Millions in transportation projects converge in Middletown

Standing in the plaza at Main and Broad streets in downtown Middletown, Delaware Gov. John Carney turned his head to track the long lines of vehicles converging from four directions.

It was a clear example of why he was in the rapidly expanding town on Wednesday to hail $3.4 million in federal funding that will expand the Delaware Transit Corp.'s Mid-County Maintenance Facility in Delaware City.

The money also will help support an increased fleet of buses serving Middletown and the southern part of the county. 

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"We're going to be able to build a better economy with less congestion in one of the fastest-growing areas of the state," Carney said.

The federal dollars come at the right time as one major transportation project in Middletown is near completion and two others are set to begin. 

Nearly two years after it began, construction on the $636 million U.S. 301 tollway is on pace to be completed in December. 

A project to widen Del. 299 from Del. 1 to Catherine Street near downtown Middletown was announced last year and will begin in fall 2019 and last two years.

No timeline has been set for the expansion of the Mid-County Maintenance Facility and increased fleet of buses to serve the Middletown area.

But with bus ridership up nearly 50 percent to more than 100,000 annually in the area the past few years, state and local officials are hoping it will be soon.

"We've planned for the future of transportation here," said Nicole Majeski, Delaware's deputy secretary of transportation. "Expanded transit will achieve our goal of getting around Middletown easier."

Middletown transit by the numbers

• A $3.4 million federal grant will help the Delaware Transit Corporation expand park-and-ride facilities at U.S. 301 and North Middletown.

• Middletown’s population has increased from 19,910 in 2010 to 35,019 residents.

• That growth and the addition of facilities like the Amazon Fulfillment Center has brought a 33 percent increase in DART ridership on buses in and around Middletown.

• In 2014, more than 71,000 people used mass transit in and around Middletown. Last year, that number jumped to 107,140 people.

• The Delaware grants are a part of a U.S. Department of Transportation's $366 million nationwide effort to enhance mass transit options.

• In April, the Federal Transportation Administration granted $150,000 to help build the new park and ride facility in Middletown. 

Widening Del. 299

• The state recognizes the need for expanded transit options as Middletown grows.

• A $20 million Del. 299 widening project to ease the gridlock from Del. 1 into downtown is set to begin in fall 2019 and last two years. The widening project will go from Catherine Street east through the Del. 1 interchange. 

• According to the Delaware Department of Transportation, the average daily traffic volume on the road in the project area was 24,700 in 2016. That continues to increase and is expected to more than double to 53,200 by 2040.

U.S. 301 project

• The $636 million U.S. 301 tollway project is expected to be open for traffic in late December.

• The 14-mile expressway will cap decades of state efforts to draw up plans for and then build a new artery through once-rural southern New Castle County.

• The opening comes at the same time the state will make its first payment on a $211 million federal loan.

DART First State fast facts

• There are 43 bus routes in New Castle County, 12 in Kent County and three in Sussex County, with three other inter-county routes and seven seasonal beach bus routes.

• There were 9.6 million trips system-wide in Fiscal Year 2017.

• There were more than 950,000 paratransit trips in the same time period.

• A total of 1.12 million SEPTA train trips were taken in Delaware in FY 2017.

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

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