Board: Sidewalks, Crosswalks Needed At Fish Pier

CHATHAM – Although significant safety improvements were made for fish pier visitors in the past few years, pedestrian infrastructure around the popular tourist spot is virtually nonexistent.

 Other than a brick sidewalk installed by Chatham Bars Inn along Shore Road south of the pier, there are no crosswalks or sidewalks on nearby streets. That needs to change, select board members said last week.

 “We need to create better access to the fish pier, because we’re not going to stop people from going down there,” said board member Shareen Davis.

 Harbormaster Jason Holm recently reported that staff at the pier counted more than 100,000 visitors in July and nearly 150,000 in August, a significant increase from previous years.

 Recent upgrades to the pier included the addition of a sidewalk along Barcliff Avenue Extension, the road that leads to the lower parking lot at the pier, as well as a walkway around the perimeter of the lower lot that leads to the south jog, which keeps pedestrians away from the working areas of the facility.

 Several recommendations to improve parking and pedestrian safety at the pier were contained in the recent Cape Cod Commission downtown Chatham parking and circulation study. The document called the intersection of Barcliff Avenue, Shore Road and Barcliff Avenue Extension “a wide sea of pavement.”

The report’s recommendations include a crosswalk at Barcliff Avenue and Shore Road to improve safety for those walking to the pier after parking on Shore Road; a short sidewalk on the south side of that intersection to get pedestrians from Barcliff to a second crosswalk across Shore Road near the main entrance to the pier’s upper parking lot. The report also recommends that officials look at a four-way stop at the intersection as well as extending the Chatham Bars Inn sidewalk to the north and south all the way to Main Street.

 “There’s too many people visiting the fish pier,” commented board member Stuart Smith, who previously oversaw the facility as the town’s harbormaster. With so many people coming and going, both walking and in vehicles, the speed limit on Shore Road should be lowered, he suggested.

 “Somebody is going to be injured there,” he said.

Crosswalks would be a major improvement, said nearby resident Heather Butler. The layout of Shore Road north of the pier is wide enough to accommodate a sidewalk, she added.

 “People walk up and down Shore Road all day long,” she said.

Previous CBI management expressed an interest in extending the sidewalk as far south as Claflin Landing, Public Works Director Rob Faley said. He wasn’t sure if the current management was interested, he added.

 “That would be a major improvement,” agreed Chair Dean Nicastro. 

Board members also agreed that a shuttle would help alleviate traffic congestion at the pier (see separate story about paid parking downtown for a full discussion of a shuttle).

The board asked Faley to look at improvements around the pier area that would be pedestrian-friendly and comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.