DelDOT unveils plan to widen Route 9

State transportation officials have unveiled an $18 million plan to widen Route 9 from Five Points to just west of Old Vine Boulevard.

The project will result in two lanes moving in both directions with various other improvements throughout the 1.25-mile stretch of road.

According to displays shown during a Sept. 24 public workshop at Cape Henlopen High School, the project is in the final design phase. Right-of-way acquisition is set to begin in summer 2025, with construction anticipated for fall 2027 through fall 2029.

The project comes as the Route 9 corridor west of Five Points is exploding with development. In recent years, the Redner’s Fresh Market with a gas station opened along with dozens of apartments and single-family homes in The Vineyards community. Proposed across Route 9 from The Vineyards is a large mixed-use project called Northstar, which includes a subdivision of 758 single-family home lots on 379 acres, a commercial area of 96,000 square feet on 13 acres along Route 9 and an affordable apartment complex with 94 units on 8 acres also along Route 9. In total, the project contains 433 acres between Route 9 and Beaver Dam Road.

The widening is also coming on the heels of a major project to reconfigure what was previously known as Malfunction Junction, the intersection of Route 9, Beaver Dam Road and Plantation Road just west of Five Points. That design included a new roundabout, a new road through the former Bests’ Ace Hardware property and reconfiguration of the traffic patterns along Route 9. Work continues on the Plantation Road portion of the project.

In the Delaware Department of Transportation’s long-term plan is a new north-south road connecting Route 9 to Route 24 via Mulberry Knoll Road, which would meet Route 9 at its intersection with Old Vine Boulevard. That future road is not shown on the current plans for the Route 9 widening project.

What is shown on the plan is a shared-use path along the entire length of the south side of Route 9.  Three bus stops – six in total – are planned for each side of the road. A center turn lane is shown from Nassau Commons Boulevard, near Redner’s, to Ward Avenue, just west of Malfunction Junction.

A new traffic signal at Route 9 and Nassau Commons Boulevard is also in the works. According to DelDOT Director of Community Relations Charles “C.R.” McLeod, the signal plans have been approved, and it’s now up to the developer of The Vineyards to decide when to start. The Vineyards cannot expand without the signal in place, McLeod said.

Nassau Commons Boulevard also remains a privately maintained road, but McLeod said there are plans to convert it to a state-maintained roadway. When the developer of The Vineyards decides to move forward with the next phase, it will be required to enter the Henlopen Transportation Improvement District, which includes transitioning Nassau Commons Boulevard to a state road.

The widening project is expected to be the first of several for Route 9. At a Coastal Corridors meeting earlier this year, DelDOT officials said they’d like to widen Route 9 to the Sweetbriar Road/Dairy Farm Road intersection, then eventually to Route 5 in Harbeson.

DelDOT was set to begin a Route 9 corridor study in July with goals of addressing physical constraints on intersection expansion and widening, the next phase of population- and traffic-growth analysis, safety, multimodal movement, development and access management, and assessment of alternatives.

Also proposed for the stretch between Five Points and Route 5 in Harbeson is Cool Spring Crossing. The developer has proposed two different large-scale projects for the property. The first is for 727 single-family homes, 911 townhomes, 300 condominiums, 451,000 square feet of commercial and 275 acres of open space. The second, considered a backup plan if the first isn’t approved, includes 1,260 single-family homes.

Near Cool Spring Crossing, at the intersection of Route 9 and Hudson Road/Fisher Road, a developer has proposed building a gas station and a McDonald’s restaurant on the corner opposite the Dollar General store. On another corner of that intersection is a new Bayhealth outpatient facility.

For more information about the Route 9 widening project or to see the visuals, go to deldot.gov/projects and search US 9 widening. DelDOT will accept public comments until Friday, Oct. 25. Comments may be made via the DelDOT website or sent to DelDOT Community Relations, P.O. Box 778, Dover, DE 19903.