Just in time for the onslaught of visitors racing to the beach, optical speed bars have been installed on southbound Route 1, heading up the Nassua bridge.

Delaware Department of Transportation spokesman C.R. McLeod said speed bars were a suggestion made by the Five Points Working Group. He said this location was chosen because it is just prior to the reduction in speed limit from 55 mph to 45 mph.

“Speed reduction markings are a low-cost counter-measure with the hope to calm travel speeds and draw attention to the reduction,” said McLeod in an email May 21.

McLeod said the markings can effectively reduce average speeds because the spacing between markings is progressively reduced, increasing drivers' perception of speed. He said the spacing between bars gradually narrows, giving the drivers a sense they have increased speed. Drivers generally slow down to keep the same time interval between bars.

This is the second set of optical speed bars painted on Route 1 in the Cape Region. Three years ago, DelDOT installed bars on northbound and southbound Route 1, just before entering Dewey Beach.

McLeod said DelDOT is also installing optical speed bars on Route 1 prior to Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island, but, he said, no others are planned at this time.

Bike lane added to canal bridge in Rehoboth

DelDOT has also added a bike lane to the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal bridge on Rehoboth Avenue in Rehoboth.

McLeod said the lane was added to improve biking conditions and decrease the stress level for bicyclists. He said it was recently installed as part of the work being done on the bridge rehabilitation project.

McLeod said this section of road will be repaved when the bridge rehabilitation is complete, and it will include new bike lane markings and vertical delineators. He said this bike lane has been on the books since the beginning of the Junction Breakwater Rehoboth Entrance project.