Sussex officials wrestle with roads that can't handle increasing traffic

Dennis Winzenried doesn't buy into Sussex County's vision for the Park Avenue Relocation project in Georgetown.

Park Avenue, also known as U.S. 9 Truck Bypass, is a designated route for tractor trailers moving through the Georgetown area.

The Delaware Department of Transportation's Capital Transportation Plan for FY 2017-2023 recommends that the roads used for the truck bypass be upgraded with appropriate turn lanes, shoulders and intersection improvements.

Plans call for altering the roadway not only to address safety concerns but also to make room for a future extension of the Delaware Coastal Airport's main runway.

Winzenried believes the two-lane road should be altered to the point that trucks entering or leaving the Sussex County Industrial Park on Park Avenue near the airport should be routed away from residential areas altogether.

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According to DelDOT, about 800 trucks a day currently take the bypass. DelDOT projects that will increase to 1,205 trucks per day by 2040, which equates to about 20 percent of the traffic on that road. Officials say that is higher than average for similar roads in Delaware.

Winzenried, who lives on Park Avenue near the intersection of U.S. 9, says the project calls for widening the road to include 10-foot shoulders on each side in his neighborhood. He says that will take a good chunk of his front yard and create even more truck noise, which he can clearly hear already.

"DelDOT says I'll be compensated for the land it takes, but that does nothing for the value of my real estate," he said. "I don't think Route 9 should be a truck route at all. DelDOT should be removing truck traffic from residential and putting it in rural areas and that wasn't even on the table."

During a public workshop in 2016, DelDOT presented a number of options for a realignment project to improve traffic operations and safety of the U.S. 9 Truck Bypass from east of Georgetown to U.S. 113.

At a public workshop on Wednesday, engineers presented what they believe is the best plan for the relocation project.

For Barbara Betts, a Georgetown resident since 1984, the relocation project makes sense. Her main concern is the truck bypass has no shoulder on either side, nor does it have a place to ride bikes.

"It boggles my mind it is classified as a truck route," said Betts, who lives just on the outer edge of the planned project. "That's always been a concern. It's too dangerous."

DelDOT project manager John Caruano said the project is in the environmental assessment phase and will go right into a 30-day public comment phase before initial design takes place in spring 2018.

Construction on the Park Avenue Relocation project is set to begin in 2022 and will take two years to complete. The total cost estimate including construction, utility relocations, right-of-way and environmental mitigation is approximately $33.8 million, Caruano said.

Sussex County needs

Park Avenue is just one of Sussex County's top transportation priorities. Late last month, communications director Chip Guy presented to the county council the "Sussex County Priorities" report, which outlines the county's top transportation projects. 

The county's 2019-2024 Capital Transportation Program requests were then presented to DelDOT officials to help make future priority transportation decisions for the county. 

With new commercial development occurring in the county’s industrial park, truck traffic along the Route 9 Truck Bypass will continue and increase in the years to come.

County officials believe that beyond truck traffic, a project to realign and make other improvements along U.S. 9 would provide an opportunity for the state to enhance this route to improve safety for through-traffic and local motorists as well.

It could serve as the base of a future Georgetown bypass to accommodate through-traffic to and from the beaches, Sussex County officials said, as well as along the U.S. 113 corridor, which functions as a critical travel link for daily commuters. 

Sussex County Administrator Todd Lawson believes the Park Avenue realignment project is important for the county because it will improve east-west movement and allow the airport to grow.

"This is a cart and horse discussion," he said. "We can't extend the runway until the road is out of the way. From the county's perspective, the road will have to be moved."

Lawson believes Delaware Coastal Airport is a critical part of Southern Delaware’s transportation system, and the facility continues to provide "lift" to the local economy.

The airport records nearly 40,000 landings and takeoffs each year, and is a vital piece of the area's educational and economic base, according to the county. There are 20 employers and nearly 1,000 jobs at the adjacent Sussex County Industrial Park, with an annual payroll of more than $36 million. 

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Other Sussex County priorities 

• Pedestrian and bicyclist safety along the SR 1 corridor in Sussex County’s beach communities, particularly between the Five Points intersection and Dewey Beach. 

• Five Points Intersection/U.S. 9 Realignment: Improvements are needed at the Five Points intersection to reduce accidents at this gateway to the resort area, which is often congested and confusing to motorists. Realignment of the U.S. 9 connection at Five Points could ease congestion and improve safety.

