By Kyle Clevenger, P.E., PTOE, Senior Project Engineer with Whitman, Requardt & Associates, LLP
“Dewey Beach: A Way of Life.” The unofficial but well-known slogan perfectly sums up the vibe in Dewey Beach. Known for its small town, laid-back atmosphere, easy access to the beach and the bay, and numerous restaurants, drinking establishments, and retailers, it’s easy to understand why both young and old flock to the popular beach town in the summer. Although Dewey Beach is a true summer paradise, there is room for improvement, namely in pedestrian mobility and safety. When Dewey Beach is buzzing and the throngs of visitors are making their way along the main drag of SR 1, there is simply not enough room within the right-of-way to comfortably accommodate the number of pedestrians, bicyclists, mopeds, vehicular traffic, truck deliveries, and skimboarders crossing to and from the beach.
The need for pedestrian safety improvements throughout the town was apparent, and the Town and DelDOT have been brainstorming for decades on how to incorporate these improvements within a reasonable budget and scope. In 2012 and 2013, Delaware had the highest pedestrian fatality rate per capita in the United States, including five fatalities along the SR 1 corridor from the Nassau Bridge north of Lewes to the southern limits of Dewey Beach. In July 2013, legislators worked with DelDOT to help create the Route 1 Pedestrian Safety Task Force to review pedestrian safety and infrastructure needs along the corridor. In accordance with the Task Force recommendations (see published report here), DelDOT completed construction in spring 2016 on a 4.7-mile pedestrian safety improvement project along SR 1 from Five Points to the Rehoboth
Canal. In August 2018, the Town of Dewey Beach published a new Comprehensive Development Plan, which recognizes the importance of safe and efficient pedestrian circulation. In April 2019, DelDOT completed a Pedestrian Access Routes (PAR) Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Assessment along SR 1 through the town limits, which identified ADA deficiencies and evaluated conceptual improvements to improve multimodal safety and connectivity along SR 1 (see published report here) . Following the pedestrian safety study, a new capital project was established in DelDOT’s FY21-26 Capital Transportation Program which will allocate nearly $9 million for extensive pedestrian improvements in Dewey Beach. The project is currently programmed for design funding in FY25, with construction anticipated in FY27 and/or FY28. In addition to these long-term planning and study efforts, the Town of Dewey Beach Police Department, with help from various local establishments and the Delaware State Police, has implemented temporary safety measures and targeted enforcement efforts during past summers to promote the use of marked crosswalks, provide extra sidewalk area by blocking off the shoulder with temporary barricades for pedestrian use, and consolidating pick-up/drop-off points for Uber, Lyft, and taxi drivers.
Luckily for the Town of Dewey Beach and the adjacent unincorporated area from the Rehoboth Canal bridge to the northern Dewey Beach town limits, the roadway pavement was in rough shape from years of traffic and fun and were flagged by DelDOT for a two-stage pavement rehabilitation project. DelDOT and the Town of Dewey Beach knew they had a golden opportunity to take advantage of the upcoming rehabilitation project as a mechanism to implement some of the sorely needed pedestrian safety improvement recommendations from prior accessibility and safety studies. DelDOT’s PAR program was established in 2016 and works closely with the Pavement Management section to implement ADA upgrades in conjunction with paving projects to streamline efforts and minimize disturbance to the traveling public. These tandem projects typically involve in-kind replacement of existing sidewalk facilities to meet ADA standards – but the Dewey Beach project was a totally new challenge given the extensive nature of the pedestrian accessibility and safety study recommendations and the tight timeline to design and construct the improvements.
The portion of SR 1 from the Rehoboth Canal bridge to the northern Dewey Beach town limits began construction during the fall of 2018 – one year in advance of the Dewey Beach portion. This portion included upgrades to the four existing uncontrolled pedestrian crosswalks with rectangular rapid flashing beacon (RRFB) pedestrian crossing systems and installed two new crosswalks, also with RRFB systems. RRFBs are a relatively new technology that utilize pedestrian-actuated pushbuttons to activate rapid flashing yellow beacons to enhance pedestrian conspicuity at uncontrolled crosswalks. RRFBs have been granted interim approval by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and are recognized for their significant safety and cost benefits, as they achieve “high rates of driver yielding compliance at a low relative cost in comparison to other more restrictive devices that provide comparable results, such as full midblock signalization or pedestrian hybrid beacons.” DelDOT has experienced similar compliance improvements with RRFBs and have now installed over 30 RRFB systems throughout the state (learn more about RRFBs in Delaware here).
