Summer is here

Whether it was humidity in the air or traffic on Route 1, anyone who was outdoors over the weekend can attest summer is here.

Summer brings long days on the beaches and a parade of visitors, the people who fuel our tourist industry and keep our Cape Region businesses humming.

Our beach towns were ready: state transportation crews finished work on the Indian River Inlet bridge just in time, and fresh sand has replenished the beaches. Our farmers markets in Lewes, Rehoboth Beach and Milton are brimming with fresh local produce, attracting record crowds.

Traffic was moving, if slowly. State officials insist major traffic problems come primarily on July Fourth, but busy holiday weekends give planners a glimpse of the future – and what’s ahead is clear. Faster, more convenient public transportation is a key to Cape Region growth.

Route 1 is now built out; easing congestion means finding ways to travel that do not require a car. Bicycles are already available at the ferry terminal, and a new water taxi is carrying passengers between Lewes and Dewey Beach. Plans are also under way to complete a 25-mile loop trail for cyclists and pedestrians from Lewes to Rehoboth and to connect that trail with a new rail trail to Georgetown.

These are laudable efforts that must be pursued and improving traffic lanes for cyclists should remain a high priority. Still, going forward, it will take more than bicycle routes to manage Route 1 traffic.

Major hubs must be established outside the Cape Region – possibly as far away as the bay bridge or Baltimore – so people could leave their cars and arrive by convenient, rapid-transit buses or vans, similar to the existing DART Beach Connection buses from Wilmington.

Plans must include convenient ways to deliver baggage, improved van service from the towns to the outlets and grocery stores, and better public bicycle access, so people would have non-automobile ways to move around once they arrive here.

The day when all of this will seem normal has not yet arrived. But the traffic has, and there’s nothing like Memorial Day to remind us it’s here.