OCEAN CITY, Md. - Ocean City officials are scaling back the long-planned Baltimore Avenue redevelopment project after updated cost estimates were higher than expected.
The original plan included putting utility lines underground, widening sidewalks by five feet, adding more fire hydrants and making other infrastructure upgrades along Baltimore Avenue. But after reviewing a new estimated price tag of $44.8 million, the Town Council voted to drop portions of the project, including the expansion of the sidewalks.
Don Furbay, who has lived in Ocean City since 1996, said he likes the idea of placing the utility lines underground, one of the elements that is still included in the scaled-back plan.
“I think it'll be beautiful. It'll clean up the sidewalks and just make the street that much more attractive,” Furbay said.
City Manager Terry McGean said the revised project will still include undergrounding utilities, raising side streets that do not yet match the height of the Boardwalk and installing new sidewalks and pavement.
The scaled-back plan reduces the estimated cost to $25 million. Of that, $20 million will come from a federal grant, with the remaining $5 million funded by the town.
Town officials said they removed the sidewalk expansion in part because, along with the large price tag, acquiring the necessary legal signatures for the right-of-way would have jeopardized the project’s eligibility for the federal grant before it expires.
If the project stays on schedule, construction is expected to begin in fall 2027.