BikeNewark – BikeNewark

2025 Bike to Work Day in Newark

photo of the group of Bike to Work Day attendees — A group of more than 50 registered their attendance at this year’s Bike to Work Day event.

photo of Kristen Cribb — BikeNewark member Kristen Cribb acts as our event emcee this year.

Despite threatening weather on May 16, BikeNewark partnered with the City of Newark, the University of Delaware (UD), DelDOT, Delaware Commute Solutions, and Newark Bike Project to celebrate national Bike to Work Day in Newark.

More than 50 people registered for and attended the hour-long, early-morning event, which has traditionally been held on the University of Delaware’s main campus. At Mentors’ Circle attendees enjoyed light breakfast items, free Bike Month t-shirts (courtesy of DelDOT and the Delaware Bicycle Council), commuting and local biking info, great networking, and brief speeches by local and state officials.

photo of Mayor Travis McDermott — Newly-elected Newark Mayor Travis McDermott shares about city progress at his first Bike to Work Day event.

BikeNewark member, Kristen Cribb, acted as the event’s emcee. Introduced first was UD’s Dean of the Graduate College and BikeNewark member Lou Rossi. Rossi is a fanatical bicycle commuter, thus well suited to have spoken at this event. Rossi welcomed everyone on behalf of the host institution.

Having been elected as Newark’s new city mayor less than six weeks earlier, Mayor Travis McDermott, spoke about the many ways the City of Newark has improved conditions for bicyclists over the past few years.

photo of Rep. Cyndie Romer — Delaware State Rep. Cyndie Romer gives a nice analysis of why we should promote bicycling.

Next at the podium was State Rep. Cyndie Romer, who represents a good chunk of the Newark area. She gave a wonderful advertisement for bicycling and, in particular, bicycling in Newark.

photo of Marcus Henry — Keynote speaker New Castle County Executive Marcus Henry address the event attendees.

The event’s keynote speaker was New Castle County Executive Marcus Henry, a UD alumnus who was elected in November to fill the vacancy left by now–Delaware Governor Matt Meyer. Henry talked about the importance of local and county cooperation, particularly with regard to projects that enhance multimodal transportation.

BikeNewark chair Bob McBride then announced and presented the annual Bicycle Friendly Community Leader Award. This year’s recipient was longtime Delaware State Senator Dave Sokola, who represents part of Newark and areas to the city’s northeast. Standing with Rep. Romer, Sokola was surprised to hear his name called to receive this award. No one else was, though, as he has been such an integral player in the advancement of all things related to bicycling within the Delaware legislature and locally here in Newark.

photo of Dave Sokola (with award certificate) and Bob McBride — A surprised Sen. Dave Sokola happily receives this year’s Bicycle Friendly Community Leader Award from BikeNewark chair Bob McBride for his many years of local support for bicycling.

BikeNewark’s Mark Deshon and Kristen Cribb then drew names of lucky attendees at random to win one of ten giveaways, with a combined value of $450. Gift sponsors included BikeNewark, Bike Delaware, University of Delaware, and Wooden Wheels.

Additional Event Photos

photo of DelDOT tent with Lou Rossi and Karl Hassler in foreground — UD-administration representative and BikeNewark member Lou Rossi and BikeNewark Treasurer Karl Hassler enjoy some refreshment in front of the DelDOT tent, manned by John Fiori and Paul Moser.

photo of Dave Sokola and James Wilson — Bike Delaware’s James Wilson (right) engages Sen. Dave Sokola in a transportation chat.

commuting, encouragement, events, news

2024 Bike to Work Day in Newark

photo of Michael Smith — BikeNewark Secretary Michael Smith ably emcees the event.

On May 17, BikeNewark partnered with the City of Newark, the University of Delaware (UD), DelDOT, and Delaware Commute Solutions to celebrate national Bike to Work Day in Newark.

About 75 people attended the hour-long, early-morning event, which has traditionally been held on the University of Delaware’s main campus. At Mentors’ Circle attendees enjoyed light breakfast items, free Bike Month t-shirts (courtesy of DelDOT and the Delaware Bicycle Council), free UD Police t-shirts, commuting and local biking info, great networking, and brief speeches by local and state officials.

photo of Matt Robinson — UD’s Director of Community Engagement Matt Robinson welcomes attendees to campus.

BikeNewark’s Secretary, Michael Smith, acted as the event’s emcee. Introduced first was Matt Robinson, UD’s Director of Community Engagement. Robinson welcomed everyone on behalf of the host institution and spoke of how important University–community partnerships are to the overall success of the city.

photo of Cori Ford — City Councilwoman Corinth Ford talks about her biking experience in Newark.

Newark City Councilwoman and bicycle advocate Corinth Ford spoke about her long history of bicycling in Newark and how much conditions have improved overall for bicyclists.

photo of Paul Baumbach — State Rep. Paul Baumbach begins his remarks with a story of his growing up in a bicycle-centric family.

photo of Dave Sokola — State Sen. Dave Sokola, who is a serious cyclist in his own right, follows Baumbach as a co-keynote speaker.

