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[sprjus4]

^ The problem with that, is from the Hampton Roads area itself, US-13 functions as the main north-south highway to the Northeast. It may a “shortcut” or “alternative” for I-95 traffic, but it is the main highway for a metropolitan area of nearly 2 million to Philadelphia, New York City, and all of the Northeast. Sure, you can head inland on I-64 to I-95, but you’re easily adding over an hour, especially if you factor in Northern Virginia and I-95 traffic in general.

I don’t think the issue of suburbanization is one, especially with the bridge-tunnel’s high toll acting as an artificial barrier.

The southern few miles of US-13 on the Eastern Shore is already high quality, limited access design, and it hasn’t attracted development on that southern portion, the most likely starting point for sprawl from Hampton Roads to begin.

[jeffandnicole]

^ The problem with that, is from the Hampton Roads area itself, US-13 functions as the main north-south highway to the Northeast. It may a “shortcut” or “alternative” for I-95 traffic, but it is the main highway for a metropolitan area of nearly 2 million to Philadelphia, New York City, and all of the Northeast. Sure, you can head inland on I-64 to I-95, but you’re easily adding over an hour, especially if you factor in Northern Virginia and I-95 traffic in general.

I don’t think the issue of suburbanization is one, especially with the bridge-tunnel’s high toll acting as an artificial barrier.

The southern few miles of US-13 on the Eastern Shore is already high quality, limited access design, and it hasn’t attracted development on that southern portion, the most likely starting point for sprawl from Hampton Roads to begin.

The CBBT has a commuter plan: $6 per crossing if 30 one way crossings are made within 30 days. At $12 round trip, it's fairly reasonable.

I think the main highway may be pushing it a bit. Certainly the shortest highway, but if a 4 lane US 13 with traffic lights and low speed limits thru towns can handle traffic with little congestion, that's not supporting the theory its the main highway.

[Alex4897]

DE 30 is looking at a pretty significant truncation within the next couple months, everything southwest of Millsboro is getting deleted. Most of the to-be-deleted portion of DE 30 consists of relatively untouched rural back roads, however the proposed changes do leave an awkward 0.9mi stretch of Millsboro Highway unsigned between DE 24 / 26.

DelDOT Truncation Study





I sort of wish they'd instead trim back DE 26 and designate all of Millsboro Highway to the Maryland line as DE 30 for the sake of having a consistent number following the corridor to Millsboro, though admittedly it's not the biggest deal given the light traffic and lack of development in the area.

[74/171FAN]

Interesting though that this does set up DE 30 to follow the North Millsboro Bypass to end at US 113 if DelDOT chooses to do so.

[Alps]

Could the 0.9 miles be a lettered spur of 24 or 26?

[ixnay]

With the improvements being planned on US 113, my dream of a Delmarva North South Freeway is getting closer to reality



But we have to be careful not to let Maryland know about this possibility, or else they'll back out for fear of losing toll revenue from 95.

Are all those dots on that map going to be interchanges? 

[Alex]

DE 30 is looking at a pretty significant truncation within the next couple months, everything southwest of Millsboro is getting deleted. Most of the to-be-deleted portion of DE 30 consists of relatively untouched rural back roads, however the proposed changes do leave an awkward 0.9mi stretch of Millsboro Highway unsigned between DE 24 / 26.

DelDOT Truncation Study

Delaware state route system changes over the last 30 plus years:
1988 - SR 2 Business in Newark established
1991 - SR 20 extended east from Millsboro to SR 54, and then alongside SR 54 to SR 1
1993 - SR 286 added
1993 - SR 15 extended north to Summit Bridge
1994 - SR 30 extended south
1995 - SR 1D designated
1995 - SR 7 extended south from Red Lion over what was U.S. 13 to Wrangle Hill.
2004 - SR 54 ALT established
2008 - SR 24 ALT recommended
2019 - US 301 / First Responders Memorial Highway completed

2004 - U.S. 113 truncated north of Milford, 2.29 miles of Bay Road decertified as a numbered route
2014 - SR 2 Business decommissioned, SR 2 truncated, SR 279 established
2017 - SR 24 ALT all signs removed along the 17.7 mile long route
2019 - SR 34 decommissioned. The route was 3.30 miles long.
2019 - 0.84 mile section of Middletown Warwick Road that was U.S. 301 decertified as a numbered route
2019 - SR 54 ALT all signs removed along the 8.5 mile long route

In an effort to increase safety and enhance mobility along rural roadways in Delaware, DelDOT’s Traffic Engineering Section is proposing the partial removal of the SR 30 designation in south-central Sussex County due to the complex, tangled nature of its routing amongst SRs 24, 26, and 54.

