Flashing beacons coming for controversial crosswalk

The state’s transportation department recently announced pedestrian improvements for a dangerous stretch of Camp Arrowhead Road. 

Less than 24 hours after that announcement, on May 22, more than two dozen people who live off Camp Arrowhead Road gathered to protest the improvements as tone deaf, a waste of money and not in the best interests of pedestrian and bicycle safety.

For months, in the form of letters to the editor and contact with local officials, the protestors have voiced their disapproval of a crosswalk near an S-turn that connects two sections of Marsh Farm Estates, a still-under-development community roughly a mile from Route 24. The protest had been scheduled for weeks. Delaware Department of Transportation’s announcement of a rectangular rapid flashing beacon system at the crosswalk the day before the gathering only added to the protestors’ disapproval. 

Protestor Keith Steck said there are still serious safety concerns with the crosswalk and now, making things worse, the state is spending taxpayer money on improvements for a private sidewalk.

“It makes no sense,” said Steck, holding a sign with a big green checkmark next to a pedestrian bridge and a big red X next to a crosswalk. “Why is the public involved in a private project?”

Currently there is no crosswalk, just two ends of a sidewalk that dead-ends onto the road. It’s only gone because the roadway was recently paved, said Steck. In an email May 25, DelDOT spokeswoman Louise Holt said preventative repaving had been done recently and the crosswalk will be restriped.

There’s a second crosswalk for the community about 100 yard to the west, toward Route 24. 

Holding a sign that read, “Danger Zone,” Dorothy Skrincosky said neither crosswalk is good.

“That one’s bad,” she said, turning to the crosswalk up the road. “This one is much worse.”

Judy Kane lives in a community off Camp Arrowhead Road. She helped organize the protest. In an email the morning of the protest, Kane called the flashing beacons tone deaf on DelDOT’s part. Keeping pressure on will hopefully force the county to think before approving these dangerous crosswalks over public roads that serve only private interests, she said. 

“It may be the end of it for DelDOT, but not for us. We think DelDOT will eventually regret it, hopefully not due to a lost life,” said Kane. “You have to see the crosswalk to get a real appreciation of how dangerous it is.”

Standing on the north side of the crosswalk were Debi Lowe, P.J. Smith and Jody Hartzell, who live in West Bay, a community toward the Burton Point end of Camp Arrowhead Road.

“We’re the ones who are going to kill these people in the crosswalk,” said Lowe, garnering a that’s-sad-but-true laugh from Smith and Hartzell.

Daytime lane closures on Camp Arrowhead Road for flashing beacons

As part of installing the beacons, DelDOT said motorists using Camp Arrowhead Road should expect daytime intermittent lane closures. Flaggers will be present to direct drivers.

Pending weather, work is slated for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., weekdays, from Tuesday, May 25, to Thursday, June 19. On Fridays, work will be 9 a.m. to noon. In observance of Memorial Day weekend, there will be no work from noon, Friday, May 28, through Monday, May 31.

According to the press release, the beacon is intended to alert motorists of pedestrians and cyclists who are trying to cross the roadway using the crosswalk that connects nearby communities. For more information, contact Kathryn Beasley, DelDOT community relations officer, at 302-760-2075 or Kathryn.Beasley@delaware.gov.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with a comment from DelDOT saying the crosswalk will be repainted.