U.S. 301 Mainline toll road opens Thursday to cheers and jeers

Jeff Mitchell waited for more than two hours Thursday morning on the shoulder of Warwick Road in Middletown for his chance to be a part of Delaware history.

The Middletown salesman, who has daily business in Maryland and Pennsylvania as well as his home state, wanted to be one of the first to drive on the new U.S. 301 Mainline toll road.

He watched as crews near the Warwick Road overpass uncovered signs marking the Middletown ramps to get on the long-anticipated 14-mile toll road. 

"I've been waiting 50-some years for this to happen. What's a couple of more hours," said the longtime Middletown resident. 

He didn't know the two-hour delay was because the state Department of Transportation was waiting for paint to dry.

Although DelDOT announced Wednesday that the road would open about 10 a.m. Thursday, it decided to give paint on striping along the highway more time to dry because cold temperatures had slowed the process.

Mitchell and other drivers got rolling just before noon.

With the 301 toll road open, plenty of folks are ready to offer their two cents about the $636-million highway that skirts Middletown.

The 14-mile drive that begins at Del. 1 near the Roth Bridge and runs along the outskirts of Middletown before reaching the Delaware/Maryland border was created through a decades-long contentious process and it opened to mixed reviews.

For some, the opening signals the end to the construction around Middletown that has been an eyesore and has lead to delays and detours, as well as upsetting residents because of the dust kicked up by grading.

The Mainline transformed the entrance to Middletown from the north, replacing a typical  — if often clogged — two-lane country road that featured views of pastures and new housing developments with wider roads and better intersections studded with views of highway bridges and roadways. 

For many in the area, the Mainline is welcome because it will, in theory, ease overall congestion on area highways, including the current U.S. 301 and Del. 896. 

Proponents have argued the highway is necessary to divert increasing numbers of tractor trailers passing through southern New Castle County off local roads. 

Middletown Mayor Ken Branner is firmly in that camp. He believes the new toll road will help relieve the truck congestion on the old U.S. 301 and through town.

Work to ease Middletown gridlock can't come soon enough for drivers

"We enforce no trucks on (Del.) 299 and we'll enforce it on (U.S.) 301," Branner said. "Besides, to a truck driver time is money. Even though it's a toll road, it's still better than sitting in traffic."

Middletown resident Candice Gilman shares the mayor's sentiment.

"Why would they want to slug it out when they could take the new road and save time?" said Gilman, who drives from the center of town to Wilmington every day. "I'm hopeful that Amazon shift workers will now use the new road, which will help."

The Delaware Department of Transportation estimates that the new route will reduce traffic by at least 20 percent on half of the region's local roads, and should significantly reduce truck traffic.

But enforcement of that is up to the Middletown Police Department, said DelDOT Director of Community Relations C.R. McLeod said Thursday.

DelDOT estimates that more than 14,000 vehicles will use the new toll road each day when initially opened, and increase to about 16,000 vehicles daily in the next three years.

Initially, 2-axle cars using E-ZPass will be charged $4, while 6-axle trucks will be charged $12 for a full-distance trip. Amounts will vary depending on where motorists get on the toll road. Motorists can calculate costs by using the U.S. 301 toll calculator.

Using the toll-by-plate method, a 2-axle car would be charged $5.60, while a 6-axle truck would pay $14.40 for a full-distance trip. Truck tolls will account for an estimated 56 percent of revenues.

Residents took to social media Wednesday and Thursday to argue about the project.

"It's a great idea, but you are still going to have the toll avoiders on 301," said Mike Napier, who lives in the area and drives the roads daily. "Not having to sit through Middletown traffic is a positive."

Progress

The push for the road that connects Del.1 to points southwest, including the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, Annapolis, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., has been ongoing since the 1990s. 

Millions of dollars funded studies for options that never materialized, as acrimony over location choices and land deals sometimes divided the Middletown area.

Some believe the highway would help position southern New Castle County for new job and residential growth. Opponents argue it will only encourage more growth in an area already strained by the booming population.

Delaware’s economic activity could be boosted by as much as 1.5 times the actual construction costs, predicted George Sharpley, an economist at the Delaware Department of Labor in 2016. That should translate into $705 million for Delaware’s businesses and residences.

Brian DiSabatino is banking on growth.

His company, Wilmington-based developer EDiS Co., is an investor – along with Eastern States Group – in the Town of Whitehall, a 2,000-acre community of townhomes, stand-alone homes, a new school and businesses just north of the new expressway on Lorewood Grove Road.

Quick Deliveries are Ready at Whitehall!

DiSabatino said the expressway would not only encourage business investment but also will make local roads safer and more inviting.

"There are no negatives," said DiSabatino. He pointed out that the Whitehall exit is the first off of the new U.S. 301 toll road. "Whitehall is a destination and is strategically positioned to be an economic hub for the next 50 years."

Original estimates by the state predicted the U.S. 301 Mainline project was going to create 5,200 jobs for its construction.

The state could not provide job numbers, saying the project is not considered done, according to McLeod, which makes it tough to come up with a number.

He said work will likely continue through spring to complete the entire project, such as the new Hyett’s Corner Road overpass and road.

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

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