The event’s co-keynote speakers were local state legislators Rep. Paul Baumbach and Sen. Dave Sokola. Baumbach shared a story of how bicycling has been a key influence in his life. Sokola spoke about how important it has been for the city, county, BikeNewark, Bike Delaware, WILMAPCO, and DelDOT to work together to help plan and fund the improvements we’ve witnessed recently in Newark as well as in projects going forward.

City of Newark Mayor Jerry Clifton then joined City Manager Tom Coleman and BikeNewark chair Bob McBride to announce and present the annual Bicycle Friendly Community Leader Award. This year’s recipient was City staff member Joe Spadafino, the retiring city Director of Parks & Recreation.

photo of award winner Joe Spadafino and presenters — 2024 Bicycle Friendly Community Leader Award recipient Joe Spadafino shows off the framed award certificate, flanked by BikeNewark’s Bob McBride, City Manager Tom Coleman, and Mayor Jerry Clifton.

Spadafino was chosen because, as head of the city’s Parks & Recreation department, he has been very influential in working with BikeNewark to develop and promote bicycling routes and trails throughout the city’s many parks and greenspaces, including guiding the Emerson Bridge project and the in-progress project that will connect the bridge to the Pomeroy Trail (Newark’s North Bikeway) with two separate trails. He continued the wonderful legacy of our city’s Parks & Rec directors, following James F. Hall and Charlie Emerson.

Bloom Energy and W. L. Gore & Associates were each represented by several employees who biked in for the event.

BikeNewark’s Mark Deshon and Michael Smith then drew names of attendees at random to win one of nine giveaways, with a combined value of $400. Gift sponsors included BikeNewark, Bike Delaware, University of Delaware, Trek, Wooden Wheels, Deer Park Tavern, and Klondike Kate’s.

To conclude the proceedings, attendees gathered at the south steps of Hullihen Hall to pose for a group photo.

group photo of Bike to Work Day attendees — A group of nearly 70 attendees gather for an event-concluding photo. See you next year!

Special thanks go to UD’s Kathy Atkinson for photographically covering the event (including all the photos shown here).

Additional Event Photos

photo of attendees registering their attendance — Attendees sign in at the BikeNewark registration table, assisted by Karen Rosenberg and Christine Schultz.

photo of attendees at a vendor table — Attendees stop by the food and vendor tables as they arrive.

photo of Jerry Clifton and Christine Schultz — BikeNewark’s Christine Schultz listens to Newark Mayor Jerry Clifton.

photo of Kevin Monahan and daughter with bike — BikeNewark Vice Chair Kevin Monahan and his youngest daughter show off their custom ride.

photo of Bob McBride — During the event, BikeNewark Chair Bob McBride shares some of what BikeNewark is working on in the community this year.

communication, news

Officers elected for 2021-22

In December 2020, BikeNewark elected officers for its four board positions for the current two-year term.

Bob McBride was re-elected as Chair for another two-year term. McBride grew up in Newark and retired here after a long career at a private school in Pennsylvania. In the past, he has been a member of the White Clay Bicycle Club, and he is currently serving on committee in The Newark Partnership. He is an avid recreational bicyclist and bird-watcher.

photo of Karen Rosenberg — Karen Rosenberg, Vice-Chair

Karen Rosenberg is now serving as Vice-Chair, succeeding Helga Huntley. In past years, she has been volunteering at annual Bike to Work Day events and maintains BikeNewark’s online calendar. Rosenberg has also been a regular attendee of First Friday Rides. She is on the Department of Anthropology faculty at the University of Delaware and bikes to work whenever possible.

photo of Karl Hassler — Karl Hassler, Treasurer

Karl Hassler was re-elected for a second two-year term as Treasurer. He also serves on BikeNewark’s Engineering Committee and was a key player on the ad hoc Organizational Committee back in 2016 as well as with the 2020 updating of BikeNewark’s bylaws. He’d remind you that if you can’t support BikeNewark with your time, you can donate to help enhance our efforts. Hassler is also a member of the White Clay Bicycle Club and a recent retiree from the University of Delaware.

photo of Christine Schultz — Christine Schultz, Secretary

Christine Schultz, one of BikeNewark’s newest Individual Members, is succeeding Dave Saunders as Secretary. She has been involved in recent years in the organization of Newark’s Bike to Work Day events and may be better recognized as BikeNewark’s smartly dressed “Bike to Work, Newark!” brochure “poster girl” (along with brochure counterpart Matt Kinservik). Schultz is a University of Delaware employee who also bikes to work whenever possible.

