On Oct. 23, the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce (CC) hosted their 26th Annual “Sea Witch Halloween and Fiddler’s Festival.”
In part one of the story on the festival, the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) informed the Rehoboth CC that they must deploy crashworthy pedestrian barricades on public rights-of-way.
In their search for crashworthy devices, Rehoboth CC contacted Plastic Safety Systems to discuss SafetyWall, the ADA-Compliant Pedestrian Longitudinal Channelizer and Barricade.
SafetyWall is a crashworthy device; it was successfully tested as a longitudinal channelizer under MASH Test Level 3 procedures. FHWA issued acceptance letter WZ-315 in May 2012. In addition to its crashworthiness, SafetyWall complies with MUTCD standards and ADA guidelines as a pedestrian, longitudinal channelizer.
SafetyWall, which measures 6 ft long and 36 in. high, is an interlocking device; there are no gaps between assembled units. Parade watchers should not inadvertently wander into the parade itself. Second, SafetyWall is obstacle-free. It has no protrusions or intrusions into the walkway, like barricade feet or bases that could trip pedestrians.
The “bicycle rack”, crowd control barricade, which is not a crashworthy device, does not offer either feature.
Rehoboth CC required a turn-key, barricade rental service for their annual event. Dimensional Products Inc. (DPI), Reisterstown, Md., rented, deployed and removed SafetyWall for the parade.
Rehoboth CC instructed DPI to install SafetyWall units parallel to both sides of the median on Rehoboth Avenue, the main parade route in downtown Rehoboth Beach. Parade watchers would fill in the median, between the arrays, and watch the parade from either side, while also lining the sidewalks. DPI estimated the project would require about 500 units.
The installation itself began around 11:30 p.m. on Oct. 23rd, the night before the parade. Part of DPI’s crew unloaded units from two flatbed semis. Other crew members then assembled the interlocking units. DelDOT provided traffic control throughout the night. Around 2 a.m., Rehoboth Police began to tow cars still parked along the median, despite posted “No Parking” signs. About 10 cars were towed.
Rehoboth CC specified the use of an equal amount of orange and white units, and retroreflective sheeting on both sides of each device. DPI then installed SafetyWall units in an alternating orange-white sequence.
By early morning, around 5 a.m., DPI completed the installation. The parade started at 10 a.m. and lasted about two hours.
According to the News Journal, the festival attracts “between 175,000 and 200,000 visitors over three days.” Several thousand visitors watched the parade.
DPI removed the SafetyWall arrays immediately after the parade. One lane of traffic on each side of the median remained open during removal.
By all observations along the parade route, SafetyWall provided pedestrians with guidance and kept them safely separated from the parade. DPI reported that the DOT crew was satisfied with SafetyWall’s performance.
