Rehoboth commissioners OK plan to extend bike trail

The Rehoboth Beach commissioners have agreed for transportation officials to move forward with plans to extend the Junction Breakwater Trail into the city, but not without dismay that a separate pedestrian/bicycle bridge has not been considered.

Commissioners Kathy McGuiness and Stan Mills led the charge for a new bridge over the canal, with Mills suggesting a pedestrian drawbridge or a swing bridge that would move to enable boat traffic to go through. He said pedestrian swing bridges are prevalent in Europe and could be workable.

“I would support a bridge rerouting through Grove Park for better safety and for better allowance of growth in the future,” Mills said.

McGuiness said she would prefer for the trail to go through Grove Park to allow for future growth. That plan was previously discussed during planning for the extension, but a majority of the commissioners opposed allowing cyclists to ride through the park. On this point, Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth Beach, weighted in after the commissioners’ March 6 meeting, saying there may be other alternatives that could be looked at before spending taxpayer dollars on the proposed  project. Schwartzkopf said he’s gathering more information on possible routes.

At a March 6 commissioners’ meeting, Jon Hermes, engineer for DelDOT, said a separate bridge would be very expensive and would impact Grove Park and the right-of-way on both sides of the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal. Hermes said the bridge would have to be as high as the Route 1 bridge over the canal, or that a drawbridge would be required, which he said would be expensive. He said a separate bridge could be looked at down the road but not at this time.

“We agree, a separate structure bridge would be ideal, but the problem we run into is it’s all private land. We have no access,” Hermes said referring to the canal bank on the west side of the canal.

Anthony Aglio, planning supervisor for DelDOT, said the department would have to purchase land on the western side of the canal for the approach to a separate bridge, but DelDOT has not studied acquisition costs.

DelDOT’s proposal is to extend the trail from Hebron Road to the intersection of Church Street and Rehoboth Avenue Extended. Using the westbound lane, the trail would go against traffic down Rehoboth Avenue Extended across the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal bridge, sharing the sidewalk with pedestrians. DelDOT plans to widen the sidewalk on the westbound side of the bridge and keep bike lanes on both sides. The trail would continue to the circle in the form of a wider sidewalk and connect with Henlopen Avenue leading toward Gordons Pond.

Although design and costs of the project have not been finalized, the project will be jointly funded by the state and federal governments with no city money contributed to the cost. Hermes said the current plan is viewed as a short-term fix that will be useable and functional.

Mills opposed allowing bicycles on city sidewalks. The city has a law against allowing bikes on sidewalks, but DelDOT plans to get around that by calling the sidewalk a trail. Even so, the commissioners will have to change city code to allow bikes on that part of what would otherwise be city sidewalks.

“I think it’s an accident waiting to happen,” Mills said.

Despite their opposition, McGuiness and Mills were outnumbered by Mayor Sam Cooper and commissioners Patrick Gossett, Toni Sharp and Lorraine Zellers, who all agreed to let DelDOT proceed with the plan as proposed.