If you visit the Delaware beaches this summer, you can look forward to more places to walk and ride your bike. Work just got underway on a trail extension that will connect the City of Rehoboth to the scenic Junction and Breakwater Trail network.
The existing trail follows a section of the former Penn Central railroad between Lewes and Rehoboth Beach. Right now, it splits in two places and terminates onto existing streets without providing a dedicated off-road route into the City of Rehoboth.
The Delaware Department of Transportation (DeltDOT) started construction Monday on the new bicycle connection. The $513,000 project includes a 10-foot-wide asphalt trail through private property from Canal Street to Rehoboth Avenue, and a two-way buffered bike lane along Rehoboth Avenue within the city. The project also adds site amenities.
The Junction and Breakwater Trail is a multi-use trail, made up of about five miles of crushed stone surface. It’s suitable for hikers, bikers, and strollers and is accessible from designated trailheads. According to Visit Delaware, you’ll pass through mature hardwood and conifer forests and open fields, and “scenic vistas of coastal marshes at the Wolfe Glade and Holland Glade crossings.” Interpretive signs highlight the plant and animal life found along the trail.
The work to connect the city with the bike trail is expected to be completed before Memorial Day, DelDOT says.
–Meg Walburn Viviano
