I happened to drive the new expressway today from DE-1 to DE-299 and back (lunch in Middletown at Grotto Pizza near the Amazon warehouse on old 301). We loved the road. Extremely well built - felt almost "German".
There were some state Troopers out there today - I could see how somebody would like to hit 100mph due to the build quality and light traffic.
Saved me about 15 minutes each way - loved it!
I drove the entire corridor both directions during the evening rush. The road was pretty deserted going southbound and I didn't see a single police officer so may have been a little liberal with the gas pedal lol. I'll upload footage of the whole corridor to YouTube so everyone can see the new road once I tweak the parts where I decided to have a little fun.
Yeah definitely, that would be nice to see. I would bet the rush hour is always going to look like this - nobody wants to pay a $4 toll if they don't have to. Problem is - they kinda have to if out-of-state due to the jacked up crossing system they implemented, but that's another story.
Again, based on the traffic I would see on DE-896 SB during the evening rush hour when I commuted on DE-896 NB at that time, I'd say US-301 is probably worth it for Middletown commuters.
Eh, IMO southbound isn't busy only because people haven't gotten used to the fact that the road is there. I'd imagine most of the traffic coming down US 301 from SR 1 will be destined for Middletown, which would only hit the partial tolls as opposed to the $4. Northbound traffic, despite being the off-peak direction for PM, was a bit heavier since traffic coming from Maryland is primarily forced onto the new roadway. I did notice a decent amount of traffic (including a truck) using the realigned old US 301 to turn onto Strawberry Lane just before the state line, presumably to reenter US 301 without hitting the toll. It'll be interesting to see how residents of Warwick feel about this when people's travelling patterns begin to normalize over the next few months, I'm betting a lot of Middletown residents headed south will find their way down their streets while regional traffic eats the $4. Time will tell, but either way the road is a fantastic drive and incredibly useful.
Exactly, the road still is new and when I checked Google Maps last night, it had this really absurd trip time if you took the new US-301 expressway between Warwick and Wilmington, so I'm sure people's GPS hasn't redirected them that way yet.
In theory, someone commuting from the DE-299 exit towards Wilmington would be paying, effectively, $2.50 each way since it's $1 to get on from DE-299 and head north, but $4 to get on from DE-1 and head back south (from how I understand the toll structure).
Another note: I plan to drive the new road tomorrow morning in both directions and record both directions. I had an idea for a cheap fix to my video setup, so we'll see how that goes. If I have decent footage I'll upload to YouTube for you all to enjoy.