Clean air commuting
University hosts Bike-to-Work Day celebration in Newark
9:33 a.m., May 24, 2011--On Friday, May 20, at 7:30 a.m. the rain gave way long enough to bring together more than 20 cyclists to celebrate a National Bike-to-Work Day event organized by the Newark Bicycle Committee and hosted by the University of Delaware Cycling Club on the Trabant University Center patio.
UD Provost Tom Apple greeted everyone on behalf of the University. “To see the benefits of cycling, one just has to look at the crowd here today,” Apple said. “Everyone here is very fit! Overall, I hope that we can get more energy and focus on making this whole area more bike-friendly. It is my hope that we can convince our politicians to make all of our roads more bike-friendly.” He also mentioned that activity like employees biking to work is part of an overall vision for sustainability that supports the University’s Path to Prominence.
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Cleon L. Cauley, Jr., Delaware’s acting secretary of transportation, then addressed the participants by assuring them that “DelDOT is committed to continuing our efforts to make Delaware more bicycle-friendly.”
Cauley explained why alternative transportation is an important aspect of Delaware’s transportation system. “First, we do it to save lives,” Cauley said. “Last year, there were 158 car-bicycle accidents, 90 of which were in New Castle County. Three of those crashes were fatal. Twenty-one percent of those crashes involved children younger than 15 years old. Ninety-six percent of bike-car accidents result in an injury. Most of us can remember at least one news story within the past year of a person on a bike who was struck by a car and killed.”
Having cited these statistics, Cauley added, “Like most of you, I find those numbers unacceptable.”
Cauley drew applause for DelDOT’s efforts on behalf of bicyclists.
Newark Mayor Vance A. Funk, III, spoke of the recent “go-ahead” on plans for the Pomeroy Trail in Newark. “This is a very exciting week for us,” he said. “For four years, we’ve been working on the Pomeroy Trail. The trail came about because Senator Thomas Carper gave us more than $5 million to build it. Finally this week, we’re sending out the bid package. Hopefully, we will award the contract in late June and we will finally see it built.”
The Pomeroy Trail is a planned bike-pedestrian right of way that will be built on the abandoned rail bed of the Pomeroy Rail Line. This is significant for the UD community because the two-mile-long Pomeroy Trail will connect the popular Hall Trail near South Chapel Street to White Clay Creek State Park north of Newark.
Despite the damp conditions, the Bike-to-Work Day event was deemed a success by Newark Bicycle Committee chair Jeff Riegner.
“The Newark Bicycle Committee was thrilled to see such great turnout,” said Riegner. “As word spreads about the convenience of cycling in Newark and the benefits it can have for one’s health, the environment, and the community, this event is poised to really take off. Newark will soon be ready to take the next step to ‘Bicycle Friendly Community’ silver certification.”
In 2010 Newark was honored as a bronze-level “Bicycle Friendly Community” by the League of American Bicyclists, the first community in Delaware to receive such an honor.
The event featured free T-shirts supplied by DelDOT as well as coffee, juice, and food items donated by Main Street area merchants. UD Public Safety officers and city of Newark police officers worked together to provide traffic safety for the event. Each year in May nationwide, Bike-to-Work Day is part of National Bike Month.
Bike-to-Work Day event partners included UD, DelDOT, the Wilmington Area Planning Council (WILMAPCO), and the city of Newark.
Article by Mark Deshon
Photos by Ambre Alexander