Ah yes, safety and mobility, the key words used by DOT's to justify just about any proposal.
Less numbered routes for motorists enhances mobility? How so? Seems to me that it is better to disperse traffic among multiple routes, even if slightly (given the low traffic counts of SR 30), then to consolidate it on less routes.

Edit, was texting with Bob about this and he indicated that decertifying it has to do with maintenance allocation, as posted state routes are higher priority. Thus delist SR 30 and the roads that were along it move down the chain vs. other routes. It also has to do with GPS sending vehicles too large for local conditions over certain roads.

The tangled concurrencies amongst SRs 24, 26, 30, and 54 in southern Sussex County are a source of motorist confusion and sign clutter, and the declassification of SR 30 in this area will eliminate many of these issues.

How many complaints and emails do you think they received about the overlaps? I bet one or none.

DelDOT previously was all about "removing braided routes" when they justified truncating U.S. 113. Higher in priority with addressing sign clutter/confusion in the system could be addressing some of these overlaps:
SR 896 south from Glasgow alongside SR 71 to Mt. Pleasant. The turn of SR 896 south at Hillside Road has not been marked since 2012. Truncate SR 896 at SR 71 and renumber the east-west leg from Mt. Pleasant to Boyds Corner or decertify it. Or realign SR 71 northeast from Lums Pond over SR 896 to SR 4 in Newark. The north end of SR 71 may be realigned or truncated due to planned improvements at the exchange joining U.S. 13 and SR 1 at Tybouts Corner.
SR 18 remains alongside SR 404 east to Georgetown, without an independent section east of Cannon Road near Bridgeville. SR 404 was cosigned with SR 18 by 1987, it is likely that motorists are used to the number by now...
The poorly signed overlap of SR 1/7 joins two distinctly separate sections. Per what Bob told me, DelDOT considers the SR 1 designation as still extending north to the exchange with SR 58, despite the end sign posted beyond the Road A overpass by Christiana Mall. SR 7 through Christiana should be dropped, but Bob also told me something about it SR 7 remaining there  because of the Christiana Fire Company.
The SR 100 overlaps with SR 48 and SR 141 could be done away with at this point and SR 100 dropped or renumbered to two separate routes.
Is the continuity of SR 2 along the overlap with SR 72 west to SR 273 in Newark really needed at this point?

Not a big fan personally of those overlaps with SR 24, 26 and 54, however the east-west leg could be retained as a different numbered route, and as Alps suggested, the 0.92 mile long segment of Millsboro Highway be designated as something new.

SR 30 has no shoulders between Bi-State Boulevard and Millsboro Highway, whereas SR 24, SR 26, and SR 54 have full-width shoulders.

SR 9 almost entirely has no shoulders between Smyrna Leipsic Road and Port Penn. SR 15 has long sections in southern New Castle County with no shoulders and several more in Kent County. SR 82 has no shoulders (DelDOT unsuccessfully tried to decommission SR 82 in 2010). SR 100 has no shoulders from just north of SR 141 to the PA line, and also along the four lane section of Dupont Road between a point just north of SR 4 at Richardson Park and SR 48 in Wilmington. So there are already exceptions in the system.

DelDOT is proposing to declassify approximately 22 miles of SR 30 in south-central Sussex County, from Bi-State Boulevard (ALT US 13 between Laurel and Delmar)

U.S. 13 ALT on Bi-State Boulevard? What data is DelDOT using?
The Delaware State Highway Department proposed designating Bi-State Boulevard as U.S. 13 ALT initially in 1952. AASHO deferred approving it pending action by the state of Maryland.
In 1955, AASHO disallowed the establishment of U.S. 13 ALT between the state line and a point north of Seaford, instead suggesting the use of a business route. With no further action by either state, a bannered route for U.S. 13 was never formally established along Bi-State Boulevard, and the 1957-58 Official Delaware Highway Map removed U.S. 13 ALT between Delmar and Laurel.

SR 30’s new southern terminus would be at SR 24 (John J Williams Highway) in Millsboro, therefore the entirety of the route would connect the City of Milford and Town of Millsboro.

So the entire extension of SR 30 made by 1994 would be dropped.

Declassifying SR 30 between Bi-State Boulevard and Gravel Hill Road may encourage long-distance travelers and trucks to use SRs 24, 26, and 54 instead, reducing volumes on SR 30.

