New Lewes boat ramp opened on Thanksgiving day

Lewes’ new public boat ramp is a holiday treat. The facility opened Thanksgiving morning, Thursday, Nov. 27.
The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Division of Fish and Wildlife managed development and construction of the $3 million project at the northern end of Pilottown Road.
For several years, Doxsee Seafood Inc. operated a processing plant on the site, and substantial portions of the company’s old buildings are still there, but in a different form.
The state purchased the Doxsee property, removed contaminated soils and recycled nearly all of the old building’s concrete, grinding it on-site into mostly pebble-size for use as fill material.
The new boat ramp parking lot accommodates 128 vehicles with trailers and 17 single vehicles without trailers – nearly three times as many vehicles and trailers as the old boat ramp near Front Street.
“Other than our plantings and the arrival of most of our signage, the facility is ready to go,” said Roy Miller, fisheries administrator.
Miller noted the new boat ramp eliminates 20-minute no-wake rides boaters used to make from the old boat ramp to Roosevelt Inlet.
Demolition of the old boat ramp and removal of the parking lot could begin before the end of the year, as the site is prepared for construction of the Village Green, Lewes Canalfront Park’s third and final phase, slated for completion this spring or summer.
The new boat ramp features three doublewide launch ramps, making it possible for more vessels to get quickly in and out of the water, and four courtesy docks to make departure and arrival easier. It is handicap accessible, with sidewalk access to the parking area.
The boat ramp has an 8-foot-wide boardwalk along the Broadkill River, also handicap accessible, and is open to the public for strolling and boat watching.
One large parking area and two smaller ones are striped for extra-wide vehicles and trailers.
Retention basins incorporated in the parking area drain stormwater back into wetlands.
This spring, the boat ramp’s river walk will be planted with two types of marsh grass to control soil erosion, and stormwater basins will be planted with warm-weather grasses.
“This is one of the larger boating-access facilities on the East Coast, and we’re very excited to be able to provide this kind of service in one of our busiest launching areas,” said Patrick Emory, Division of Fish and Wildlife director.
He said the new boat ramp is designed for daily boat launching and is a carry-in, carry-out facility. It is one of more than 40 boat ramps the division operates.
A formal ribbon-cutting will be held at the facility before year’s end.