“Lewes bike panel gets update on DelDOT master plan” is a headline in the Gazette that drew my attention.
Allowing bikes to be ridden over the Savannah Road bridge is a disaster waiting to happen. The bridge is very narrow and has an open grid where it is raised and lowered. Getting rid of the turn lanes will back up traffic to the beach parking lot or state park and will solve nothing as far as the bike situation is concerned.
Bike riders should all be directed to the sidewalk and told to get off their bikes and walk them over the bridge. Then get on their bikes on the other side. Station ambassadors here with power to make bike riders obey.
Teaching Lewes residents through workshops and written material is one thing, but reaching day-trippers and people on vacation for a week is a whole other ball game. Vacationers leave safety brains at home and are here for fun. Check the increase in Beebe emergency room visits in June, July and August to see the increase of accidents. Also, you are dealing with families with children. Some are 8, 10, 12 years old or younger who do not pay attention to bike rules of the road. Ambassadors will do nothing even if they are on every street corner in Lewes because they have no ticket power.
We have a red F-150 double-cab pickup truck. We were in it stopped at the Savannah Road light in the straight-ahead lane and a person on a bike hit our red truck trying to get in front of it to turn on Gills Neck Road. No one was hurt and no damage done, but will that always be the case?
I would also like to suggest putting a traffic light at Cedar Street and Savannah Road. It would be operational June, July, August and September, and go on blinker the rest of the year. This would allow traffic coming off Cedar Street the opportunity to turn left to go over Freeman Highway bridge rather than Savannah Road bridge. Without a light at Cedar and Savannah, you can sit and rot or be backed up to the Children's Beach House trying to make a left turn.
This problem is not going to get better with the announcement of the Black Oak development coming on New Road. This will add an additional 127 homes to the 292 at Tower Hill and 89 town homes at Lewes Waterfront Preserve. What will be done on New Road for bike lanes? The contractor building Black Oak is to improve New Road. Is the improvement just where you turn in to the development?
I hope Lewes powers that be do not wait until someone is killed on a bike before they make improvements for the safety of all. The current proposal does nothing to increase a bike rider's safety.
As a driver, if I hit a biker, whether it is my fault or theirs, I would never be the same after that. I think about that every time I go over Savannah Road bridge.
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