Similar verbiage was written about declassifying SR 34 (which in turn was marked as one of the alternate routes to Wilmington due to the I-95 viaduct construction).
Traffic counts on SR 30 were just 1,881 in 2019 east of U.S. 13 and just 1,141 west of SR 26. How much lower is preferable?

Lastly, Bob mentioned some discussion to me that in Milford SR 30 might get extended north over SR 1 Business, with SR 1 Business decommissioned. This would coincide with the removal of the wye interchange joining SR 1 with SR 1 Business on Rehoboth Boulevard. Has something to do with access to the Bayhealth Hospital built on SR 30 by the exchange with SR 1.

[Alex]

With the improvements being planned on US 113, my dream of a Delmarva North South Freeway is getting closer to reality
But we have to be careful not to let Maryland know about this possibility, or else they'll back out for fear of losing toll revenue from 95.

Are all those dots on that map going to be interchanges? 

None of these projects will result in a fully limited access highway for U.S. 113. Instead a number of grade separated intersections will be constructed along the arterial route, and there will still be driveways for homes and businesses along the bulk of U.S. 113. Extracted the alternative schematics from the US 113 North/South Study webpage:



A proposed parclo interchange with Piney Grove Road.



The proposed grade separations at Governor Stockley Road and Kruger Road.


U.S. 113 from U.S. 9 north to Shortly Road



U.S. 113 at SR 18/404. Business access retained.



Proposed folded diamond interchange with a realignment of Redden Road, RIRO ramps for Robbins Road.



Diamond interchange alternative for U.S. 113 at SR 16. Would repurpose part of the northbound roadway as a service road.



Parclo interchange design for U.S. 113 at SR 16.



Grade separated intersection for SR 20, the rest of U.S. 113 remains an at-grade arterial through Millsboro.

[Alex]

Newark annexes Elkton Road property, paving way for city's potential second Wawa

Normally would not post an article about a gas station, but it involves changing Otts Chapel Road ahead of SR 279.

Newark City Council voted unanimously to annex property at the corner of Elkton and Otts Chapel Road that could potentially lead to a second Wawa less than a mile from one in Maryland.

The 6.05-acre site is almost completely surrounded by the City of Newark, but engineers working on the annexation and potential redevelopment were questioned about a branch of the Persimmon Run Creek that makes up part of its boundary.

Engineers said DELDOT is on board with the potential Wawa construction, even permitting a direct left turn from northbound Otts Chapel Road, not very far from when it intersects Elkton Road.

If it does become a Wawa, it would become the second one in less than a half-mile. There is a location just off the southbound lanes of Elkton Road (Route 279) at Fletchwood Road (Route 277) situated over the line in Maryland. The Newark location would be on the northbound side of Elkton Road.

[74/171FAN]

U.S. 13 ALT on Bi-State Boulevard? What data is DelDOT using?
The Delaware State Highway Department proposed designating Bi-State Boulevard as U.S. 13 ALT initially in 1952. AASHO deferred approving it pending action by the state of Maryland.
In 1955, AASHO disallowed the establishment of U.S. 13 ALT between the state line and a point north of Seaford, instead suggesting the use of a business route. With no further action by either state, a bannered route for U.S. 13 was never formally established along Bi-State Boulevard, and the 1957-58 Official Delaware Highway Map removed U.S. 13 ALT between Delmar and Laurel.

Maybe OSM.  I have seen it on OSM before.

SR 82 has no shoulders (DelDOT unsuccessfully tried to decommission SR 82 in 2010).

Do you know if PennDOT was related to that unsuccessful decommission?

Lastly, Bob mentioned some discussion to me that in Milford SR 30 might get extended north over SR 1 Business, with SR 1 Business decommissioned. This would coincide with the removal of the wye interchange joining SR 1 with SR 1 Business on Rehoboth Boulevard. Has something to do with access to the Bayhealth Hospital built on SR 30 by the exchange with SR 1.

At the end of the day, I guess I was right to extend DE 30 to DE 1 Business in Travel Mapping a couple years ago.

[Alex]

SR 82 has no shoulders (DelDOT unsuccessfully tried to decommission SR 82 in 2010).

Do you know if PennDOT was related to that unsuccessful decommission?

There was a mention of PA 82 back then, but it does not appear to be directly related to the decommissioning attempt in Delaware.

