Move forward on Robinson Drive sidewalk

Traffic is a problem just about everywhere in the Cape Region as once relatively quiet lanes take on more and more traffic headed to the beaches.

Robinson Drive, which runs from Route 1, below the canal bridge, to Silver Lake Drive, at the south end of the Silver Lake bridge, is one of several roads once overlooked by visitors that are now well-traveled routes to Rehoboth Beach.

Drivers impatient as they come off a congested Route 1 often don't slow down to resort pace. Fast-moving cars mix with cyclists, scooters and pedestrians – some with strollers, others with canes and still others with chairs and umbrellas.

It's a volatile mix.

Transportation officials recently unveiled plans for a 5-foot-wide sidewalk along the north side of the road, linking to an exisitng sidewalk on Route 1.

As a DelDOT engineer explained, it would give people a sidewalk so they won't be walking on the street.

At a meeting to gather public comment on the plan, a few residents said the sidewalk will reduce available parking, and some homeowners may lose landscaping planted in the right-of-way.

Still, one nearby resident put it well: Traffic on the road is crazy. Changes need to be made.

We agree. The proposed sidewalk would be a much-needed improvement to what has become a southern entrance to Rehoboth Beach.

As with many DelDOT projects in their early stages, no funding has so far been set aside.

Still, a sidewalk less than a third of a mile long is a relatively minor investment that would give the many people who already use this road a safer path to the beach.

The public meeting was a first step in developing consensus on the need for a sidewalk and its design so the project can be added to DelDOT's Capital Transportation Program.

This is a project that has few, if any, detractors. DelDOT should move forward to get this sidewalk in place.