Casinos, hospital ask judge to halt Atlantic City road narrowing

Five Boardwalk casinos and a hospital want a judge to prevent Atlantic City from narrowing the main road running through the city’s downtown

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Five Boardwalk casinos and a hospital want a judge to prevent Atlantic City from completing a controversial program to narrow the main road running through the city's downtown, saying such a move could hurt business and endanger lives during traffic-choked periods.

The AtlantiCare hospital system, and Caesars, Tropicana, Bally's, Hard Rock and Resorts casinos, are asking a state Superior Court judge to order an end to the project, which began Dec. 13.

The city says the federal and state-funded project will make a dangerous road safer at no cost to local taxpayers. Officials said narrowing the road was a requirement for accepting the $24 million in government funds.

Last Friday, Judge Michael Blee in Atlantic County declined to issue the immediate order the casinos and the hospital had sought to stop the project in its tracks. Rather, the judge will hear full details of the situation in a Jan. 26 hearing.

Mark Giannantonio, president of Resorts as well as of the Casino Association of New Jersey, the industry's trade group, said the casinos support the repaving and traffic light synchronization aspects of the project, which is aimed at reducing pedestrian fatalities and injuries on 2.6 miles (4.2 kilometers) of Atlantic Avenue.