The Savannah Road Byway Streetscape plan is scheduled for a vote by the Lewes City Council Thursday, May 25.
The Byway Streetscape Plan is one of the most important, tangible, beneficial and visible projects we will see in the City of Lewes for years to come. When completed, this permanent enhancement to the City of Lewes will extend from Anglers Road to Lewes Beach and provide for a number of outdoor and recreational activities.
Having attended Lewes City Council, Historic Lewes Byways and Lewes bicycle meetings over the years where TAP was discussed, I have seen the project grow from a conceptual idea to a ready-to-go reality. The project has taken a significant amount of personal effort on the part of members of the city, the byways committee and DelDOT. The project is substantially (80 percent) funded by DelDOT with 20 percent funded by the City of Lewes.
So now we finally find ourselves at the point in time where with city council's approval on Thursday evening, the project can move toward implementation. From what I know, there are some who do not see the project as necessary or would like to see significant modifications. From what I know, approval of the project is not a done deal. This is not an opportunity or time where the public may sit back and assume that approval of this project is certain.
It is critical that the public let the Lewes City Council know they support the TAP Project as designed. The public has two chances to help ensure the project moves forward, first on Wednesday afternoon at the Historic Lewes Scenic Byway Committee meeting at 1 p.m., and secondly at the special Lewes City Council meeting when the vote will be held at 6 p.m., Thursday evening. Both meetings are at the Lewes City Hall.
The Byway Streetscape Plan has suffered from some incomplete public communications. The project is viewed by elite bikers and some as simply a short bike path that would not be used by or benefit professional-level bikers on their way to doing the 16-mile loop. That is probably true for elite bikers as they will likely ride on Savannah Road as they do today. For the rest of us, the project will provide many benefits.
I urge anyone reading this opinion to take some time to educate themselves as to what this project is really all about, and what it means to you and the City of Lewes.
Go to the DelDOT website where you can view project pictures, design and plans. Pictures are worth a thousand words.
https://www.deldot.gov/information/projects/bike_and_ped/SavannahRd/workshop.shtml.
What you will find on the website in addition to pictures, is that the well-designed Savannah Road project on the Lewes Beach side of the canal serves many purposes. The project is part of an approved Historic Lewes Byway Plan. It is designed in a way that improves environmental impacts including using a bio-swale to manage runoff, enhances the Savannah Road streetscape with trees and plantings, provides for a safe traffic-separated 10-foot-wide pedestrian and cycling path, provides ADA-compliant sidewalks, brick crosswalks, Anglers Road pedestrian crossing with cautionary signage, provides for better traffic management of people and vehicles, and installs a shaded rest area overlook with benches to enjoy views of the marsh at American Legion Road. The second phase of the project will extend to the beach.
Tourism, retail and restaurants will benefit by the increased pedestrian traffic both in town and Lewes Beach. People will use the Lewes Beach Savannah Road streetscape to go shopping, hit the beach or have something to eat and then stroll to their next destination. Families will benefit by using the traffic-separated path and safer crosswalks to push a stroller, ride a bike or just to get outdoors. Joggers will include the path in their morning workouts. This project just fits Lewes. You probably have more ideas about how you will use the new Lewes Beach Savannah Road amenities.
I hope I am making the point that this is not just a bike path, it is a substantial permanent enhancement to the City of Lewes and a benefit to all of us.
Please check the City of Lewes website for meeting specifics, agenda, etc.
Take the time now to educate yourself about the project. Let your city council representatives know now of your support before the meeting. Then attend the meeting to see the vote take place and know the outcome.
For the record, I am a resident of Senators on Gills Neck Road and do not live in the City of Lewes. I feel strongly that those of us in the Greater Lewes area will benefit from improvements in the city like this project and would expect to help financially in sharing costs with city residents.
It is possible that fundraising efforts may reduce substantially costs to Lewes residents with the potential for no cost. I try to attend Lewes City Council, byways and bicycle meetings when the agenda includes outdoor and open-space items although I am not a member of any of those groups. This opinion represents my personal view and I am solely responsible for the facts and content.
Jay Tomlinson
Lewes
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