Delaware Affirms Commitment to Active Transportation
The vision and leadership of Delaware Governor Jack Markell and the state's senior transportation officials continues to pay off for the citizens of their state.
In a speech to mark National Bike to Work Day last year, acting secretary of the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT), Cleon Cauley, Sr., went on record as saying biking and walking were a growing part of the state's transportation needs, and "to ignore this trend is to do a great disservice to the people of Delaware."
A little more than a year later, Delaware's transportation advocates are celebrating the opening of the long-anticipated Pomeroy and Newark Rail Trail in the city of Newark. The two-mile walking and biking trail, which was funded in part by the federal Transportation Enhancements (TE) program and partly through a federal earmark, passes through downtown Newark, connecting transit hubs, a university campus and shopping areas with parks and recreation spots.
Gov. Markell, U.S. Senator Tom Carper and Newark Mayor Vance A. Funk III are all planning to attend Monday's grand-opening celebration of a transportation and recreation facility that was the city's most-demanded project.
"The goal is to encourage people to get out of their automobiles and either walk or ride their bikes to destinations where they might normally drive," Newark Parks and Recreation Director Charles Emerson told the Newark Post.
