A beach entrance with Mobi-Mats in Seaside Park, March 2024. (Photo: Shorebeat)
A trip to the beach will likely be a bit easier on the legs of sun-worshipers in Seaside Park this summer, with the borough planning to install “Mobi-Mats” at every beach entrance.
Some streets in town received Mobi-Mats last year, which are roll-out heavy matting that creates traction over sandy surfaces. The mats make it easier for beachgoers to navigate the dune crossovers and also provide significantly easier access to those who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices to steady themselves.
Last week, the council passed a capital ordinance authorizing $101,000 for the purchase of new Mobi-Mats to, hopefully, complete their installation on every street in town. The bond measure will be up for a public hearing and second vote at the borough council meeting Thursday night.
“We’re trying to do each and every street that had not been completed from last year,” said Mayor John Peterson. “It’s a pretty extensive project to make all the beachway ramp areas have all those mats.”
In a “post-replenishment” era where dunes are engineered on a slope and crossovers run diagonally over the dunes rather than cut through them, the hills and dog-leg turns to enter the beach have made it bother easier – with hard-packed sand – and more difficult, with the slope, simultaneously for beachgoers.
A beach entrance with Mobi-Mats in Seaside Park, March 2024. (Photo: Shorebeat)
“The mats make it easier for walking, because there is a pitch – a steepness issue – because of the mandatory way the entranceways are configured,” Peterson said. “Those mats are a great help to make the beach experience accessible and available to a wide array of people.”
The only street that is not on the list, at least currently, to receive Mobi-Mats is Brighton Avenue, which is the street emergency vehicles use to access the beach. Brighton sees traffic from lifeguards, rescue crews and underwater recovery teams during the swimming season, and is also a beach buggy entrance in the off-season. The borough is still conducting research to determine whether vehicles would damage the mats.
A beach entrance with Mobi-Mats in Seaside Park, March 2024. (Photo: Shorebeat)
Peterson said he believes the latest appropriation set aside by the council should complete the project in town.
“We’re working toward that goal, and I think that is a goal we’re hoping to have up and running by the summer season,” he said.
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