Imagine: Bicycling Between Wilmington and Newark

By Karl Hassler –

Can you imagine what it would be like to wake up on a beautiful morning and be able to ride safely from your Newark-area home to your job in Wilmington on a 12 mile bike trail? You get to work and feel like you’ve already had a vacation!  You passed people out for early morning jogs and walks and said “good morning” more times than you can count. Coming into town, the section along the river once again reminded you of the San Antonio River Walk. Can you imagine that especially on days like this, life is good – no, great – because you’ve just made the ordinary, extraordinary. Sure, you saved a few bucks in gas, spared some wear and tear on the car, and you didn’t once feel rushed or frustrated by other drivers. But the real satisfaction you feel is that by the time you hit the job you’ve engaged in stress-relieving physical activity. You’re relaxed, alert and ready for the day: you feel great!

The Newark to Wilmington Pathway is just one of projects proposed by Governor Markell’s First State Trails and Pathways Initiative http://trails.delaware.gov/. The trail would tie together these two major residential and business areas, and in doing so create a regional connector that ties other trail segments together. If you can imagine a future Walkable, Bikeable Delaware, please act now to help make it a reality. This will only happen if the Delaware General Assembly approves the Governor’s request.

Governor Markell noted that democracy requires participation. If the Governor’s proposal to invest in walking and biking funding is important to you, let your your state legislators know. There’s still time for your representatives to let their colleagues on the Joint Committee on Capital Improvement (aka the “Bond Committee”) know how important the Governor’s funding request is – and that it MUST be supported.

Your elected representatives want – and need – to hear from you. Contact your state Senator and Representative and tell them you support the Governor’s proposal.  Ask them to tell their colleagues on the Bond Committee to support the Governor’s funding request for walking and bicycling.  It’s easy! Here’s how:

1)  If you don’t already know, find out which Representative and Senatorial district you are in.

2)  Look up your state representative and senator contact information:  Senators |  Representatives

3)  Send them an email or paper letter. Tell them you support Governor Markell’s proposed funding for walkable, bikeable communities in Delaware.  Include a personal note about how biking and walking have positively impacted your life.  Here is a sample letter (word.doc) you can use, including vital safety statistics. Embellish as you wish. But whatever you do, just let your elected representative know that this is important to you. The vote on the Governor’s proposal will be next week or the week after.

Questions?  Email us at wbd@bikede.org.

(Bike Delaware Note: A bike path connecting the Pomeroy Trail in Newark and the Riverfront in downtown Wilmington would pass through the most densely populated suburban area in the state.  We crunched the numbers, and estimate that over 160,000 Delawareans – 18% of the entire population of the state – would live within two miles of this bike path.)

RELATED:

• Newark Wilmington Pathway

• How do we connect Wilmington and Newark for bicycling?

• “Our kids are trapped in our neighborhood in terms of bike riding.”

• Is it an “off-alignment multi-use path” or is it a “trail”?