McBride, Rosenberg, Hassler, and Schultz will each be serving during 2021-2022, consistent with BikeNewark’s bylaws. Board member elections are held at the end of even years; board members must be Individual Members of BikeNewark, as defined in the partnership’s bylaws. The partnership thanks Helga Huntley and Dave Saunders for their service during the previous two years.

Note: Our partnership meetings are open to the public and typically are held on the third Thursday of the month at 4:00 p.m. They are currently being held via Zoom due to the pandemic. Want to help? Get involved!

encouragement, engineering, infrastructure, news, projects, safety

Safe Routes to School project takes shape

aerial photo of Casho Mill Road in front of Downes School — photo submitted to and published by Newark Post

photo of beginning of bike lane buffer on Casho Mill Road — Beginning of actual buffered lane

Nearly four years after initial meetings about submitting a Safe Routes to School grant application for a project on Casho Mill Road, things are finally taking (physical) shape. Striping has been added recently, and more will be added until this initial phase of the project is complete.

The project area is between Church Road and Pickett Lane.

For a Bike to School event at John R. Downes Elementary School back in 2017, BikeNewark worked with volunteers from the University of Delaware’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders, who created pop-up buffered bike lanes to demonstrate how a finished project might look along this busy suburban road on which the school is located.

photo of a Bike to School Week bike train — School children arriving by bike, 2017

City of Newark staff have repeatedly noted that motorized traffic continues to dash along Casho Mill Road above the posted 30mph speed limit. Public Works & Water Resources Director Tim Filasky, who is one of BikeNewark’s partner liaisons, says, “It just feels like a freeway. This will tighten it up and slow traffic.” Ultimately, the City would like to have the speed limit reduced to 25mph, as it is on sections of Casho Mill Road on either end (north and south) of the project area.

photo of motorist's view of buffered lanes on Casho Mill Road — Motorist’s view of buffered bike lanes along Casho Mill Road, showing only a slight reduction in vehicle lane width while providing ample buffer for cyclists

BikeNewark has been involved from the inception of the effort, in coordination with the City, the school, Downes parents, WILMAPCO, and DelDOT. The idea is to make bicycling safer (especially for school children and their parents) and encourage more students in this vast residential area to ride a bike to school, rather than be transported there by car.

When the project is completed near the end of 2020 [now expected fall of 2021], it will include a new crosswalk, a pedestrian-refuge island, curb ramps, traffic-calming islands, and radar-detected-speed signs.

BikeNewark’s planned West Bikeway (a segment of its Newark Bikeways low-stress network project) will intersect Casho Mill Road (and these SRTS amenities) at Lafayette Road and provide signed low-stress access to the school through the Oaklands and Nottingham Green residential neighborhoods.

> read related Newark Post article

news

Introducing our new board members

BikeNewark’s December election for all four board positions resulted in new leadership for the two-year-old nonprofit advocacy organization.

Retiring from the Chair position was Mark Deshon. Bob McBride has assumed the duties as BikeNewark’s Chair, having served as Treasurer for the past two years and doubled as Secretary for the past 12 months. McBride grew up in Newark and had recently retired here after a long career at a private school in Pennsylvania. He is a member of the White Clay Bicycle Club.

photo of Helga Huntley — Helga Huntley, Co-Chair

Helga Huntley is now serving as Co-Chair. She has been very involved in the Safe Routes to School project at John R. Downes Elementary School and is both a key advocate and an exemplar for bicycling as transportation. She replaces Susan Grasso, who (alas) has relocated to Dearborn, Mich. BikeNewark thanks Grasso for the great energy and enthusiasm she poured into our advocacy efforts.

Karl Hassler has taken over for Bob McBride as Treasurer. He has worked on BikeNewark’s Engineering Committee since its inception and was a key player on the ad hoc Organizational Committee back in 2016. He’d remind you that if you can’t support BikeNewark with your time, you can still donate to help enhance our efforts. Hassler is also a member of the White Clay Bicycle Club.

photo of Dave Saunders — Dave Saunders, Secretary

BikeNewark had been operating without an official Secretary for the past year, so we’re very pleased that Dave Saunders was willing to be nominated and, having been elected, is now taking on the task. An avid bicycle commuter, though not technically a resident of the city (desirable but not a requirement for any of the board positions), he’ll be the first to tell you that his property line does abut the city boundary.

McBride, Huntley, Hassler, and Saunders will each be serving a two-year term (2019-2020), consistent with BikeNewark’s bylaws.

During the December partnership meeting, Deshon, who had declined nomination for another term as Chair, praised the faithful BikeNewark members who, along with its partner liaisons, continue to make it possible for this organization to accelerate the pace of progress and improve conditions for bicycling in Newark.

Note: Our partnership meetings are open to the public and typically are held on the third Thursday of the month at 4:30 p.m. in the WILMAPCO conference room on the eighth floor of the Tower at STAR, on the University of Delaware’s STAR Campus. Want to help? Get involved!

Additional Event Photos

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