DelDOT still taking comments on trail improvements
Delaware Department of Transportation will continue to hear any public comments on the department’s proposal to extend the Junction Breakwater Trail into downtown Rehoboth Beach.
DelDOT is planning to extend the trail to connect with Henlopen Avenue by expanding bicycle lanes on the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal bridge and near the Rehoboth Avenue circle. DelDOT is proposing to begin construction in 2018.
After a December public workshop on the proposal, the public had until Jan. 20 to submit comments, but DelDOT bicycle coordinator Anthony Aglio said the department will continue to entertain comments.
DelDOT’s proposal uses the outbound lane as the trail extension as it turns off Church Street onto Rehoboth Avenue Extended. DelDOT says traffic counts conducted at Church Street during September 2016 show that most users take the outbound lane and do not cross Rehoboth Avenue Extended. DelDOT statistics show a daily average of 193 bikes using the outbound lane; 7,319 bikes in total used the outbound lane during September 2016. Those totals include bicyclists going into and out of Rehoboth. Aglio said it was the heavy usage of the outbound lane that factored into DelDOT’s thinking when planning the trail extension.
Aglio said, “We choose that side because the usage is higher on that side, and it does not include a crossing of Rehoboth Ave.”
Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control trail planner David Bartoo said while it is hard to say exactly how many people use the trail, DNREC collects data at three locations along the trail: north of Wolfe Neck near the trailhead in Lewes, at Wolfe Neck and near Holland Glade Road. Bartoo said DNREC uses infared readings that count anything warm-blooded that may pass through, so while it may not be exact, the measurements give an idea of usage trends.
Overwhelmingly, DNREC’s stats show the majority of trail usage is at the trailhead in Lewes and near Holland Glade Road, although the trends have gone in the opposite direction. From 2010 to 2014, the numbers show more usage at the south end, closer to Rehoboth. But the last two years, the numbers have flipped, with more usage at the trailhead, although Bartoo could not explain why this is.
