Narrowing Controversy: Casinos and Hospital Seek Judicial Intervention

Concerns raised over potential business impact and public safety, while city officials defend the project as a necessary safety measure.

Five Boardwalk casinos and the AtlantiCare hospital system are asking a judge to prevent Atlantic City from narrowing the main road through the city's downtown, arguing it could hurt business and endanger lives during traffic-choked periods.
The city argues the federal and state-funded project will make a dangerous road safer at no cost to local taxpayers, and that narrowing the road was a requirement for accepting the $24 million in government funds.
Mark Giannantonio, president of Resorts and the Casino Association of New Jersey, says the casinos support the repaving and traffic light synchronization aspects of the project, but a full study needs to be done to examine the potential impacts of narrowing the road.
Giannantonio also states that the hospital's ambulances routinely use Atlantic Avenue to transport critically ill or injured patients to its trauma center, and the elimination of one lane could deprive the emergency vehicles of a passing lane to get around stopped traffic.
Mayor Marty Small defended the project, stating that it is being done in the name of safety for the residents and visitors. A city-commissioned study counted 829 collisions on the road between 2013 and 2017, 9.1% of which involved pedestrians being struck.