The Berrien County Parks Department has unveiled a new plan to reduce traffic congestion caused by Silver Beach County Park in St. Joseph.
At Monday’s regular meeting of the St. Joseph City Commission, Berrien County Parks Director Jill Adams told commissioners some of the measures the department will implement, as developed with consulting firm Walker Consulting, will be put in place by this coming summer. They include the expansion of the park entrance to accommodate two full lanes of vehicles coming into the facility.
“This recommendation will allow for more queuing of park visitor vehicles within the park boundaries and out of the city street,” Adams said.
Adams said bids will be sought to expand the entrance in the near future. She said the county is also looking at measures to better educate visitors to the park so they know where to go, and perhaps with the help of a digital sign, know when the parking lot is full so they don’t drive down to the beach for no reason. The county will also research technology for a pay-by-plate option at the park.
“As we are researching these technologies for the county park and honing in on what options are going to work best for us, it’s important that we choose an option that’s going to benefit the entire county park system.”
Once the short-term measures are implemented this year, Adams said the county will observe the results for two beach seasons to weigh potential longer-term measures.
Commissioners indicated support for a work group that will update them regularly on the ongoing planning. However, Commissioner Michael Fernandez said two more years of waiting for a solution seems like an awfully long time. Berrien County Administrator Brian Dissette said the county is working as it can with the city to address the ongoing traffic issues, but due to budget constraints, a final plan will take some time to put in place.
