Five Points traffic nightmare: Officials search for a fix

There is one light everyone hits when traveling into Rehoboth and Lewes — the Five Points intersection.

It's been a decades-long headache for drivers and a dangerous feat for cyclists and pedestrians trying to cross the highway.

"My first experience at Five Points was on a weekend on my bike," resident Steve Cahill said at a Delaware Department of Transportation meeting. "It was like, 'How do I cross this road?'"

Michael Tyler, a Delaware Bicycle Council member, said he looks at Five Points as a valve that opens and closes too many times.

“We need to have more cross-access easement,” he said. “An access road could take shoppers off (Route 1).”

Some residents said they wanted to see pedestrian bridges and an underpass to get bicyclists, shopping pedestrians and traffic off Route 1.

On Monday night, those ideas were shared as a group of concerned residents, business owners and elected officials met to address the intersection. The intersection between Routes 1 and 9 and Savannah Road has long been an epicenter of congestion for both residents and visitors, especially during the busy summer months.

With the Sussex County population projected to increase more than 20 percent in the next 30 years, according to the Delaware Population Consortium, DelDOT decided to get more voices to the table before it decides on a plan.

At the Lewes Senior Center, nearly 100 residents attended the first meeting of the 15-person working group, which includes Sussex County Council members I.G. Burton and George Cole, state Sen. Ernie Lopez, longtime Five Points business owner Linda Best and other residents.

The varied perspectives of each member — from DJ Hughes’ experience as a traffic engineer to the visual impairment concerns of a pedestrian — could provide a more complete picture of the intersection’s complex problems.

The group didn’t dive into specifics. In fact, Andrew Bing, who moderated, called it “meeting number zero,” a foundation to build on what the group will be doing throughout next year’s monthly meetings.

Members said what needs to be done extends beyond Five Points.

Hughes wants to divert traffic away from Five Points, saying there are other projects on nearby roads that need to be completed soon.

“Those need to happen before we take the light out on (Route) 16,” Hughes said. “Once all the lights in Kent County are gone, from Route 95, once you get on Route 1, there won’t be anything stopping traffic coming down to Five Points.”

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Resident Robert Fischer also wanted the group to look outside the intersection and into the future.

“I’m not just worried about current traffic patterns,” he said. “We can’t fix Five Points overnight. By the time we fix current problems, the problems may be different.”

Councilman Cole said he doesn’t think there is a solution to traffic, but he’s optimistic about finding improvements.

“We’re going to be dealing with high volumes of traffic on into the future,” he said. “What we can do is ease the problem and make it safer so when we are in gridlock, we will have nice wide shoulders, intersections we can get on and off.”

Lewes City Manager Ann Marie Townshend said Five Points is a critical intersection to Lewes. She said residents get trapped at home when traffic is congested, especially on summer weekends.

“It creates a number of challenges to quality of life,” Townshend said. “There is no silver bullet here, but to improve how the traffic can be managed and to make sure in the process the gateway to Lewes and the city character remains intact.”

Diana O’Hagan lives in Henlopen Landing, a stone’s throw from the intersection. She was concerned with gridlock on smaller roads just outside her neighborhood, including Salt Marsh Boulevard.

“I am asking you as you develop plans … that you look at these small roads and do not add to problems we are already having in our neighborhoods,” she told the working group.

The first task of each member is to gain public input and present those broader transportation needs at the next meeting, which will be held on Monday, Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. at the Lewes Senior Center.

Despite the complex issues around the intersection, some residents told the working group they don’t necessarily need to reinvent the wheel, and to look at past plans and other cities that face similar problems.

“I’m sure there are other cities that have the same problem,” resident Donna West said. “Reach out and identify how they solved this issue. Maybe we can save a lot of time and energy and money to be able to flow freely through this area that we all love.”

DelDOT created a working group as a grassroots approach to generate collaboration and, eventually, a well-oiled plan for a long-term infrastructure solution.

“We’re getting input very early on, even before we develop concepts to change the current traffic patterns beyond Five Points and give a sense of ownership to the local community,” said Charles McLeod, the director of communications at DelDOT.

The agency wants to avoid outcomes like the 2007 overpass proposal, which was met with public backlash, including by businesses situated at the intersection. 

"We've had several attempts to put forth solutions in the past that were met with public resistance, so we want the community's input at the outset this time around,” DelDOT Secretary of Transportation Jennifer Cohan said in a statement prior to the meeting.

The working group isn’t a new concept, and DelDOT is using them more frequently. McLeod said a working group in northern Delaware is wrapping up its discussions on solutions for freight traffic in local communities. He called it a great success.

At the meeting, Cohan said with a laugh, “I told my team, ‘We’re going to meet until we solve it.'"

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