I found it interesting that both Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf and Sen. Ernie Lopez felt the need to come out against the existing DelDOT/City of Rehoboth Beach plan to extend the Junction & Breakwater Trail.
In the last issue of the Cape Gazette, the legislators weighed in by saying they favored a route that would go behind the Rehoboth Beach Museum and into Grove Park. Rep. Schwarzkopf and Sen. Lopez are exactly right on this issue, and I could not agree with them more. In my opinion, the current plan is ill-conceived and potentially dangerous.
I have been somewhat uneasy about the idea of two-way bike traffic across the north side of the canal bridge, but I can see the rationale behind this plan, and I can see it how it might work, at least in the short term.
I cannot foresee how the current plan would do much to improve safety, except to move bikes off the metal grating that makes up the riding surface on the canal bridge.
The worst aspect of the current plan is that it would "dump" cyclists onto the traffic circle in the area of the Royal Farms store - an area that is already dangerous enough.
I would urge DelDOT and the City of Rehoboth Beach commissioners to revisit this issue and to adopt the recommendations made by myself and by others. The current plan is not adequate and needs to be scrapped. Ultimately, a dedicated bicycle/pedestrian bridge should be built to span the Rehoboth-Lewes Canal. In the meantime, a path that takes cyclists across the existing bridge and directs them into Grove Park is the most sensible solution.
Frank Cole
Atlantic Cycles
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