From the workshop website transcript:

14.Corridor Management Plan
ONE OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF A SCENIC BYWAY DESIGNATION IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CORRIDOR MANAGEMENT PLAN THAT IDENTIFIES STRATEGIES DESIGNED TO PRESERVE THE UNIQUE AND IRREPLACEABLE ATTRIBUTES OF THE BYWAY. 
THE RED CLAY VALLEY SCENIC BYWAY ALLIANCE, COMPRISED OF REPRESENTATIVES FROM NON-PROFIT AGENCIES, PRESERVATION GROUPS, GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, STAKEHOLDERS, RESIDENTS OF THE AREA AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC, COMPLETED SUCH A CORRIDOR MANAGEMENT PLAN IN 2008.
ONE OF THE SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS OF THAT PLAN WAS TO EXPLORE THE DELISTING OF STATE ROUTE 82 AS A STATE ROUTE, IN ORDER TO HELP PROTECT ITS INTRINSIC QUALITIES.
REMOVING THE STATE ROUTE DESIGNATION IS A STRATEGY THAT HAS BEEN USED IN OTHER COMMUNITIES IN AN EFFORT TO PRESERVE RESOURCES FOUND ALONG THEIR ROADWAY.
FOR EXAMPLE, IN 1998, APPROXIMATELY FIVE-AND-A-HALF MILES OF STATE ROUTE 82 LOCATED IN UNIONVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA WAS DELISTED BY THAT STATE IN ORDER TO PRESERVE THE HISTORIC, VILLAGE CHARACTER OF THAT COMMUNITY.

Lastly, Bob mentioned some discussion to me that in Milford SR 30 might get extended north over SR 1 Business, with SR 1 Business decommissioned. This would coincide with the removal of the wye interchange joining SR 1 with SR 1 Business on Rehoboth Boulevard. Has something to do with access to the Bayhealth Hospital built on SR 30 by the exchange with SR 1.

At the end of the day, I guess I was right to extend DE 30 to DE 1 Business in Travel Mapping a couple years ago.

Absolutely, and there is an end shield posted where it ties into SR 1 Business:

[Alex4897]

SR 896 south from Glasgow alongside SR 71 to Mt. Pleasant. The turn of SR 896 south at Hillside Road has not been marked since 2012. Truncate SR 896 at SR 71 and renumber the east-west leg from Mt. Pleasant to Boyds Corner or decertify it. Or realign SR 71 northeast from Lums Pond over SR 896 to SR 4 in Newark. The north end of SR 71 may be realigned or truncated due to planned improvements at the exchange joining U.S. 13 and SR 1 at Tybouts Corner.

I really wish DelDOT would focus more on ensuring corridors had consistent route numbers that followed their entire length, and it's why I hope they retain the DE 2 designation for all of Kirkwood Highway to Newark, despite the concurrency with DE 72 over the last couple miles. The Newark - Middletown corridor bugs me especially in that regard as the main route between the core of the two towns goes (N to S) from unsigned, to DE 896, to DE 896 + 71, to DE 71, to unsigned again (old US 301), to DE 299 + 15. The Newark - Elkton corridor is similarly disjointed with DE 896 and DE 279 splitting the corridor in half.

I don't think there's much point in designating route numbers if they're not going to provide helpful guidance for an entire corridor.
If they're really so concerned about simplification some more impactful tweaks to the system could include...
- Realign DE 896 to follow College Avenue, Summit Bridge Road, and Middletown Warwick Road between Main Street in Newark and Levels Road / Warwick Road in Middletown. Now we have a single route collecting Newark-based traffic and sending it to the core of the growing MOT area and vice-versa.
- Truncate DE 71 at DE 896 north of the Summit Bridge, and renumber the southern orphaned portion between Middletown and US 13. These two chunks of DE 71 serve little purpose as a combined route, with the northern chunk acting as a collector for suburbs south of Bear, and the southern acting as a connector from Middletown to points south.
- Renumber Boyds Corner Road (or the entire corridor from the Maryland line to Port Penn) as its own corridor. The east-west connection provided here is only going to become more important to the area as development continues to spring up between Middletown and the canal.
- Extend the DE 279 designation the entire way up Elkton Road into downtown Newark.

[74/171FAN]

TRAFFIC ALERT - Sussex County - UPDATED: Temporary Closure of Roads for the Removal of Lewes Railroad Swing Bridge

[74/171FAN]

Statewide - Holiday Savings for New E-Z Pass Accounts Begins on Black Friday

[ixnay]

Alex, on those maps, the second map shows a relocated Speedway Road - right through one end of Georgetown Speedway.  Guess this means that old racetrack's days may be numbered, right?

