REHOBOTH BEACH, DE -- City commissioners have signed off on several recommendations to improve pedestrian safety and parking throughout town, based on recommendations from a preliminary traffic and parking study.
In a special meeting on January 9, civil engineers and planners with Rossi Group presented several "immediate focus" recommendations to commissioners based on its preliminary traffic and parking study report made to commissioners last month.
Among the recommendations on which the city will move forward before the coming summer season are a pedestrian pilot program on King Charles Avenue, more clearly identifying 30-minute parking spaces, installation of “Walk Your Wheels” markings on sidewalks, and installation of additional “yield to pedestrians” signage.
Changes on King Charles Avenue include the installation of curb bump outs at New Castle Street, temporary crosswalks near Stockley Street, and relief medians in the middle of the avenue. The alterations are aimed at increasing pedestrian visibility and ensuring safer crossing experiences.
"People are always crossing to go to the beach," says Kelley Weiss who walks the area frequently. "They're loaded down with everything. So they're focused on that, but you have drivers, so any way that you can be visible either way is a good thing."
Longtime resident Kevin Brady remains skeptical, suggesting that pedestrians exercising caution while crossing the street may be sufficient to ensure safety.
"When crossing the street here, if you look both ways and you can't get all the way across and you get halfway and stop in the middle, people are careful of you," says Brady. "They're not zooming down the street by any means."
In addition to the modifications on King Charles Avenue, the city plans to introduce marked parallel spaces between Stockley and New Castle Streets. Downtown, initiatives include the installation of "State Law - Yield to Pedestrian" signs on Rehoboth Avenue, "Walk Your Wheels" markings on sidewalks, and the addition of a 30-minute parking stencil to designated spaces to help drivers identify the spots.
Rob Smith, expects these changes to be helpful, but he points out a larger issue that the city should address - the need for more parking spaces.
"They really need more spaces for people," says Smith. "There just isn't enough. People drive in and leave."
Kevin Williams, the city's Director of Public works says commissioners and engineers will discuss some "longer term" solutions, like additional parking, in the summer and fall.
Commissioners also have discussed several additional potential changes to parking in Rehoboth Beach for the coming season and are expected to vote on these items at upcoming meetings. Among these potential changes are:
- Transition parking at Deauville Beach to a metered parking zone and set the price at $3/hour to match current pricing for the rest of the city. Parking permits would no longer be accepted at Deauville Beach. “This change,” says Miller, “provides for a more efficient system that allows us to utilize the technology we’ve invested in. It will allow us to enforce parking in the same manner that we do in other areas of the city.”
- Eliminate the need for those seeking a scooter parking permit to complete an application.
- Provide a single daily parking permit rather than a different permit for weekdays and weekends. The cost of this permit for 2024 is proposed to be $20.
- Add the current prohibition of parking on the median along Scarborough Avenue to the city’s code and consider making the area a tow zone.
- Increase the fine amount for parallel parking violations from $15 to $50.
- Authorize a one-time adjustment to certain overtime parking violations, when wrong license plate or vehicle information has been entered, from $30 to $15 if paid within a seven-day period.
Commissioners also anticipate undertaking this year a comprehensive review of parking season dates and rates once the traffic and parking study is completed and in preparation for the 2025 summer season.