DelDOT developing plan for Five Points hub
State transportation officials are working on a master plan for a proposed transit hub and park-and-ride near Five Points in Lewes that could be online in 2012.
Delaware Department of Transportation officials want to use the former 6.5 acre Wright Chrysler property along Route 1 as a regional bus depot and maintenance center as well as a park-and-ride to ease congestion along Route 1 heading into Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach.
Public input will be sought before a final plan is drafted, said DelDOT spokeswoman Tina Shockley.
John Sisson, project manager, said a new transportation hub would allow the state to offer bus service throughout the year, not just on seasonal routes.
DelDOT purchased the property for a reported $6.5 million, which set off a wave of controversy. Critics, including some local legislators, said DelDOT paid too much for the property and did not obtain a second appraisal for comparison.
DelDOT’s Delaware Transit Corporation, which operates the state’s bus system, has obtained a $5 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration to create the Delaware Transit Corporation Five Points Transit Center.
Sisson said the money could be used to rehabilitate the existing facility or build a new one, depending on the results of the master plan.
Besides DART service, the hub could become a center for Delaware River & Bay Authority buses and possibly private bus companies such as Greyhound, Sisson said.
DART has an overcrowded bus maintenance and storage area at the DelDOT maintenance yard near Georgetown as well as a bus transfer hub along the railroad tracks in downtown Georgetown, he said.
Shockley said a plan for public comment should be ready by late summer with a finalized plan in place by late fall. The time line depends on the scope of work outlined, after public comment, in the master plan, she said. A scaled-down plan with just a park-and- ride could be completed by spring 2012, but a larger-scale bus depot would not be completed until at least the fall of 2012.
