Several Coastal Highway Overhead Street Lamps Are Dark
After last week’s pedestrian accident that left a local man dead after he was struck by a state police SUV on Coastal Highway, it became apparent that about a dozen overhead street lamps were dark along the section of Coastal Highway between Rehoboth Avenue-Extended and the Dewey Beach town limits. This stretch of Coastal Highway is known as the Forgotten Mile.
Another pedestrian was struck and killed on May 18 at Rehoboth Avenue-Extended. Louise A. Holt, DelDOT spokeswoman, said Friday that a DelDOT safety officer was on scene for both pedestrian fatal crashes.
She said he noted that the location where the pedestrian was struck by the state police SUV was lit, but the vehicle continued to this unlit portion of the highway. She said that the light outages have been reported for replacement.
Holt added that DelDOT expected to have a crew out there on Friday to investigate what the issues were and hoped to have them repaired early this week. In addition, she says that “a large number of lights are not DelDOT’s responsibility and are leased lighting.” The public can contact the local utility company or report problems through the DelDOT website.
Other pedestrian safety improvements have been completed or are in progress along the Forgotten Mile. This includes these rapid-flashing beacons at five crosswalks where there are no stop lights.
More improvements are underway including installation of sidewalk “bump outs” around utility poles, handicapped curb ramps and bike lanes.
