Best of Bike Delaware 2013: This Could Actually Happen In Delaware

2013 Look Back: This article was originally published on September 20, 2013.  It was the 9th most viewed Bike Delaware article of 2013.

A bicycle highway connecting the downtowns of Delaware’s largest and third-largest cities?

A greenway easily accessible (within 2 miles) to 20% of the entire population of Delaware?

It’s not just a crazy, pie-in-the-sky scheme anymore. It’s an actual, official DelDOT Public Workshop on October 1.

How often do we have a chance like this to make where we live a better place? If you live in northern New Castle County – and especially if you live in Wilmington, Newark or the suburban communities in between – this is the kind of opportunity that only comes around very, very rarely. Maybe once in a lifetime.

A lot of people – including Governor Markell – have worked hard to get us to this point. But we’re not talking here about a few thousand bucks for some painted bike lanes. We are talking about a multi-million dollar project to build a bicycle highway / greenway – largely on independent right-of-way (i.e. off-road) – all the way from downtown Wilmington to downtown Newark. That is a big, big project. It won’t just magically happen without intense support from the public, especially from the citizens of Wilmington, Newark and the communities in-between.

Do you live west of Wilmington? Do you want to be able to commute to your job in Wilmington by bike, or bicycle down to the Wilmington Riverfront and see a Blue Rocks game with your kids? Or to hop on an Amtrak train without having to pay for parking?

Do you live east of Newark and work or go to school in Newark? Would you like to be able to bicycle easily in and out of Newark (i.e. not on Kirkwood Highway!)?

Do you live in Wilmington and Newark and want your downtowns to be flourishing destinations easily accessible to commuters and visitors by bicycle?

Do you own a business that would benefit from Delaware becoming a major cycling tourist destination?

What are you doing on October 1 (between 4PM and 7PM)? Do you have some place more important to be?

Public Workshop
Newark-to-Wilmington Trail Study
Wilmington Area Planning Council
850 Library Avenue, Suite 100
Newark
Tuesday
October 1, 2013
4:00 PM to 7:00 PM (show up anytime during these 3 hours!)

  James Wilson is the executive director of Bike Delaware.

RELATED:

• DelDOT Announcement of Public Workshop

• Archive of articles on Newark-to-Wilmington Trail

• How do we connect Wilmington and Newark for bicycling?

• Imagine: Bicycling Between Wilmington and Newark

• See the World-Class Statewide Network of Pathways and Trails DelDOT and DNREC Propose to Build

• Delaware General Assembly Votes $13.25 Million for Walking and Bicycling