GEORGETOWN, Del.- Sandhill Fields opened in September with the goal to draw in sports teams for tournaments and average people to enjoy the park, and it is still doing that. But bikers and those on motor vehicles will have to look elsewhere.
Some members of the board including President Joseph Schell were concerned for the bikers' safety due to the cross country course conditions and walkers' safety who would need to keep a close eye on the bikers going by.
"His main concern was young people racing on their bicycles," Georgetown Mayor Bill West said. "If you have not been back in the woods and seen the boardwalk, it is quite a bit of a drop-off. In some places it is close to two foot of a drop-off. So, if a child ran into another one on a bicycle and he went off that path and struck a tree, he could be seriously injured."
But West says allowing bike sat the fields may have allowed a safer opportunity for young people to learn how to ride them. The complex is a more confined environment while bike trails that run into Lewes are for experienced bikers.
"You can see the grandparents teaching their grandchildren how to ride a bicycle and this is the best place for that," West said. "It is not on that trail, because there have been too many accidents, where state troopers have said they have had to fly people out because they were injured severely."
West says there has been some confusion on the public park's purpose and some have seen the trail labeled as a bike path on Google.
"There was a man, a woman, and a small child and he was unloading his bicycles," West added. "He says this is a bike trail correct? I said no this is Sandhill Fields. He said well I googled it and this is what showed me where a bike path is."
The board is in the process of getting signs made up saying that bicycling is not allowed. Mayor West is working with the town to find a place where a bike path can be built and riders can ride safely.
No bikes at Sandhill Fields for now, but discussions may come up to bring them back in the future.