Important: DelDOT Bicycle-Friendly Public Workshops

Don't forget to mark your calendar, and attend a DelDOT public workshop for bicycle-friendliness and safety in the First State!

• 4–7 pm, Feb. 22, Sussex County Council Chambers (2 The Circle, Georgetown)
• 4–7 pm, Feb. 27, Middletown HS Commons (120 Silver Lake Rd, Middletown)
• 4:30–7:30 pm, Feb. 28, Dover Public Library (35 East Loockerman St, Dover)
• 4–7 pm, March 1, Wilmington Public Library (10 East 10th St, Wilmington)

Balanced advocacy includes supporting on and off the road bicycle-specific infrastructure, as long as they are designed to best practices. Though we are seeing better quality as time goes by, it would be a serious mistake for advocates to assume equal level of service with vehicle drivers. Many are still being designed to relegate bicyclists to little more than wheeled pedestrians. Equal road rights and access cannot be ignored, because bicyclists will always depend on them for virtually every trip we make.

In any comments you make at these workshops, it is important to stress this fact. For example, a nearby bike path should never trump safety considerations on the roads they parallel. Failure here will lead to increased bullying from motorists, who see it as confirmation of "their" road given the nearby facility. In a worst case - as seen in some States now - the road itself may even go off limits to bicycling with mandatory use laws. Visit the workshop page HERE, and stand up for bicyclists as legitimate road users, facilities or no facilities. See you there!