Small Town News

Sussex presents wish list to DelDOT

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Baker: More state funding needed for roads

County Administrator David Baker painted a bleak picture: There's little funding for Sussex County roads in the state's six-year capital transportation plan.

"If current traffic patterns continue as predicted, increased and frequent congestion will further interfere with local residents' mobility in many areas," he said.

Although county officials make land-use decisions, it's Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) officials who make all road-and transportation-related decisions.

Even so, each year DelDOT officials ask Sussex County Council to make up a wish list of projects and suggestions for the capital transportation program.

Baker said the current DelDOT plan includes some funding for improvements to a portion of the county's network of east-west roads. "However, substantially more funding is needed in the years ahead so improvemerits can occur across the entire network," he said.

Also in the plan is construction of the $150 million Indian River Inlet bridge, which includes the state's contribution of $30 million. The bridge is expected to be completed in the summer of 2011.

Baker said improvements in DelDOT's plan should include the widening of corridors to accommodate increased traffic volume; resurfacing of shoulders to highway standards; intersection upgrades including lefthand turn lanes, better illumination and directional signs; and better coordination of traffic signals at identified congestion points.

During a recent planning and zoning public hearing, House Majority Leader Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth Beach, said the only major road project in the near future in the Cape Region that has funding for construction is the realignment of Postal Lane and Cedar Grove Road.

Council comments on plan

Councilwoman Joan Deaver, D-Rehoboth Beach, asked if the county was requesting a traffic signal at the Cave Neck-Route 1 intersection. "The residents want a traffic light and will keep asking for it. It's not safe there," she said.

Chip Guy, the county's public information officer who helped Baker prepare the county's report, said DelDOT officials said the intersection does not meet criteria for a traffic light. "They say a light would make it more dangerous," Guy said, Deaver questioned that rationale. "They put a light at the Route 16 and Route 1 intersection," she said.

Councilman George Cole, R-Ocean View, asked that the report contain a section aimed at promoting better identification of bus stops.

"It seems bus stops are in the oddest, most bizarre locations with no benches. They have got to do a better job. Tourists who come here cannot find them," Cole said.

At the insistence of Deaver and Cole, the report was modified to change a paragraph that appeared to support an overpass at Five Points. "We need to strike our emphasis on the over-pass. We are not the experts," Cole said.

DelDOT has long-range plans to upgrade the Five Points interchange, which include the option of a Route 9 overpass.

Council is asking DelDOT to make improvements on Routes 26, 24, 404/9 and 54 so they are shovel-ready in case more federal stimulus money should be made available. Those improvements include better signalization, shoulders, intersection upgrades, purchase of rights of way, sidewalks and turn lanes.

On Route 24, the county is asking for four lanes with shoulder improvements from the Love Creek bridge to Route 1; shoulder improvements and additional turn lanes west of the bridge to Route 113; intersection and signal improvements.

Improvements to the east-west routes are the council's No. 1 priority followed by evacuation route improvements and further upgrades to Route 1.

In addition, the county is encouraging DelDOT to pursue its 10-year goal of paving all tar-and-chip roads with an average daily traffic count greater than 500 vehicles.

The county supports the development of a north-south, limited-access highway. "The development of Route 113 as a limited-access road could help alleviate the traffic congestion on Route 1 as well as relieve demands on Route 13," Baker said.

Other requests include:

- A comprehensive Route 9 corridor study to identify and prioritize key intersections for improvement

- An overpass at the Route 1-Route 16 intersection near Milton

- Improvements to Wescoats Corner intersection to alleviate accidents

- Additional sidewalks along Route 1

- A local connector from the Nassau area south to Route 24 to reduce traffic congestion on Route 1

- Upgraded evacuation routes to better accommodate traffic and improve flow.

Baker said delaying roadwork could be more costly. "Waiting to plan and make needed roadway improvements after the fact will make these improvements more expensive and more difficult to implement," he said.

He said, as noted in previous years, county council urges the state to consider increasing revenue to fund needed improvements.





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