Rehoboth residents react to 20 mph city-wide recommendation
Rehoboth Beach, Del. – Rehoboth Beach’s new City Streets and Safety Advisory Committee voted unanimously in favor of a recommendation during a meeting on Dec. 11 to lower the city-wide speed limit from 25 mph to 20.
“One of their initial recommendations was to look at lowering the speed limit to 20mph throughout town, because we have so many pedestrians, people on bikes, and it gets so packed during the summer,” Rehoboth Beach City Manager Taylour Tedder said.
Tedder said the committee has held off on making a formal recommendation to the Board of Commissioners, because the city will be meeting with the State Of Delaware Department Of Transportation in mid-January to discuss funding for some streets and the implications of the recommendations. Once the city meets with the department of transportation, Tedder said the city will begin talks with the police chief and the committee itself, then they’ll make an educated decision on whether they want to bring this recommendation formally to the board of commissioners.
“It’s a new committee and it just gained a lot of attention once it went out publicly,” Rehoboth Beach Communications Manager Brooke Thaler said. “People were definitely intrigued by the idea of lowering the speed limit all over the city of Rehoboth Beach. So it’s just people are really paying attention and curious about what will happen.”
Some residents and longtime Rehoboth Beach visitors think lowering the speed limit will help improve safety.
“I think it would be great for safety,” Fernanda Groff told WMDT. “I think with all the people that are crossing the streets all the time in and out of the parked cars. It would be a good thing for the town.”
Nolan Kerstetter, a Lewes resident and longtime visitor of Rehoboth, said that he approves of the measure because of traffic accidents that happen with pedestrians and cars. He said one of his friends was involved in a incident over the summer, and that the busy summer season could see a benefit from reduced speeds.
“Maybe towards the entrance near the roundabout, I think 25 could be fair to stay, but I think 20 around here would be smart,” he said.
Others expressed doubts on whether the measure was truly necessary and how it would be carried out.
“I ride my bike around here a lot, and I haven’t had many issues with speeding cars,” Lewes resident Jonathan Stack said. “On Rehoboth Avenue I can see I could see it being 25, maybe on the side streets where the houses are it could be 20. But I think it’s fine where it is at now.”
Julia Bachman she is from New Jersey but said she visits her grandparents often, who are Rehoboth residents. She said that pedestrians would probably appreciate the new speeds, though she said she wasn’t sure how they would be enforced.
“I think a lot of the pedestrians would really appreciate it, especially since Rehoboth Ave is such a walking on the street,” Bachman said. “However, I would wonder about people just not following it, honestly.”
Tedder said there will be lots of opportunities for the city to hear public feedback if it proceeds with the recommendations.
