Traffic & Parking: A Study to Identify Solutions

I often hear cases of those using Parkmobile who pay for an amount of time in a zone only to find a parking ticket when they return to their car. The problem was they had multiple vehicles and they had the wrong vehicle chosen on Parkmobile. It is awful to fine these people for a simple data entry mistake on their phone. If they show up at the parking office with proof that they still have time remaining on their space then the ticket should be voided.

On King Charles Ave. the bump outs are much safer and easier to manage than the dividers in the middle of the street. There needs to be bump outs on the corners of Laurel and Hickman where they intersect with King Charles due to poor visibility with head in parking.
There needs to be a bathroom on the boardwalk in South Rehoboth. The areas with trees West of the boardwalk are being used as bathrooms. This would also encourage more folks to park away from congested parking areas.
Parking permit stations need to be placed so they are easily accessible or consider something like QR Codes or phone access to purchase permits.
Rehoboth has more of a walking problem than a parking problem.

Why is this so difficult and how much money needs to be paid in consulting fees to tell you that a parking garage needs to be built at the convention center site

I think the city should explore traffic measures through road design. More street trees, speed humps, and narrow driving lanes are proven methods to slow traffic and require drivers to be attentive.

The daylighting on King Charles Street should be implemented at each intersection and could also provide an opportunity for green space and seating.

In terms of reducing traffic, the city should promote more mixed use development gives people amenities nearby. Biking and micro mobility infrastructure (separated and protected lanes), including covered parking for bikes and scooters, and more public transportation into Rehoboth and between Rehoboth and Dewey will improve the movement of people, reduce traffic, and create more opportunities for businesses.

Penny Lane, Rehoboth Mews, and the courtyard near the LGBTQ center are popular because they are car free and quiet spaces that are built on a human scale. Rehoboth should have more of this in its downtown core.

If Rehoboth Beach was a sleepy little town with 2000 residents, we could have a sleepy little budget that would cover our need for three or four policemen and a couple of workers at City Hall along with 5 or 6 other people who work the streets and a city clerk who collects taxes and pays the bills, and we could get along just fine.
But we have a wonderful vibrant town with hundreds of thousands of visitors each year who bring their automobiles when they visit. They drive on our streets and park their cars in our town. They sit on our beaches, walk on our boardwalk, eat food from our restaurants, listen to our bandstand music, leave their trash in our cans, flush our toilets, and buy souvenirs from our shops. Accommodating these hundreds of thousands of visitors each year costs money, lots of it…..far more than the $2 1/2 million that we’ll receive in property taxes from our residents.
Our best solution is parking revenue to make up the necessary deficit. Some New Jersey beach towns have beach tags, but the expenses and logistics of beach tags bring many disadvantages that must be considered before adopting.

Dead end streets are not properly marked. Day trippers parking in residential areas are creating a hazard for children.

Survey results are interesting but the type is almost impossible to read! Too light and too small. The results are from the overall survey I presume. Are you going to calculate results using just City residents and property owners as well?

Love this but I think the biggest issue is Rte 1 between Lewes and Dewey. We need to eliminate traffic lights by using traffic circles and no left turns (use u turn plazas instead to allow cars to effectively turn left without stopping traffic). In the future a raised express highway for thru traffic could be used in the middle for those not shopping in the midway and outlet area. Route 1 is miserable year round.

The traffic in town is directly related to the lack of parking infrastructure, i.e. driving the loop endlessly trying to find a spot to park. It was not enjoyable coming to town too many times this past summer. A parking garage, or maybe 2 smaller ones on each side of town, is desperately needed. Yes it might be little used during winter months but it I believe it would benefit the town and the business/shop owners for those peak times and keep people coming back in the long run. A localized temporary parking tax may be beneficial in funding infrastructure.

Parking issues need to be resolved somehow, not enough handicap parking

No parking garage! Too costly to residents with no direct benefits.
Provide remote parking outside town with bud ride into town.
A parking garage will remain empty 9 months of the year.

Employees, with parking permits, park on side streets near their jobs, for many hours --
their whole work shift. This makes parking spaces unavailable to visitors to downtown and the beach.

One day in the future, autonomous vehicles will cure our parking problems.

Conventional parking garages have been advocated by commercial interests in town for years. We even had a Task Force. The numbers never come out favorably. They are simply too expensive to own for 5 or 6 months of the year. A “parking box” for autonomous vehicles would be another matter. Security could be maintained because “humans” don’t go in. Labor costs would be markedly diminished. Cars could park themselves in very close order safely so that space could be saved.

Until that day of autonomous vehicles, my suggestions are:
1. Deliveries should be made outside of commercial hours.
2. Electronic signs telling drivers where metered parking is available.
3. Make metered parking very expensive and shuttles very cheap.
Don

Parking & Traffic Study Comments

Prior studies of parking and traffic in the City, including the 2018 Report attached to your Project page, made recommendations which the BoC mainly rejected or ignored. Will this study produce a different result? How many studies will it take for the BoC to take the action needed to resolve parking and traffic problems? I will address five issues, some old chestnuts and a couple new ideas.