[Alex]

Alex, on those maps, the second map shows a relocated Speedway Road - right through one end of Georgetown Speedway.  Guess this means that old racetrack's days may be numbered, right?

That appears to be the case. The Memorandum for the meeting held on May 10, 2007 included in the Appendices for the Georgetown area of the US 113 study covered the speedway:

Speedway Road: Mr. Hite related that this area is of concern due to impacts to the Seacoast Speedway. Mr. Hall cited a group of citizens that have expressed concern about impacts to the speedway and asked why the property was not determined eligible for the National Register. Ms. Davis said that for a property to be recommended eligible, both significance and integrity are needed. Although the speedway may be considered to be significant from a historic point of view, it is the opinion of SHPO and DelDOT that the site lacks integrity because many later-period additions exist. Mr. Oliver added that impacts to the speedway are only being considered to avoid impacting several homes on the opposite side of Speedway Road. Mr. Hite added that the property has been proposed for development for some time; Mr. Hall confirmed that there is an active PLUS application for the site.

[74/171FAN]

The Phase 2 of the I-95 Restore the Corridor Public Meeting will be on December 2, 2021, at 6 PM.

[bluecountry]

So is the SB 295/SB 95 junction complete?
If so, nice, but IMO I-95 in DE needs to be 6 lanes from 295 to DE-1, then 5 lanes to the Service Station.
Any plans or possibility this happens?

[MASTERNC]

So is the SB 295/SB 95 junction complete?
If so, nice, but IMO I-95 in DE needs to be 6 lanes from 295 to DE-1, then 5 lanes to the Service Station.
Any plans or possibility this happens?

Looked like it was mostly done when I went through today. The 295 merge was near the salt dome but the lane drop signage was still temporary.

I know we’ve debated this previously but I still think the bigger deficiency was some sort of flyover from 295 to the right side of 95 for the SR 1 exit.

[Alps]

So is the SB 295/SB 95 junction complete?
If so, nice, but IMO I-95 in DE needs to be 6 lanes from 295 to DE-1, then 5 lanes to the Service Station.
Any plans or possibility this happens?

It needs 2 lanes from 495 and 3 lanes from 295, for starters.

[jeffandnicole]

So is the SB 295/SB 95 junction complete?
If so, nice, but IMO I-95 in DE needs to be 6 lanes from 295 to DE-1, then 5 lanes to the Service Station.
Any plans or possibility this happens?

It needs 2 lanes from 495 and 3 lanes from 295, for starters.

When it comes down to it, it's just a bad pinchpoint. 4 lanes crossing the Bridge, 3 lanes from 495, 3 lanes from 95. There's some variables with traffic jumping onto 13, 40 & 141, but it's never really going to have the right number of lanes, or the proper lane allocation at all times, between 295 and DE 1.

[74/171FAN]

Statewide - Scam Alert from DelDOT and DMV

[Alps]

So is the SB 295/SB 95 junction complete?
If so, nice, but IMO I-95 in DE needs to be 6 lanes from 295 to DE-1, then 5 lanes to the Service Station.
Any plans or possibility this happens?

It needs 2 lanes from 495 and 3 lanes from 295, for starters.

When it comes down to it, it's just a bad pinchpoint. 4 lanes crossing the Bridge, 3 lanes from 495, 3 lanes from 95. There's some variables with traffic jumping onto 13, 40 & 141, but it's never really going to have the right number of lanes, or the proper lane allocation at all times, between 295 and DE 1.

I-495 is not 3 lanes of traffic. It's 2 lanes of traffic built with 3. I-95 also is relatively light outside commuting hours. I-295 is the chokepoint and there's a balance between I-95 and US 13/40 corridors that is broken right now.

[74/171FAN]

The Phase 2 of the I-95 Restore the Corridor Public Meeting will be on December 2, 2021, at 6 PM.

TRAFFIC ALERT - New Castle County - NB I-95 Closures for Overhead Sign Relocation, Concrete Barrier Placement and Striping

(For US 13)  New Castle County - Closure of Southbound Lane on St. Georges Bridge for Deck Repairs

New Castle County - UPDATE: Closure Extended of I-95 SB Exit 7A Off ramp to 11th Street/Delaware Avenue for Ramp Reconstruction

[74/171FAN]

TRAFFIC ALERT - New Castle County - Additional Ramp Closure for Upcoming I-95 NB Traffic Switch