FENWICK ISLAND – Fenwick Island officials gathered around the table last Friday to reinstate conversations on constructing a continuous sidewalk system along the resort’s main corridor, but delayed any further discussions on who would foot the bill and how the project would be tackled until the town could meet with officials from the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT).
In a Sidewalk Committee meeting last week, members revisited a long-lived discussion on the proposed sidewalks after Councilwoman Vicki Carmean called on town officials to jumpstart a steering committee that would take action on the issue.
On Friday, Town Manager Terry Tieman presented committee members of the newly formed group with several related studies that were conducted in Fenwick Island in years past, including a DelDOT pedestrian plan from 2002 and a commissioned landmark engineering study on sidewalks from 2011.
Tieman said she relayed the town’s proposed plans to construct a sidewalk system to state officials, who thought the project should be done in phases.
“We probably want to do the areas that are affected most where you would have the biggest impact on safety,” she said. “DelDOT can probably work with the police department to decide where those areas will be.”
Though she took no issue with the possibility of conducting the project in phases, Carmean suggested the focus should be directed at the town’s commercial district.
“I went through the different blocks and just about half of the town has some sort of sidewalk,” she said. “They may not be ADA compliant sidewalks, but at least they’re sidewalks. What breaks my heart is when I come up here during the summer season … we’ve got little kids with training wheels on their bicycles and mothers pulling wagons. It’s an accident waiting to happen.”
Councilman Richard Mais asked Tieman if the state would help fund the sidewalks.
“Is the state suggesting that they might be able to help us?” he said.
Tieman said she believed the project to be DelDOT’s responsibility because sidewalks would be placed along DelDOT right-of-way. She suggested inviting a representative from the state department to Fenwick to discuss what needs to be done.
Mais added that the town at one point was on track to receive $1.2 million from the state for sidewalks, but never received the funds.
Carmean said the issue was similar to beach replenishment funds.
“Everybody gets it and then they head south and there aren’t a lot of people in this area so we aren’t a priority … We’re the forgotten mile,” Carmean said.
Tieman explained that the town had already spent $64,000 on the 2011 study and concluded that more than $505,000 would be needed to construct the sidewalks.
“That was done six years ago,” Tieman said, “so I’m sure it’s more.”
Carmean stressed that the town should reach out to DelDOT for financial support.
“We need to push it,” she said.
In closing, the committee created an action plan to reach out to DelDOT representatives and schedule a meeting that will address how large the project would be and who would ultimately be responsible for constructing the sidewalks.
Committee members said the town could rely on certain grants and taxes to fund the sidewalks if the state failed to support the project.
“We need to be prepared to pay for it ourselves,” Mais said.
