FENWICK ISLAND – Members of a Fenwick Island committee have agreed to meet with the planning commission chair, the new police chief and other officials to discuss ways for implementing pedestrian safety measures in town.
On Wednesday, members of the Fenwick Island Pedestrian Safety Committee held a discussion on safety issues in town and projects that should be prioritized in the coming months. With the town’s comprehensive planning process nearly complete, Councilman Ed Bishop, committee chair, said officials should start working on ways to implement stated safety goals.
“I think the focus needs to be on the implementation plan,” he said.
Last month, the Fenwick Island Town Council voted to approve a draft comprehensive plan and send it to the state for approval. The planning document outlines issues, goals and recommendations for topics such as community character and development, coastal flooding and safe streets.
In Wednesday’s meeting, Vicki Carmean, committee co-chair, said the committee should start aligning its priorities with the recommendations found in the town’s new comprehensive plan. She recommended the group start working alongside representatives from the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) and the Fenwick Island Police Department on issues such as traffic safety.
“We want to connect not only with the comprehensive plan and DelDOT but also the new police chief to see what he would recommend,” she said.
Bishop agreed, noted the committee should begin working on projects that could be done in the coming months. He said top safety concerns included speeding, intersections and U-turns along Coastal Highway, as well as the lack of crosswalks at certain streets.
“What we want to do is prioritize the most dangerous places to cross Coastal Highway …,” he said. “One goal should be to have a crosswalk at every street.”
Officials agreed that sidewalks should also be prioritized. While the town has recently installed sidewalks along five bayside blocks, DelDOT has included another sidewalk project in its capital transportation plan.
“From a dollars and cents perspective, I can say I’ve seen hundreds of people use the sidewalks we’ve put in …,” Bishop said.
Lastly, the committee agreed to reduce some of the signage along the town’s streets in the coming months.
“We’ll revisit our inventory and talk to public works about cleaning up the signs,” Bishop said.
After further discussion, the committee agreed to schedule another meeting for September, but to invite the new police chief and the chair of the planning commission, which was tasked with developing the comprehensive plan.
“There’s a lot of work involved in this implementation,” Bishop said. “The key is what we can get done.”
