Study: Growth to choke Lewes
“We’re doing too good of a job, and we’re attracting too many people,” said planner Bruce Galloway about residential and commercial projects being built or proposed for Lewes and the surrounding area.
Galloway’s comment was a preamble to a presentation on findings of FutureScan, a study examining what might lie ahead – and possible ways of changing course – to avoid disaster in the greater Lewes area (GLA).
Galloway spoke April 28 at the Greater Lewes Foundation’s annual board meeting and public presentation at Lewes Public Library.
Galloway and Pat Faux, a landscape architect and owner of the Annapolis-based Faux Group, spent the past several months analyzing data gathered by the study in the past year and a half through community surveys, public workshops and independent research.
The presentation was a report on Phase 1 of a three-phase process to use FutureScan data to generate recommendations related to growth and development. Galloway said the study has generated a significant quantity of information.
He said unless measures are taken in the near future – reductions in traffic, drinking water conservation or the discovery of a new water sources and, most importantly, providing the City of Lewes with significant authority over growth and development near its boundaries – city and GLA residents should be prepared for a diminished quality of life.
Galloway said so far, one of the study’s dire findings is the negative aspect of development that lacks intelligent design.
“Our development pattern is geared to the auto. Congestion is increasing, mobility is decreasing and the quality of life is declining,” Galloway said.
He said only about half of the land available for development in the GLA has been used.
Galloway said the area is on track to experience a doubling in the number of homes by 2035, resulting in more cars and significant increases in traffic.
Galloway said as of 2005, Savannah Road, New Road and Kings Highway were at 80 percent of capacity during peak travel.
He said by 2015, the roads would be at 100 percent capacity during peak travel periods.
“Looking at these three roads, basically they fail. Traffic moves, but not in a satisfactory way,” Galloway said.
He said traffic on those roads would crawl at speeds of 5 to 10 mph because of heavy congestion. Galloway said Savannah Road – one of the primary routes to Beebe Medical Center, Coastal Sussex County’s only hospital – would be first to fail.
He said the study predicts an additional 128,000 trips per day or an average of 10 trips per household that Lewes area residents would make. He said an additional 45,500 commercial trips each day would further clog arterial roads.
Key roads – routes 1, 9 and 24 – would be at or near capacity during peak travel periods.
Galloway said applications for 3,000 homes and 1.4 million square feet of nonresidential development in the GLA are pending analysis by the state’s Preliminary Land Use Service.
He said about 80 percent of the development would occur in unincorporated Sussex County, not in Lewes and not in areas the city has identified for possible annexation.
Galloway said today, the City of Lewes has about 3,000 single-family homes with room for about another 2,000. At build-out the GLA would contain 23,200 more homes than it does today.
“Multiply that by about two and you get an idea of the population increase – around 48,000 people. That’s sort of the doomsday future,” if development trends continue, he said.
The next phase of the study would test concepts, examining how to accomplish specific goals and identifying those capable of improving the future. The final phase includes creating a document that could serve as a guide for the City of Lewes, Sussex County the Delaware Department of Transportation and other agencies.
Ahead: FutureScan examines possible solutions to pending problems
