Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, “the nation’s summer capital”, is an oceanside town whose population swells with tourists during the summer months. JMT worked with the City and the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) to plan, design, and monitor construction of infrastructure improvements to the City’s main street, Rehoboth Avenue (Route 1A), over a several-year period.
The project goals included:
reorienting the public right-of-way to encourage pedestrians/bicycles
implementing safer vehicular travel and more efficient parking solutions
creating a sense of place using gateway and streetscape elements
relocating existing utilities underground.
Early on, JMT implemented a strategy founded on two vital considerations: impact businesses as minimally as possible, and encourage residents and business owners to help shape the vision for the corridor. This involved a significant public outreach program including:
Development of concept designs with input from the City and DelDOT officials and the City’s aesthetics committee.
More than twenty public meetings were held to present design concepts to the community and to receive feedback. To avoid adverse effects to area businesses during the busy summer months, JMT split the project into three discrete construction phases, each restricted to the period between October and May.
During all construction activities, pedestrian and vehicular access were to be provided to the many businesses and residents.
Phase I became a fast-track assignment. JMT had just six months to complete all documents, permits, and right-of-way plans for improvements to vehicular, pedestrian and bicycle movements, reconfiguration of on-street parking, roadway and pedestrian lighting, streetscape elements and enhanced landscape installations while undergrounding utilities. JMT developed a detailed sequence for construction to meet the time constraints.
Phase II included the section of roadway considered as the gateway into the City. The centerpiece of the improvements was a new roundabout, complete with a replica of the former Cape Henlopen Lighthouse in its center.
Phase III focused on the two blocks of the Avenue closest to the Boardwalk and beach. This section included a new bandshell and other community improvements in addition to roadway and utility upgrades.
This multi-phase project transformed Rehoboth Beach through a combination of civil engineering reconstruction and transportation safety improvements that gave strong consideration to pedestrians and bicyclists as well as to aesthetics.
