There is no shortage of bike trails in Delaware. And one between Rehoboth Beach and Lewes is the latest to be completed.
The Junction and Breakwater Pathway Extension into the City of Rehoboth was recently completed.
The 14-mile Junction and Breakwater Trail runs from Lewes to Rehoboth allowing Delawareans to ride a bike safely between the two without having to drive.
Bike Delaware executive director James Wilson explains why this latest piece of the trail makes a difference.
What’s great about this recent improvement is that now it just doesn’t abandon you before you get into Rehoboth," said Wilson. "There’s actually infrastructure that if you’re riding the Junction Breakwater Trail with your kids, it doesn't just drop you out and say good luck to get into downtown Rehoboth. There’s actually infrastructure that brings you safely into downtown Rehoboth.”
This portion of the trail from Canal Crossing Road to Rehoboth Avenue took six years to complete at a cost of $513,000.
It’s a 10-foot-wide asphalt trail with a two-way buffered bike lane along Rehoboth Avenue to Grove Park, which Wilson says works perfectly when people are walking or running on the trail - they don’t have to get out of the way for the bicyclists.
Wilson says over the last five to seven years DelDOT has made a significant commitment to creating these low-traffic stress networks for bicyclists.
And he foresees other major bike projects coming.
“Up in New Castle County, The Markell Trail is kind of the equivalent trail to the Lewes-Georgetown Trail and there are multiple projects at various stages to have that trail - again - just like the one in Rehoboth - connected into downtown Wilmington. Because right now it kind of dumps you out on the south side of the downtown,” Wilson said.
Wilson says currently the area around the Amtrak Station and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd are not set up for safe bicycling.
He notes the Markell Trail could also eventually be connected into Newport along the Christina River.
Wilson says the major obstacle to creating new trails is the limited amount of funding for new projects.
