Report: Rehoboth’s King Charles Ave. needs pedestrian upgrades

Participation was limited, but a summer-long pilot program on King Charles Avenue in Rehoboth Beach suggests pedestrian improvements on one of the city’s widest streets are needed.

The temporary pilot program was the second phase of a city-wide traffic study conducted by the city’s consultant Rossi Group. The study was done during the summer of 2023, which resulted in a number of short-and long-term recommendations being presented to commissioners this past spring.

The city implemented one short-term recommendation – marking 30-minute parking spots better – and followed through on a pilot program for King Charles Avenue that saw temporary curb bump outs added at New Castle Street and crosswalks with relief islands in the middle at Stockley Street.

Ann Marie Townshend, who works for the city’s consultant, said the study ran May 1 to Sept. 2, with 106 people participating.

According to the information Townshend provided, the majority of study respondents thought the traffic-calming measures were either effective and somewhat effective. However, she said, about one-third thought they were ineffective.

“Some people just don’t like change,” she said. “The people who like them, like them. The people who didn’t like them, really didn’t like them.”

Resident Carolyn Diefenderfer said she thought the changes on King Charles worked, but the bump outs made it hard for the city’s street sweepers to clean the storm drains. The changes that worked the best were the crosswalks and silent policemen, she said.

Commissioner Don Preston said the pilot study didn’t provide enough information and he didn’t see any reason to do anything more than possibly adding more crosswalks. This isn’t enough evidence and the responses are hardly enough to act on, he said.

One of the short-term recommendations made by the consultant was to change the light cycles on Rehoboth Avenue, at the intersections of 1st and 2nd streets, to provide pedestrians crossing the street more time before cars are allowed to move.

Townshend said Delaware Department of Transportation has been contacted about signal timing, but the department has been hesitant to implement the changes and is still in discussions with city staff.

Commissioner Ed Chrzanowski said lead intervals for pedestrians work in cities across the country. It’s time to get local legislators involved, he said.

Following the presentation on the pilot program and short-term recommendations, Townshend provided a number of long-term recommendations city officials should explore going forward.

One recommendation was to look at the length of the parking season. Right now, the season is May 15 to Sept. 15, but the demand exceeds those limits, said Townsend. She suggested the city consider adding at least the weekends of the shoulder months, April 1 to Oct. 31.

Without committing to any specific changes, Commissioner Suzanne Goode agreed on increasing the length of the season, saying it was a step in the right direction. Rehoboth’s season is significantly shorter than Lewes, she said.

Commissioner Craig Thier said he was hesitant to increase the season. The city just raised its taxes and fees, only to find out it probably wasn’t necessary, he said.

Another recommendation Townshend provided was for the city to conduct a second pilot program at the intersection of Rehoboth Avenue and Canal Street. Currently, it’s a right-turn only onto Rehoboth Avenue, but people go left all the time, so the idea would be to install the temporary yellow bollards, she said.

Townshend said the city should finish a feasibility study on a parking garage, so the city can finally make a decision one way or the other. Work has been done, but it wasn’t completed, she said.