Coming into Los Angel--oops, Ocean City

Seriously, is this the Jersey Shore or the Santa Monica Freeway? The new 9th Street bridge leading into Ocean City (left, photo by Douglas Bergen of OceanCity Patch) is a monster, higher, wider, faster than the old drawbridge, that turned in such a way as to slow you down as you eased into your shore destination. It felt right. This big guy, which will be joined by its twin span by 2012, is built for speed, though Ocean City police spokesman Steven Ang has already been warning people -- this means you, shoobies -- that there will be a "zero tolerance" for speeding on the new bridge, despite its obvious amenability to the pedal to the metal. Still, the question remains, will speeding really be a problem, or will the big headache be the opposite, backed up traffic? The other big change in Ocean City is that the old traffic circle outside Circle Liquors has been converted to a good old massive, confusing, which lanes go where intersection. I thought that old circle was ridiculous in that nobody seemed to be able to get on or off in a logical manner, but I don't know about this new configuration. There's a lot of waiting to make a left turn built into it, the lanes, so far, are confusing and it will take some getting used to figure out where that three quarters around the circle street is currently located (same place), only square. Good luck!!! At least , it's looking like great beach weather for the weekend. Nice and muggy. One other bridge note: Bicyclists were always part of the plan for hte new bridge, but now, officials are saying that real riders should stay off the sidewalk and stick to the shoulders. Remains to be seen how that works out. Just remember, one person's new bridge is another person's speed trap. No word on whether Circle Liquors plans to change their name. Here's on outbound shot of the new confusing intersection that replaced the old confusing circle (and took Pearl's Chinese restaurant with it).]]>