Efforts to make Hockessin more walkable and bikeable are taking a major step forward with the completion of Valley Road Pedestrian Pathway.
The five foot wide path runs an eighth of a mile along the four-lane Valley Road connecting Swift Park and Hockessin Village along Lancaster Pike to Tweed’s Park and the Lantana Shopping Center.
State Rep. Deborah Hudson (R-Fairthorne) is among the lawmakers who have constituents that will benefit from the new path for walkers, runners and cyclists.
“Even children from the other side of the [Lancaster] Pike can walk here safely – I think parents would agree. And so that really opens up the community as a walking community, even though this [Valley Road] is a four-lane road. It will be safe," said Hudson at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the pathway Monday morning. "I think it will entice more bikers as well. It was really needed."
New Castle County Councilwoman Janet Kilpatrick adds the new pathway – combined with other paths and sidewalks – means you can easily get around Hockessin without a car.
“What makes a community great to live in is the open space and the walkability and this community far exceeds any other that I can think of within the entire state, much less within New Castle County.
DelDOT says the pathway cost it about $765,000 to build. The majority of that was paid for with money from the federal Transportation Alternatives Program. The remainder came the state and area lawmakers.
Delaware Greenways has worked to get this pathway and others around Hockessin built since the late 1990s, and it isn’t finished in there. It’s looking to create a historical pathway highlighting Hockessin’s connection to to the Beulah v. Gebhart case that was part of the landmark Brown vs. The Board of Education Supreme Court civil rights decision striking down the "separate but equal."
Monday's ribbon cutting also included a nod to Hockessin history. Officials unveiled the new state historical marker for Tweed's Tavern. It's one of three new historical markers being unveiled across the statethis month.
