DelDOT holds second Lewes bike plan workshop

Sue Ricksgers of Lewes rides her e-bike on city streets and bike trails. She said she came to the second Delaware Department of Transportation public workshop to learn more about what is being proposed to make riding safer.

“I was riding on the Junction & Breakwater Trail by Senators with my grandkids and somebody came behind me, blew right past me and scared me. It’s not e-bike riders that are blowing me off the trail,” she said.

She was not alone in putting safety at the top of the list for improvements.

“I grew up in the New Road/Pilottown area,” said Rep. Stell Parker Selby, D-Milton. “I biked the town of Lewes all my life as a kid. I’m concerned with all this traffic. People aren’t paying attention.”

Parker Selby was one of several elected leaders who attended the workshop at the Lewes Public Library Oct. 11.

DelDOT and its traffic consultants Whitman, Requardt & Associates and the Rossi Group hosted the event to answer questions and get input on how to best make Lewes friendlier and safer for riders, pedestrians and drivers.

“If I had a pen, I’d be making adjustments to these boards, small details, but really important stuff  people have brought up,” said Paul Moser, DelDOT local systems improvement engineer. “Just talking about it helps people get where we’re coming from and see the value in some of these alternatives.”

Those alternatives include a variety of new signs, lanes, pavement markings, pedestrian refuge islands and low-stress bike routes.

Low-stress routes would let riders bypass heavily traveled streets to get downtown from the Lewes-to-Georgetown Trail.

Other ideas include side paths on New Road, advisory shoulder lanes on Pilottown Road and a contra-flow bike lane on Shipcarpenter Street that would allow people to ride against one-way traffic. 

New lanes and markings are also being considered for the drawbridge, which many cyclists have said are desperately needed.

“I’ve been riding with my friends more and more in the lane for cars. It seems when we ride as tight as we can to the edge, people are passing us, even with oncoming cars. Somebody is going to kill me someday, “ Ricksgers said.

Everyone involved in creating the bike plan said education is the key to making it work.

“I think one thing that’s come out of this that’s very helpful is communication between property owners and renters, so people coming in can learn the paths and the rules of the road,” said Amy Sugerman of Lewes.

The Lewes Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee has been working closely with DelDOT to find solutions to issues such as enforcing speed on bike trails, and how to teach people rules and bike etiquette.

“Everything they’re proposing works well somewhere. Whether it can work in the cycling culture of this country, in general, it’s going to take a culture change and education,” said committee Chair Bob Fischer.

The city is considering creating a bike ambassador program that would focus on education, not enforcement, of rules and etiquette.

“I would like to see cadets out there to gently remind [cyclists], ‘You’re going too fast’ and ‘I didn’t hear you say on your left,’” said Ricksgers.

DelDOT has an online survey for the Lewes bike plan on its website available until Monday, Nov. 20.

“We really rely on the people of Lewes and the town to give us consent and move these projects forward,” Moser said.