Pedaling to Work

Acting DelDOT Secretary, Newark Mayor and UD Provost recognize National Bike to Work Day

Newark -- "As I stand here on this beautiful campus, on this lovely spring morning, I want to repeat my message. DelDOT is committed to continuing our efforts to make Delaware more bicycle friendly," said Cleon Cauley, Sr., acting secretary of the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT), in a speech given Friday, May 21, at the Trabant Center on the University of Delaware Newark campus.

Cauley was joined by Newark Mayor Vance Funk and University of Delaware Provost Tom Apple. The event celebrated National Bike to Work Day, an event designed to demonstrate that bicycling to work is a feasible option for many Americans. The Newark event was organized by the Newark Bicycle Committee, a partnership of interested cyclists and agencies working to improve bicycling in Newark. The City of Wilmington held an event Friday morning at the Bike Boutique in downtown Wilmington.

Cauley explained why alternative transportation is an important aspect of Delaware's transportation system. "First, we do it to save lives," Cauley said. "Last year, there were 158 car/bicycle accidents, 90 of which were in New Castle County. Three of those crashes were fatal. Twenty-one percent of those crashes involved children younger than 15 years old. Ninety-six percent of bike-car accidents result in an injury. Like most of you, I find those numbers unacceptable. We must provide better facilities for bikes, and we must have fewer people getting killed.

"We must also recognize that in the coming years, our transportation needs will change. As fuel prices continue to rise, more people will park their cars. They will walk, ride their bikes or ride a bus. We have already seen dramatic increases in the past two years. To ignore this trend is to do a great disservice to the people of Delaware," Cauley said.

"Many of the recent changes have come directly from Governor Jack Markell, who has made it very clear that Delaware must become more bike friendly," Cauley said. "He made this challenge to us not because he is a cyclist himself, but because he can see what we must do to prepare for the future."

The League of American Bicyclists coordinated Bike to Work events throughout the country.

"To see the benefits of cycling, one just has to look at the crowd here today," Apple said. "Everyone here is very fit. Overall, I hope that we can get more energy and focus on making this whole area more bike friendly. It is my hope that we can convince our politicians to make all of our roads more bike friendly."

Newark is the first city in Delaware to receive the designation as a "Bicycle Friendly Community," by the League of American Bicyclists. In his remarks Mayor Funk talked about a new bike trail that will be opening in the near future. "This is a very exciting week for us," he said. "For four years, we've been working on the Pomeroy Trail. The trail came about because Senator Thomas Carper gave us more than $5 million to build it. Finally this week, we're sending out the bid package," Mayor Funk said. "Hopefully, we will award the contract in late June and we will finally see it built."

The Pomeroy Trail is a bike trail that will be built on the abandoned rail bed of the old Pomeroy Rail Line. The two-mile stretch of trail will start at the present Hall Trail near South Chapel Street and end at White Clay Creek State Park