At the beach: Battle over bikes

Earlier this week, Rehoboth Beach Police Chief Keith Banks saw a guy flying down the boardwalk on his bike.

The man wasn't breaking the law. It was between sunrise and 10 a.m., when cyclists are permitted on the mile-long stretch that parallels the ocean and beach. Nor is there a posted speed limit for bikes.

Still, Banks said he waved the guy over.

"You need to slow down," Banks told him. "The boardwalk is for really slow speeds."

The city, at one-square mile, has always been popular with cyclists and pedestrians. But in the last decade, the number of bikes -- used by everyone from in-city residents to folks riding to the beach from the many subdivisions on the west side of Del. 1 to workers and serious cyclists -- has grown. Along with it has come conflict as the city struggles to balance the multiple uses of its streets.

Between 2009 and 2011, there were 69 pedestrian, bike and moped accidents reported in the city. There were far more accidents involving cars: 561, during the same time period.

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These days, Rehoboth is both destination and pass-through point on two of the state's most popular multi-use trails. Each year, more than 52,000 people use the Gordons Pond and Junction and Breakwater trails that connect Lewes and Rehoboth. The trails make the two cities major cycling destinations and provide a new and popular amenity for long-time visitors like Glenn and Sally Mole, of Pittsburgh.

"We've been coming here for 30-some years," Glenn Mole said as he took a break from cycling on the boardwalk. "I like it a lot. The streets aren't crowded. . . and it's nice to ride on the boardwalk."

Lewes has embraced its role as a bicycle hip city. Rehoboth has suffered more discomfort.

Long-time cyclist Mike Tyler, who has headed the Lewes Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee for years, said the main difference between the approach of the two resort cities is that "they don't have an advocate" for bicycles in Rehoboth Beach. "There's nobody really standing up saying this will help up."

Lewes is more spread out, with multiple tourism anchors including Cape Henlopen State Park, the Ferry, the beach and the historic downtown area. Each of these places are destinations. Rehoboth, on the other hand, has world-class restaurants, shopping, the beach and the boardwalk -- all packed into one square mile.

Six years ago, Rehoboth's Planning Commission, while working on a new comprehensive Land Use Plan to guide growth, recognized that Rehoboth was near its car capacity.

“Streets are the most prominent and prevalent public space next to our beach, and making them more pedestrian-friendly is the closest thing we have to a silver bullet for improvement. A walkable downtown Rehoboth and pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods will quickly become magnets for enhanced public life and economic expansion that will enrich our community in several ways.”

While planners recognized future growth was dependent on alternative ways to get people into the city and moving about while they were there, Rehoboth depends on cars. The largest single revenue line item in the city's annual budget comes from parking -- meters, permits and fines.

During that land use planning process, the city hired Green Delaware to do a bike and pedestrian safety plan.

The group found that 74 percent of people in Rehoboth during the summer are either visitors or part-time residents. Almost everyone arrived by car but once in the city, they either walked or biked everywhere.

The plan pointed to key issues in the city's street infrastructure. That included the angled parking on Rehoboth Avenue, which creates visibility problems as drivers back out into the lane shared by cars and cyclists. Other points were visibility issues at the city's gateway roundabout and narrow streets where cars parked on both sides creating a narrow lane for cars and bikes.

Columbia Avenue, for instance, is a narrow road that gets narrower when cars are parked on both sides, Add to that it is flat and straight and speed becomes an issue, the report found.

The city seemed headed toward a bicycle-friendly path where riders, cars and pedestrians could co-exist. The comprehensive plan even recommended a restroom facility be built at Deauville Beach on the route cyclists take into the city from the Gordons Pond Trail.

But it stalled.

Two summers ago, city officials considered banning bikes on the boardwalk and then backed off. In some residential neighborhoods, especially in the north end where the Gordons Pond trail deposits cyclists, there are complaints that bikes sometimes fracture the quiet of The Pines. Others say cyclists have been known to make their own rest stop behind a tree.

Pat Coluzzi served six years on the city commission and chaired a committee looking into the issue.

"Am I disappointed about how things are moving? Yes, I am," she said.

Coluzzi said it is important to make the town bicyclist-friendly.

"It's getting better," she said.

Rehoboth officials concede they never anticipated the popularity of the two trails or that bikes would become the new way visitors and residents move through and around Lewes and Rehoboth.

"We are behind," Banks said. Some of the safety issues city officials are now dealing with "should have been worked out ahead of time."

Former City Commissioner Bill Sargent said he sees more and more bikes in the city.

"And that's good. It relieves traffic," he said.

Sargent said the biggest complaints he's heard have been from people in residential areas who don't want their streets to become thoroughfares for the high speed cyclists who are just passing through.

There are complaints these serious riders speed through, frighten motorists and fail to obey stop signs. Sometimes they ride two or three or even four abreast along residential streets.

At the western edge of the city -- where cars flow in and out along Rehoboth Avenue -- there are concerns about how to safely get cyclists into the city from Del. 1 or from the Junction & Breakwater Trail.

Specifically, city and state officials are working toward a safe route that gets cyclists across the Rehoboth Avenue drawbridge and avoids the busy round-a-bout.

Another concern was resolved in time for this summer season. When people arrived in Rehoboth Beach, either off the two trails or as visitors, they didn't know where to go. With the help of state environmental officials, there are now signs to help people navigate.

"We've just completed a bike friendly map that shows how to get into Rehoboth," said Jim Ellison, who serves on the city's Streets and Transportation Committee. "It's intended for families."

The idea is to try to get them on safer streets, he said.

"Rehoboth is not particularly bike friendly," he said.

Delaware ranks third in the country as a Bicycle Friendly State according to the League of American Bicyclists. Two municipalities in Delaware -- Newark and Lewes -- are bicycle friendly communities.

Each of the two cities have active cycling committees and advocates who push for bicycle-friendly approaches to streets and planning, he said.

"It's not a coincidence," said James Wilson, executive director of Bike Delaware.

Reach Molly Murray at (302) 463-3334 or mmurray@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @MollyMurraytnj.