Western Sussex part of highway planning area
While many would say the largest urban center in Sussex County is the eastern side of the county, that's not how the federal government sees it.
According to 2014 Census data, the Route 13-Route 13A corridor from Delmar to Seaford now qualifies as an urban area to be included in a reformatted Salisbury-Wicomico County Metropolitan Planning Organization linking the Route 13 corridor in the two states.
Sussex County has never been included as part of a federally-mandated regional planning organization, but Delaware has organizations in Dover and Wilmington, which include New Castle County and Cecil County, Md., as part of the planning areas.
Delaware Department of Transportation planner Bobbie Geier said planning organizations are designated for urban areas with 50,000 or more people that can cross state lines. She said updated Census data show the population of the Wicomico County and western Sussex County MPO is just over 98,000 people, with Delaware comprising nearly 25,000 residents or 25 percent of the population of the MPO.
Geier said it's the U.S. Census that alerts states to changes in population growth in the formation or expansion of MPOs.
Geier said the population in eastern Sussex County so far is not concentrated enough to be designated an urban center. “However, in 2020 that could occur,” she said.
Regional planning organizations are required by the federal government when federal funds are used for transportation and transit projects. Proposed federal road or transit projects in an area served by an MPO must be vetted and approved by MPO committees. “We want to make sure the state's goals are in line with the MPO,” said Josh Thomas, DelDOT's Sussex County planner. “This makes sense from a regional perspective.”
Delaware transportation funds must be spent in Delaware; Maryland funds in Maryland. “Maryland people can't vote on a Delaware project,” Thomas said.
Geier said state-funded projects are not reviewed by the planning organization.
“An MPO is a body to assist with planning projects. It's a resource to you, and it will not take any money away from Sussex County projects,” Thomas told members of county council during a March 31 meeting.
Because some of the MPO area is in unincorporated sections along Route 13, Sussex County government will have a voting seat on the 12-member MPO council and the technical advisory committees. The planning area also includes all or part of Delmar, Laurel and Seaford.
Councilman Rob Arlett, R-Frankford, who represents residents in the MPO area, asked the DelDOT representatives if Sussex County would be required to contribute funds to assist with administration of the organization. Geier answered that Kent County and New Castle County officials provide some funding, but she was not sure whether Wicomico County helped to fund its MPO. She said funds are set aside for MPO administration.
Arlett said his radar was up. “I'm wondering if DelDOT wants Sussex County to get into public transportation either through the front door or back door,” he said.
“We only want to make sure that money is being spent where the growth and population are expanding,” Geier said.
Thomas said the work done by the new planning organization could serve as a warm-up for possible expansion to the eastern side of the county in the future.
