Rehoboth committee recommends 20 mph speed limit citywide

The Rehoboth Beach Streets & Safety Advisory Committee has recommended reducing the speed limit in the city to 20 mph as a way to improve pedestrian and bike riding safety.

Committee members voted unanimously in favor of the recommendation during a meeting Dec. 11, the committee’s second meeting since being created earlier this year. The vote comes just days after city commissioners approved a project to paint crosswalks at all King Charles Avenue intersections.

Committee members say speeding is an issue all over the city, but most of the discussion focused on State Road, and Henlopen and Columbia avenues.

Columbia gets the most complaints about speeding, but there’s nothing to stop vehicles for a large portion of it, said Commissioner Mark Saunders, who chairs the committee.

There was a speed hump installed on Columbia a few years ago, but it was damaged and removed before the most recent summer season.

Beyond the city’s speed limit, the committee also discussed other traffic-calming measures.

Committee member Collins Roth said he’s in favor of the city pursuing cheap and easy options to reduce vehicular speeds. He recommended crosswalks, yellow lines, boxes painted around driveway entrances and stop signs in as many locations as possible.

Commissioner Chris Galanty attended the meeting. He said when he was running for office this past summer, he heard about vehicular speeding at every campaign gathering. He encouraged the committee to look at low-hanging fruit.

Double yellow lines can have a significant visual impact, said Galanty. It makes drivers think something is happening, and it causes people to slow down, he said.

Enforcement of speeding was brought up as part of the overall improvement needs.

Resident and business owner Frank Cole said he would like to see an increase in enforcement. Give it some time, and the word will get out, he said.

Saunders said stats provided by the city show that more than 50% of the time, drivers get a warning when it comes to speeding. Maybe that should change, he said.

Roth pointed to Ellendale and Greenwood as examples. Everyone knows not to speed through those towns because the police will give tickets, he said.

The committee also spent some time talking about aligning seasonal regulations. For example, the pay-to-park season runs May 15 through Sept. 15, but the prohibition of dogs on the beach and Boardwalk is May 1 to Sept. 30.

Other seasonal regulations discussed include the prohibition of left-hand turns at Rehoboth Avenue intersections, and the closure of the beach from 1 a.m. to daybreak. Committee members talked about how it may be time for year-round enforcement of some of the seasonal rules.

The committee didn’t make any formal recommendations on aligning the calendar. Saunders said if changes are to be made, it seems to make the most sense to align them with the parking season because it would be easier to implement.