To ease minds and traffic next summer, Delaware Department of Transportation officials recently announced that, contrary to original expansion plans, all three northbound lanes on Route 1 will remain open throughout summer 2007.
DelDOT, which is expanding the southbound section of Coastal Highway from just north of Route 9 in Lewes to Route 24 in Rehoboth, had originally planned to close the inside lane of both sides of the roadway through Phase II of the project, which includes the summer months, its spokesman said.
After discussions with the public and planners in the department’s transportation section, DelDOT Spokesman Darrel Cole said work in the median will not affect summer traffic next year.
“We’re really excited,” Cole said. “We think its going to be a real positive change to the original plans for the project.”
DelDOT officials for months have expressed concern about traffic congestion and impacts on businesses, emergency responders and tourists throughout the project. For the first time since this summer, when the department officially unveiled expansion plans, those officials talked optimistically about the project’s impacts.
“This change will bring increased capacity, less congestion and shorter travel times to those who must utilize this portion of the Route 1 corridor. This is DelDOT’s ultimate goal, to keep the traffic moving,” Joel Leidy, DelDOT’s Route 1 project manager, said in an Oct. 11 press release.
Cole said that the new information will not change original expansion plans — besides easing some traffic concerns. DelDOT began its two-year construction project Sept. 11 to add a shared-use lane and a sidewalk to southbound Route 1 between a point just north of Route 9 and Route 24. The end result will look much like the road past Route 24, with three dedicated travel lanes and a shared-use lane for buses, bicycles and right turns.
During the first stage of construction from Sept. 11 to March, 2007, concrete barriers and missing roadway will render the outside of southbound traffic unusable. The shoulder/right turn lane between Brian Drive and Melson Road at Midway will also be closed.
During the second phase from July 2007 to spring 2008, work in the median will now only require the closure of the outside southbound lane. Concrete barriers will not allow anyone to pass through the construction zone, where the roadway will be mostly removed.
Cole and other officials will use a digital sign just north of Milford to direct summer traffic headed to the southern Delaware resorts to Route 113, where traffic should be better, but still stressed because of its new role as a detour.
DelDOT will also use public workshops and businesses to help educate local residents and visitors of pending traffic. About 70,000 vehicles, during “peak travel days,” currently use Route 1, according to DelDOT. Traffic on the major coastal roadway has on average increased by 5 percent annually.
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DelDOT Route 1 expansion
The Delaware Department of Transportation initiated its more-than-two-year Route 1 expansion plan on Sept. 11. On southbound Route 1 from a point just north of Route 9 in Lewes to Route 24 in Rehoboth, officials plan to add sidewalks and a shared-use lane for right turns, buses and bicycles. Minor improvements are expected for northbound lanes.
Phase I: Sept. 11, 2006-March 2007. The outside lane of southbound Route 1 will be closed by construction work during the initial phase. The shoulder/right-turn lane between Brian Drive and Melson Road at Midway will also be closed.
Phase II: July 2007-Spring 2008. Contrary to original plans, median construction next summer will not close the inside northbound lane of Coastal Highway. The inside southbound lane will remain closed between Routes 9 and 24 next summer.