Rehoboth Avenue repaving project set to start Oct. 1

It’s not nearly as long as the year-delay that pushed it to this fall, but the repaving of Rehoboth Avenue has been pushed back again. This time the delay is a couple of weeks, to Tuesday, Oct. 1.

During a Rehoboth Beach commissioner workshop Aug. 5, City Manager Taylour Tedder said the project would begin Sunday, Sept. 15. However, during a commissioner workshop Sept. 9, Tedder said the project would begin the first day in October. The contractor is waiting to finish another project before starting this one, he said.

Last year, around this time, Rehoboth Beach and Delaware Department of Transportation officials were preparing users of Rehoboth Avenue for a paving project. Ultimately, after delays related to ADA compliance, the project was pushed to this fall.

C.R. McLeod, DelDOT spokesperson, confirmed the start of the project has been pushed back while the contractor is finishing up work on other locations – specifically, paving and sidewalk improvements to Shuttle Road outside downtown. As a result, the timeline will shift, with set to be completed by the end of the year, he said.

McLeod said Rehoboth’s consultant JMT and DelDOT’s Pavement Management Team have addressed all ADA issues with handicap parking that forced the original delay. Modifications have been made to those areas to ensure compliance, he said.

The project will begin with ADA sidewalk improvement work, McLeod said.

DelDOT will oversee the entire project, but the city is responsible for paying for the section of Rehoboth Avenue from the Boardwalk to Second Street; DelDOT is responsible for paving the rest, ending just east of the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal drawbridge.

The project’s parameters stick primarily to street paving. The only planned sidewalk improvements are for crossing areas to ensure ADA compliance and where modifications need be made for the new ADA parking spaces, said McLeod.

The anticipated time to complete the work on Rehoboth Avenue is two to three months, depending on weather, and a majority of the work will take place at night, said McLeod. However, some concrete work may take place during the day depending upon nighttime temperatures.

Tedder said he realizes there will be an inconvenience associated with the repaving, but that’s all that it is, a repaving project. The last time this was done, it was a full on construction project, which isn’t the case this time, he said.

Work will occur 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., Sunday evening to Friday morning. The contractor will begin at the drawbridge, head east, loop around the Bandstand bathrooms and then work west.

The months-long timeframe means the project will still be underway during the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce’s annual Sea Witch Festival, which is scheduled for the weekend of Friday, Oct. 25 through Sunday, Oct. 27.

Carol Everhart, chamber president and CEO, said pushing the start date to Oct. 1 may actually work in favor of the festival. It’s likely the paving portion won’t have started by then, so it shouldn’t be too much of an issue, she said.

McLeod said he thinks Everhart’s assessment is accurate. The contractor will not work that weekend and there will be communication between all parties to make sure there is minimal impact to the festival, he said.

The city will be working in close coordination with DelDOT and all surfaces will be paved if work takes place that weekend, said Tedder.

About this time last year, McLeod said the estimate for the project is about $1.2 million, with the city responsible for about $786,000. There was no significant cost increase due to the delay, he said.

At a minimum, this project should last 12 to 15 years, said McLeod. Regular maintenance activities, such as patching, will extend the life of the pavement overall.