Parking Garage
I’m going to kick this dead horse from a different side! With the help of the State, a push of the YMCA of Delaware, and maybe a different attitude by the City toward shuttle services, a substantive opportunity exists to address the parking problem.

The Sussex Family Y sits on State-owned property at the entrance to the City. The Y for years has sought nearby land to build a new facility; coincidently, a sizable piece of close-by land exists on Hebron Road—a portion of which is earmarked for the Cape Henlopen Senior Center—and could potentially be shared with the Y.

If those puzzle pieces fit, a multi-story structure could be built that could accommodate hundreds of cars. A shuttle operating frequent service between the old Y location and the bandstand horseshoe would get visitors to the beach and boardwalk in minutes.

“Remote” Neighborhoods
Speaking of shuttle services, another rejected proposal envisioned use of the elementary school’s ample parking areas as a locus for visitor motor vehicles. Similarly, a shuttle service could ply the roads of the more “remote” neighborhoods in the City. In the interest of “sharing the wealth” I’d like to see more visitor parking in the Pines—most property owners there have no clue what a pain in the a** all the cars parked up and down my street is like. [Just a selfish thought!]

Permit Parking with painted spaces
Just as metered parking spaces are marked off, the City could increase available parking spaces (and maybe revenue) where permit parking is used by painting lines to demarcate each space. Currently, drivers will intentionally take additional space when parking in front, behind other vehicles.

Metered Parking Rates & Dates
I recently visited Coastal Carolina, Topsail Beach and Wrightsville Beach. The picture tells it all! Both communities have the same requirements. The City should consider not just $5/hour but October 31st! Of course 10:00 pm (or maybe 11:00)

15 mph Speed Limit
Lastly, and to me, most importantly, speed limits on residential streets should be reduced to 15 mph. I have expressed my concerns to the BoC several times over the last few years about speeding on my street (Laurel). An accident on my street near the Bayard intersection was the subject of one of my messages. On Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings congregants fly down my street so as not to be late for Mass.

But it’s not just my street; it’s a City-wide issue. For example, the City has encouraged bike riding as a way to lessen traffic. It has painted street markings to warn motorists of bike riders throughout the residential neighborhoods. But drivers pay scant attention to cyclists, endangering them as they rush to the beach.

In the past I’ve pointed out that other communities—Fenwick Island and Bethany Beach, are examples—have set residential street speed limits at 15 mph. It can be done. Bottom line: A 15 mph speed limit would hopefully reduce speeds to 25 mph!

Hoyte Decker
[email protected]
October 27, 2023

(Picture was not included. Please contact me to provide a means to submit it.)

Rehoboth Beach values it's Family friendly resort attraction. Day parking permits have allowed day trip visitors to park the neighborhoods who otherwise would park downtown or take public transportation. This is detrimental, dangerous and often costly to property owners. The residential streets are filled with visitors who come and go at all hours, are loud late into the night, change from bathing suits to other clothing between car doors with no modesty, speed through the streets, liter yards and sidewalks, steal and are disrespectful of owners' property. It is no longer safe for children to play outdoors or for owners to safely walk in the evening. I support remote parking lots and low fee shuttle transportation for those visitors wishing to enjoy the beach, Boardwalk and downtown amenities and to keep the residential neighbors safe. The physical site placement and operational efficiency of a parking garage has been studied in the past and deemed inefficient. Give visitors a safe, easy and low cost way to enjoy Rehoboth Beach with designated shuttle stops and enforce use of the shuttles. Reduce the overly burdensome number of cars so bike riding and walking is safe. Mandate deliveries and downtown trash collection be made after midnight. Otherwise, make a big change to only golf carts, scooters and bikes on the east side of the draw bridge in combination with small shuttle vehicles.

I wasnt Done with the survey and was cut Off
A parking garage is needed
How about the lot where Clear Space tried to build
Rehoboth is a walking town so people have to be willing to walk a few blocks

A 4 way stop with either signs or a light is needed at both First and Baltimore and First and Wilmington in season. Too difficult to see and many people confused as to who has the right of way. Adding foot traffic, bikes, and delivery vehicles and it is an accident waiting to happen.

Restating my suggestion on the map that we have no parking in the first block of Rehoboth Avenue from the beach to 1st Street. This is about safety first and enjoyment of residents and guests. It has been done in many places in the world why not here?

Please consider the fact that in peak season , the lack of parking availability should indicate that we are full . At that point the beach is crowded , the lines at restaurants are long and additional visitors are just going to reduce the enjoyment of everyone .

I share kgdegy's frustration regarding people who 'hog' parking space. Could the City consider a way of demarcating individual spaces in the permit-parking blocks, perhaps at least in the beach blocks? For example, where 2 cars could fit between two driveways, could a yellow line be painted perpendicular to the street half way between the yellow driveway lines? Where multiple small cars could fit between driveways, perhaps the individual spaces could be demarcated & a 'for small cars' sign could be posted by that particular stretch.