Deadly weekend? Bike Delaware absent on critical facility upgrades

Bike Delaware loves to report on injuries and fatalities on the road. Yet they are conspicuously absent when it comes to advocating for improved safety conditions. And they could be at the forefront - as seen in other state's advocacy organizations - considering that they employ Delaware's only full time bicycling lobbyist. To boot:

• Our current system of multi-use pathways are in ruin, with no budget for even basic maintenance.
• Penalties for failure to yield in a crosswalk are so negligible, as to be laughable.
• No record of support for on-road bicycle facilities, most notably during Pave & Rehab operations.
• Lack of cooperation with other organizations that advocate for on-road bicycle safety.

Above: Conditions along the abandoned Route 72 Multi-Use Pathway (MUP) south of Newark are deplorable, to say the least. This arterial highway is centrally located in New Castle County, and with this MUP, offers one of a very few truly safe crossings of I95. There are also many key destinations along this corridor. Yet, bicyclists find themselves hovering dangerously close to high speed traffic, due to deterioration and narrowing of the facility.

If this is what we have to look forward to with Trails and Pathways, we're in serious trouble. Multiple appeals to DelDOT's "Report a Road Condition" on-line form produced no results in clearing this tree growing up a utility pole (and mostly blocking the pathway).