Dewey Beach installing new barrier in median for pedestrian safety

Anyone who has driven through Dewey Beach recently probably noticed the wooden posts that have appeared in the median outside The Starboard. 

And if you were left scratching your head wondering about the purpose of those posts — and whether they were really forming the shape of a wave — then you’re not alone. 

Many people have turned to social media or called up the town to ask about this new development this week.

Here’s what to know about this new project and how it fits into Dewey Beach’s plans to improve pedestrian safety in town — just in time for the summer season.

What’s the purpose of these posts?

These 6-inch-by-6 inch wooden posts that will be four-foot high, are aimed to prevent pedestrians from crossing the busy highway where there are no marked pedestrian crosswalks.

While some of the posts will be close together with varied heights to look like a wave — like the section near The Starboard and another section to be constructed near Read Avenue — most of the poles will be four feet apart with two rows of roping between them.

Dewey Beach and the Delaware Department of Transportation have worked together on this project, and the idea is that the post-and-rope barriers will funnel people to the marked crosswalks, which recently were updated with flashing beacons to alert drivers of pedestrians.

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“The whole purpose of this is to try and keep people from walking out into the road and making them go to the crosswalks,” said Town Manager Bill Zolper. “This whole project is about public safety.”