The following letter was sent to Sen. Ernie Lopez, R-Lewes, with a copy sent to the Cape Gazette for publication.
You recently held a community meeting to discuss ongoing safety issues concerning the new rails to trails paths that have been a welcome addition to Sussex County. I commend you for your concern and continued commitment to making improvements to our community. I support the safety initiative concerning the trails, and I respectfully request the same consideration of our local students.
Students who live within a two-mile radius of Cape Henlopen High School are not offered bus service (Title 14:1150:12.0).
Currently you cannot walk while utilizing the safety of a sidewalk from Cape Henlopen High School to either Lewes or Route 1. This is true for both Kings Highway and Savannah Road. Current Delaware law allows vehicles to use the shoulder to pass on the right. (Title 21:4117:C) This is a tragedy waiting to happen. As you and I have discussed before, I know you have the utmost concern for student safety.
Zoning, rights of way, and eminent domain are all very complicated and sometimes expensive issues. The statewide cycling community has lobbying groups to capture your attention and garner your support for using tax dollars to pay for leisure trails, which are used mostly in the summer months. Meanwhile, students are left to walk along the shoulder in dangerous conditions on increasingly busy roads in order to get to school.
Many in the community are quick with the retort, “When I was a kid I walked to school in the snow and it was uphill both ways.” While that may be partially true, I’m willing to bet it was on a sidewalk. As a community, can we at least provide a safe passage for children to walk to school, even if they don’t have it when it snows?
I look forward to your reply and hope that it is in the form of an initiative to install sidewalks in the near future.
Wendel Heid
Lewes
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