transportation

The final leg of a trail linking Lewes and Rehoboth Beach opened last week after nearly two decades of work among private landowners and state and local officials.

The six-mile Junction and Breakwater Trail, named after the 1800s railroad line, will be open to pedestrians and cyclists. Motorized vehicles and horses are not permitted.

"It will be great to get off Del. 1," said Anthony Aglio, the state's bike and pedestrian coordinator, who tried out a section of the trail last week.

A third straight summer of run-away gas prices isn't expected to keep Delawareans home once vacation season hits.

Nearly 100,000 First Staters will travel 50 miles or more from home this Memorial Day weekend, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic figures. That's about the same as last year.

While about 92,200 will go by car, about 7,700 -- or 3.4 percent more than last year -- will fly. Average gas prices are up 10 cents from last year, but plane tickets are down 5 percent, to about $166.

The Delaware Department of Transportation announced that work on roads throughout coastal Sussex County, including the Lewes, Angola, Long Neck, Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach vicinities, will take place from dusk to dawn, starting Monday through June 30.

Roads will be resurfaced and guardrails will replaced. There will be intermittent lane restrictions during these times, officials said.

Areas include:

We've all merged right, merged left, slowed, and threaded our way through Route 1 the past few months, watching road construction crews start up a long period of traffic-twisting projects that are scheduled to continue through next spring -- all to move vehicles more quickly up and down the resorts. It's a hassle in a car. But it's sheer torture on a bicycle: The cars on the biker's left are packed in ever closer, the roughed-up pavement makes steering a gamble and flat tires a certainty. Which is why many of the bicyclists who venture onto Route 1 these days don't even try to ride in the construction zones; they disembark, and that's when we see them walking along grassy, sloped medians or narrow curbs, trying to get to the next open stretch of road.

Natallia Papkova rides her bike 20 minutes to work every day, crossing six lanes of traffic on Del. 1 near Rehoboth Beach. State law requires bicycles have headlights for night riding. Papkova says she holds a flashlight while she rides after dark.

Papkova, 20, of Russia is one of many seasonal workers who travel from Europe each summer to work along the Delaware beaches. Her bike is one of 10 chained to the front of the Safeway grocery store in Rehoboth Beach -- two have the required night lights including one with a flashlight taped to the frame.

A 21-year-old man was dragged 170 feet under a Jeep Liberty after the vehicle struck him as he was riding his bicycle on Del. 1 near Rehoboth Beach, state police said.

Anton Stratinskiy of Russia was riding south on the shoulder of the highway, which also is used as a bike lane, about 10 p.m. Monday, Cpl. Jeff Oldham said.

The driver of the 2002 Jeep, 29-year-old Kathryn Constance of Wilmington, struck Stratinskiy as she was entering the highway from Country Club Road, Oldham said.

More than 100 bicyclists on Route 1 were stopped Thursday, June 29, and given free helmets, lights and a mild lecture about how to ride safely on the highway.

Through a partnership between Ocean Atlantic Agency, Delaware Department of Transportation and Sussex Cyclists, bicycling safety checkpoints will be set up three times a week throughout July.

The goal is to save the lives of foreign students and others who ride Route 1 to and from work.