REHOBOTH BEACH, De. -- Rehoboth Beach has hired an engineering firm to conduct a traffic study this summer. It will examine traffic flow, parking, emergency vehicle access and current parking policies.
The hope is the study comes back with improvement suggestions. Citywide speed reductions, traffic capacity and traffic flow enhancements, improvements to intersections, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, alternate modes of transportation and additional parking options were those listed by the city.
Even on an overcast day in April, parking spots in Rehoboth were few and far between. Once summer hits, businesses in downtown said it's a whole different challenge.
"If you want to park get here early, like 6:00 a.m.," said Jenn Stone.
Stone is a manager at The Coffee House, a shop right in the heart of downtown Rehoboth. While she was chuckling a bit as she advised drivers to show up before dawn, Stone said there are some real problems with parking and traffic.
"A lot of the streets just aren't wide enough, people will double park behind cars with their flashers on, makes it really hard to get around them," said Stone. "It makes it really difficult for the delivery drivers to get down and around with trucks to get to the businesses they need to get to."
One delivery driver who agrees is Carl Miles.
"I mean, if the streets was a little bigger that would be easier," said Miles.
The parking issues were enough to drive Nicola Pizza, a staple in downtown Rehoboth for 51 years, to relocate off Coastal Highway.
"It’s very difficult for your customers, they ride around and ride around to find a parking place and they just can’t find it, that’s the biggest reason we left," said Nick Caggiano.
Caggiano, the owner of Nicola Pizza, said the price of parking downtown was also a reason for the restaurants relocation. He said he felt the $3 an hour charged at downtown meters was too much.
"Rehoboth is a family oriented town, and it makes it very difficult once it’s $3 an hour for parking," said Caggiano.
For many of these reasons, businesses in Rehoboth are hoping the study leads to improvements.
"I hope so, because it’s been getting worse, it’s not getting any better and the more people that come here it’s just gonna get exacerbated," said Stone.
The study being done this summer will take into account previous studies done by the city, and the end goal is to get a set of improvement options that can be implemented over time.