The SR 1 Dewey Beach PAR ADA Assessment was finalized in the spring of 2019, just as the first stage of construction to the north was wrapping up and the contractors were shutting down for the summer season. Dewey Beach was on deck with construction scheduled to begin in September 2019. DelDOT and the Town of Dewey Beach realized they had to quickly sharpen their pencils to design and incorporate the pedestrian upgrades into the project scope, conduct public outreach, and obtain approval from FHWA for the add-on work. The major component of the pedestrian safety study recommendations includes curb bumpouts at each intersection throughout town to provide adequate space for pedestrians waiting to cross at these critical conflict points, eliminate non-ADA-compliant pinch points due to utility poles and other obstructions, and to serve as a traffic calming measure. DelDOT and the Town also agreed to carry the RRFBs south through the town limits, with an RRFB system proposed at each of the seven existing uncontrolled crosswalks. Other project elements
included ADA pedestrian upgrades for four existing signalized intersections, complete with new crosswalks and pedestrian signals for the side-street crossings, and installation of two-stage bicycle turn queue boxes – the first ever in Delaware. Two-stage bicycle turn queue boxes offer cyclists a safe option to make left turns at multi-lane signalized intersections from a right-side bike lane, rather than crossing two lanes of through traffic to access the left-turn lane. The two-stage turn queue boxes contain specialized in-pavement loop detectors which detect the presence of bicycles and trigger the traffic signal to change from green to red along SR 1, thereby allowing cyclists to make a left turn across SR 1. FHWA granted interim approval for the use of two-stage bicycle turn boxes in 2017 after several experimental sites were studied and deemed successful throughout the country. Through coordination with DelDOT Planning, DelDOT Traffic and the Town, Dewey Beach was selected as Delaware’s first pilot location for two-stage bicycle turn boxes, largely because of the cycling demographic which is comprised mostly of recreational cyclists and families who may be uncomfortable making a left-hand turn from the left-turn lane.
DelDOT requested and obtained approval from FHWA to incorporate the additional pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements to the ongoing pavement rehabilitation contract, citing the efficiencies and cost savings that would be realized as justification, not to mention the importance of getting these improvements constructed as soon as possible rather than kicking the proverbial can down the road for the next project to handle. DelDOT’s design consultant, Whitman Requardt & Associates (WRA), in conjunction with DelDOT Construction and DelDOT Traffic staff, presented the improvements at a Dewey Beach Town Commissioner’s meeting and received overwhelming positive feedback on the proposed improvements. What then transpired over the summer of 2019 was a collaborative and unique approach between DelDOT, WRA, the Town of Dewey Beach, and the state’s contractor, George & Lynch (and subcontractors Sam’s Construction and Kriss Contracting), to implement the add-on curb bumpouts, RRFBs, ADA signal improvements, and bike turning boxes via a design-build type of delivery process. The curb bumpouts and new pedestrian crossing equipment resulted in several design challenges, such as drainage system modifications, coordination with property owners, and installation of porous pavement in the SR 1 shoulder to mitigate historically troublesome drainage areas. The Center for Inland Bays was also involved in the design process, as the state’s contractor was utilized to construct a pilot stormwater management facility at the SR 1 and Read Avenue intersection via cost-sharing between the State and the Center for Inland Bays. Thanks to the teamwork and cooperation of all involved parties, the SR 1 pavement rehabilitation project that originated as a simple pavement resurfacing project resulted in the following add-on improvements:
- Installation of 31 curb bumpouts at 11 intersections throughout the Town
- Installation of 13 new RRFB pedestrian crossing systems (5 along the unincorporated area and 8 in the Town of Dewey Beach)
- Installation of 10 two-stage bicycle turn boxes at 5 existing signalized intersections
- ADA pedestrian upgrades at 7 existing traffic signals
Next up for the Town of Dewey Beach is a pilot program to implement a pedestrian barrier in the median of SR 1, with the goal of funneling pedestrians to the marked crosswalks and deterring dangerous mid-block crossings. DelDOT Traffic and the Town of Dewey Beach are contributing funds to install a nautical-themed post and rope barrier along the SR 1 median with supplemental landscaping that will not only beautify the median, but encourage the use of the new RRFBs and signalized crosswalks so that the safety benefits of the new devices are fully realized. The median barrier will be focused on the segment of SR 1 between Saulsbury Street and Read Avenue to capture the area of historical pedestrian and bicycle crash clusters. This project is currently in the preliminary design phase and construction is scheduled for winter/spring 2021-2022 with completion before May 2022. The longer-term CTP project is still on the books for the Town, which may extend the median barrier (depending on the effectiveness and feedback of the pilot project), install additional curb bumpouts, and implement more extensive ADA improvements such as reconstruction of commercial and driveway entrances, widening sidewalks, and exploring the possibility of burying aerial utilities to remove utility poles and other obstructions. Thanks to the efficient and collaborative efforts of the recent pavement and rehabilitation project, the scope and budget for the future CTP project should be less than originally anticipated, which will allow DelDOT to spread those funds out to other statewide, high-priority improvements.
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