• Intersection at Del. 16 near Milton (programmed in CTP for FY21): An overpass with exits at this intersection, similar to the design built at Del. 1/SR 30 near Milford, would improve safety by eliminating cross-traffic and the need for a traffic signal. 

• Improvements to Sussex County’s major north-south corridors, specifically U.S. 113, remain a significant transportation need.  

Sussex officials believe planned airport improvements, notably the extension of the main runway from 5,500 feet to 6,000 feet, will help retain well-paying jobs at the airport and support economic growth in the community. An earlier 500-foot runway extension project began in August 2012 and was completed in late 2013.

Sussex County government plans various improvements totaling nearly $15 million from FY18 to FY22 at the airport and industrial park complex. The local share of costs (county and state) for the additional 500-foot runway extension will be approximately $12 million. This includes $6 million for the actual runway extension and an additional $6 million for the necessary realignment of Park Avenue. 

While Sussex County officials say the Park Avenue/U.S. 9 Truck Bypass east of Georgetown sits near the top of the county's list of critical projects, others might be equally pressing. 

The FY18-FY23 Capital Transportation Program contains approximately $272 million in estimated state and federal funding for improvements to the county’s network of east-west routes. There is approximately $7 million in the budget for FY18 alone.

Projects targeted for funding include preliminary engineering for Del. 24 improvements, continued improvements to the U.S. 9 corridor, construction of the North Millsboro Bypass, and construction of grade-separated intersections on Del. 16, Del. 18/404, and U.S. 9. 

The report says substantially more funding will be needed in the years ahead, particularly for rights of way acquisitions, so improvements on other major east-west arteries can occur across the entire network.  

If current travel patterns continue as predicted, increased and frequent congestion will further interfere with local residents’ mobility in many areas.

County officials believe anticipating and funding necessary improvements such as these across the county’s entire network of east-west arteries will better meet the travel needs of local residents and visitors for decades to come. 

Sussex County is Delaware’s largest county, with 938 square miles of land within its borders. Within that broad expanse is more than 37 percent of the state’s 6,281 miles of public roadway.

The most heavily traveled roadways are U.S. 13 and Del. 1 – each carrying more than 30,000 vehicles daily – followed by U.S. 113 with more than 24,000 vehicles daily.

At the same time, the major east-west routes also are heavily traveled, though these are less capable of extensive traffic. Congestion due to the movement of summer visitors often compounds traffic problems. 

Del. 24 is one of Sussex County’s primary east-west corridors. East-west routes are critical to allowing local motorists and destination drivers access to homes and commercial centers in the resort area.

In more recent years, these two-lane roads have been insufficient to safely and efficiently move traffic into and out of the area, particularly during peak summer months and evacuations. 

"These roadways are antiquated and can't handle the current traffic," said Georgetown resident Donna Reynolds. "Traffic flow into Five Points near Lewes is terrible."

Five Points is located at the junction of U.S. 9, Del. 1, and Del. 404 about five miles west-northwest of Rehoboth Beach.

The Del. 404/18 corridor, which connects with U.S. 9 at Georgetown, is the principal means of east-west movement in Sussex County. This route, which connects to Route 404 in Maryland, is the gateway for beach-bound traffic during summer months, but a primary artery for local commuting traffic year-round.

Lawson says high traffic volume often limits this two-lane road’s capacity.

"Maryland is widening its portion of the route to accommodate east-west traffic to and from Delaware," he said. "You can see the difference at the Delaware-Maryland border. That's going to be a problem. It will create a bottleneck for sure."

Other Sussex County priorities 

• Pedestrian and bicyclist safety along the Del. 1 corridor in Sussex County’s beach communities, particularly between the Five Points intersection and Dewey Beach. 

• Five Points Intersection/U.S. 9 Realignment: Improvements are needed at the Five Points intersection to reduce accidents at this gateway to the resort area, which is often congested and confusing to motorists. Realignment of the U.S. 9 connection at Five Points could ease congestion and improve safety.

•Intersectionat Del. 16 near Milton (a transportation priority for FY21): An overpass with exits at this intersection, similar to the design built at Del. 1/SR 30 near Milford, would improve safety by eliminating cross-traffic and the need for a traffic signal. 

• Improvements to Sussex County’s major north-south corridors, specifically U.S. 113, remain a significant transportation need.  

Reach Jerry Smith at jsmith17@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JerrySmithTNJ.