DEWEY BEACH, DE - Road work aimed at upgrading sidewalks and improving pedestrian safety began along Route 1 Monday in Dewey Beach.
Town Manager Bill Zolper told WBOC that the work is part of a larger project that is hoping to keep visitors and locals safer on their streets.
"We get over 20,000 visitors during the summer on the weekends, sometimes 25,000," Zolper said. "Getting them from the West side of Route 1 to the East side of Route 1 where the beach is, is very important for us. We want them to get across safely."
The town manager said the new updates will join previous safety projects, including installing more crosswalk signage and lowering the speed limit in town to 25mph.
This next phase, according to town officials, includes upgrades such as:
- Widening sidewalks and moving telephone polls out of the middle of the sidewalks.
- Upgrading crosswalk signage and lowering crosswalk signage for better visibility, as well as repainting crosswalk lines.
- Smoothing out unused driveways to prevent tripping hazards, and upgrading used driveways to be ADA compliant.
- Extending the "wave" median barrier an extra two blocks in each direction.
Zolper said all of their construction efforts have three goals in mind.
"Increase safety on the sidewalks for our pedestrians, increase safety at the crosswalks for our pedestrians, and slow traffic down," Zolper said.
WBOC spoke with some neighbors about the upcoming changes on Monday, many of which expressed gratitude for the progress.
Neighbor Kim Perry said she hopes the new additions will keep her, and her two dogs, safe in town.
"We certainly don't want any visitors or residents or animals getting hit for being in the streets," Perry said. "It can be really busy here in the summer so it's definitely super important."
Dewey Beach's town manager said the road work is expected to run from December 2nd through the first couple weeks of May.
