The following was part of the public comment section of Milford City Council on Monday, March 9. The views expressed here are that of the speaker and may not reflect the views of Milford Times, its editorial staff or its reporters.
I’m here tonight to speak about the North Rehoboth Boulevard corridor, specifically the stretch near Perdue. Two years ago, at the city’s request, the Kent MPO completed the North Rehoboth Boulevard, North Walnut Street corridor study, it documented 242 crashes in six years along this corridor, the 10th/Walnut Street/Rehoboth intersection alone saw 44 crashes. At that time, there were no fatalities. That is no longer true.
A woman was recently killed walking near Perdue, and this corridor is no longer just high crash area, it is a fatal crash area. So, I’m here to ask, is our goal to study problems or fix them? Airport Road is being studied. Rehoboth Boulevard was studied. The Bicycle Master Plan proposed a shared use path in 2021. There is a crosswalk in front of Perdue, and one recently added at Washington Street. That’s a start, but single mid-block crosswalks do not make this corridor safe.
There are no continuous sidewalks feeding into them. Lighting is insufficient for early morning and evening shifts. Wide, undefined driveways create conflict points and pedestrians continue crossing elsewhere because the network is incomplete. Families are still navigating a high speed, multi-lane corridor with limited safe crosses. I experience this daily when I turn left into my daughter’s daycare from the south and someone is turning left into Purdue from the north, often rushing to a shift. We meet head on in the center of the roadway. There is no protected turn lane, no alignment and no margin for error. This is a predictable crash waiting to happen.
The study clearly recommends a 10-foot shared use path on the east side, crosswalks at Front Street, improvements to wide, undefined driveway entrances, bus shelters and lighting. These are not abstract ideas. They are specific, engineered recommendations. The MPO has submitted this corridor for the capital transportation program, and the bike lanes. The City applied for safe streets for all funding, but it was not approved. So, what’s happening now? DelDOT responds to the pressure. If this council formally prioritizes the Perdue corridor and advocates for its inclusion in the upcoming CTP, it changes the equation.
These are steps the city can pursue immediately, improve lighting along the Perdue stretch to protect early morning and evening shift workers. Incentivize Perdue, the gas station and KSI, the owner of the daycare building, to better at aligning or consolidating driveways. Submit a TAP application by April 17 to implement interim pedestrian improvements while long term reconstruction is pending, and because waiting until 2037 is not an option.
This stretch of road serves 1,400 Purdue employees, one of Milford’s largest employers. It sits near schools, childcare and now includes a pedestrian fatality. It should move from study to construction timeline safety improvements now.
Sara Bluhm
Jericho Road
Lincoln
