DelDOT amps up Cape Region road work
Now that most tourists have left the Cape Region, transportation officials are fast-tracking road projects, and they all have one thing in common – improving safety.
One of the most anticipated projects started in the last two weeks – the realignment of Cedar Grove Road and Postal Lane where the two roads intersect with Plantation Road. The $6.5 million project will take 215 calendar days to complete, said Delaware Department of Transportation engineer George Spadafino.
The project includes separate left-turn, through and right-turn lanes on each leg of the intersection with bicycle lanes and sidewalks. Street lighting will be added and a traffic signal will be installed to control the intersection.
The intersection has been a dangerous one for many years. While there have been no fatalities, 23 crashes occurred at the intersection from July 2005 through July 2009.
Before road construction begins, a small army of utility company workers – including Delmarva Power, Delaware Electric Co-operative and Tidewater crews – are relocating utilities. The contract includes placing a casing under the intersection for future Sussex County sewer pipe extension. Road work is expected to begin Monday, Dec. 1, and the project is expected to be completed by mid-July 2015.
Work continues to improve three intersections on Route 9, a $7 million project that includes stormwater management and the addition of separate left-turn, through and right-turn lanes at each intersection: Gravel Hill Road; Hudson Road and Fisher roads; and Sweetbriar and Dairy Farm roads. In addition, Log Cabin Hill Road, near the Dairy Farm Road intersection, will be relocated.
Work is expected to begin Monday, Oct. 27, on the Route 1 pedestrian safety project to upgrade and add sidewalks to the 6-mile stretch from Five Points to Rehoboth Avenue into Rehoboth Beach. The estimated cost of the project is $6.5 million and also includes new pedestrian crossings and additional street lighting. The project is projected to take nearly 1 ½ years to complete.
Spadafino said the challenge DelDOT officials faced was purchasing the rights of way for 133 parcels along Route 1 to infill missing sidewalks. “It's been like a giant puzzle,” he said.
A high-profile intersection in the Georgetown area will also be improved. Less than a week after another serious crash at the intersection of Route 113 and Speedway Road and Alms House Road, Rep. Ruth Briggs King, R-Georgetown, and Sen. Brian Pettyjohn, R-Georgetown, were notified that DelDOT has plans to make improvements at the intersection.
DelDOT Secretary Shailen Bhatt told the legislators that while the department is working on a traffic signal for the location, some interim steps will be taken to make the intersection safer. Tubular markers will be used to channel motorists and reduce the danger for severe crashes by reducing confusion and improving sightlines.
Bhatt said the improvements will eliminate eight conflict points at the intersection. “The improvement will also reduce confusion in the median crossover and provide left-turning vehicles with better sight lines of oncoming traffic,” Bhatt said.
“I am hopeful that this interim solution will improve the safety of the intersection, but I will not stop working until a traffic signal is placed there,” Briggs King said.
