Trail work could resume in late 2024
State transportation officials expect to have a groundbreaking in late 2024 to officially begin the last phases of the Lewes-to-Georgetown Trail. It’s the most popular trail in Delaware.
Once a contract is awarded, there will be more details where work will take place and a timeline, said Charles McLeod, DelDOT’s director of community relations.
Work on the trail, which began in 2016, has been completed to the Fisher Road-Hudson Road intersection, with a spur from Fisher Road to Stephen Hudson Park, where the Sussex County Land Trust is creating a trailhead.
So far, seven phases of the 17-mile paved trail have been completed. Four remain: Fisher Road to Harbeson Road, 7,850 feet; Harbeson Road to Gravel Hill Road, 9,250 feet; Gravel Hill Road to Park Avenue near Georgetown, 8,600 feet; and Park Avenue to Airport Road, 6,200 feet, which totals nearly six miles.
The trail links to the six-mile Junction & Breakwater Trail to Rehoboth Beach, as well as the Cape Henlopen State Park trails.
One phase from the Georgetown Little League Park to Airport Road has been completed, which was the first phase built adjacent to a working railroad tracks. The last phases leading up to Georgetown will be constructed along the tracks, with a protective fence added between the trail and tracks.
The rails have been removed as far as Harbeson on the former railroad bed of the Delaware Central Railroad track. Rails and ties were removed in a $4 million project in 2018 when it was determined that the section of the Delaware Coast Line Railroad from Cool Spring to Lewes should be decommissioned, after DelDOT determined that the cost was too high to repair the damaged 100-year-old Lewes-Rehoboth Canal railroad swing bridge. That bridge has since been removed and is a static display managed by the Lewes Junction Railroad and Bridge Association.
