2021 Delaware Road Meet [ONLINE EVENT] - March 20, 2021

[roadwaywiz95]

I am pleased to announce the 2021 Delaware Road Meet, an exclusive online event set to take place on Saturday, March 20, beginning at 12:00 PM ET.

As this is a *live* online event, there will not be an in-person gathering of any kind and we will not be physically present together in Delaware at any time. That said, our topics of discussion will include the roads/bridges in The First State as well as the state's history and the development of its road/highway system (past, present, and future). Along with our Webinar/Virtual Tour presentation style and personalities from all across the road enthusiast community, my team and I will be bringing you everything you need/want to know about our favorite subjects while incorporating guests from across the community as the day progresses.

The YouTube link for our live online gathering can found below. Like most meets, this event will begin at 12:00 local time (ET in this case) and will run as long as necessary. We encourage you to BYOL and join us in the live chat and enjoy the experience!

[Laura]

I'm looking forward to this. Will we be staying around Wilmington or traveling through the whole state? What sites can I look forward to visiting virtually?

[roadwaywiz95]

Great question, should probably post some kind of meet "iteneary" here. I think this covers all the key points:

The majority of what we'll be covering will be confined to New Castle County, but there will be other landmarks we touch on south of Dover, such as the Cape May-Lewes Ferry, Woodland Ferry, Indian River Inlet Bridge, and Fenwick Island Lighthouse.

North of Dover, here's a list of items you can expect to see:
How Delaware got its shape - The 12 Mile Circle, The Wedge, The Tangent Line, and the Transpeninsular Line
Ebright Azimuth - Delaware's highest point
Interstates 95, 295, 495
Delaware Turnpike: History, Shunpiking, and Service Plaza
Delaware Memorial Bridge
"Restore the Corridor" construction project along I-95 through downtown Wilmington, including Phase 1 contraflow traffic pattern
"Best Of" Aerial photography of Wilmington road/cityscapes
Bridges of the Christina River (Wilmington)
Bridges of the Brandywine River (Wilmington)
Wilmington Neighborhood Tours - locations TBD
Christiana Mall Road signage
US 13, 113, 40, 202 overviews
Route 141 freeway & construction in Newport
Route 1 Tollway overview
Route 301 Tollway overview & construction history (including my footage of a drive I took prior to opening)
Covered Bridges of Delaware
Bridges of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal
Dan's drawings for a fictional Delaware Bay Crossing
Misc. State Highways of New Castle County

[Laura]

YAYYYYY that itinerary looks amazing!!! I will virtually be in attendance!!!

[74/171FAN]

I think it would be worth considering taking a few minutes to discuss the DE 24 corridor.  I recently attended the virtual meeting on the corridor, and I drove through the ongoing construction around the intersection with DE 1D while finishing my clinch of DE 1 Saturday.  I can send an email summary of my notes if you would like.

The big news from that meeting was that DE 24 is currently planned to be widened to five lanes east of Love Creek Elementary School, and that the North Millsboro Bypass is planned to start construction in 2023 with ROW acquisition already being underway.

I presume that we will discuss US 9/DE 404 in conjunction with the Cape May-Lewes Ferry.  I drove US 50 EB earlier in the day to Ocean City, and I was surprised at how much traffic was turning onto MD 404 EB (in March I might add).

[roadwaywiz95]

Yeah, right now I have DE 24 & 404 as an "honorable mention" in the power point; i was not aware of the Millsboro Bypass project and wouldn't mind having a peek at your notes for that 

Kent & Sussex won't be covered as in-depth as New Castle, but there's a lot of interesting stuff we could briefly touch on down that way. I know DelDOT is looking into some intersection improvements along 113 that would involve interchanges, not sure how far off those improvements might be at this point.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

Yay, a road meet I can actually attend! And not at a bad hour for me either (nominally 6 p.m. CEST, actually due to different DST start dates it will be 5 p.m. CET), although I may be hanging out at that point.

[roadwaywiz95]

We are just a few days away from this online event, so if anyone has any questions as far as what to expect, please feel free to jump in below.

This event is being structured like a super-sized Webinar, a kind of presentation I've been giving on my channel frequently over the past couple years. We will be building in breaks and "stops" along the way to help break things up like a normal meet and the presentation will be completely interactive between those of us on Skype and those in the Live Chat. Hopefully things flow really well and this does not devolve into a total trainwreck as we go 

[roadwaywiz95]

Here's a more specific breakdown of the timing of this event and a more precise iteneary so everyone has a better idea of what to expect on Saturday.

The official start time for the event will be 12:00 PM ET, however the event room (linked below) will "open"  30 minutes earlier at 11:30 in order for folks to file in and engage in whatever "pregame"  chatter they wish. You guys are free to join in whenever you want; what we're accomplishing here is providing a bit of space before the event begins for some greetings and introductory/off-topic discussions.

This event has been broken down into three main sections, detailed below. We expect each segment of the program to last 2 hours in length. After each of the first two parts, there will be a 30-minute break period. At the top of each hour, regardless of section, there will be a 5-minute pause. All break time, regardless of duration, is encouraged to be used as a general back & forth social period rather than a literal break in the discussion. We may get into some off-topic banter during those periods, we may even use one or more of the longer breaks for a common meal time.

I will be keeping an "attendance sheet"  for this meet — folks who wish to have their attendance "count"  for this event (those who are not involved on the Skype end) should make their presence known in the event live chat during the chat. It will be worth seeing what our actual attendance is like compared to a more conventional road meet.

The following is a breakdown of the exact topics to be covered in the order in which they will appear. If you are interested in tuning in for a specific portion of the event, these timelines/outlines may be of use to you. Of course, with this being an online event, folks will be coming & going during the course of the day so there is no expectation for any of us in terms of how long we should tune in for.

Part I — The Highways of Delaware (2 hours duration, 12:00 — 2:00 PM ET)

Delaware: An Introduction
How Delaware Got Its Shape: Transpeninsular Line, Mason-Dixon Line, The Wedge, The 12 Mile Circle
Ebright Azimuth: Delaware's highest point
Wilmington: An Introduction
Historic State/City Maps
Delaware Turnpike
Interstate 95 — Wilmington
Interstate 495
Interstate 295
Concord Pike (US 202/DE 202)
Newport Freeway (DE 141)
Pulaski Highway (US 40)
Summit Bridge Road (DE 896)
Dupont Boulevard (US 113)
Dupont Parkway/Highway (US 13)
Relief Route/Coastal Highway (DE 1)
Middletown Bypass (US 301)
Honorable Mention: Christiana Mall
Honorable Mention: Diverging Diamond Interchange (DE 1/DE 72)
Honorable Mention: Other Delaware State Highways (2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 9, 15, 24, 41, 58, 92, 273, 279, 299, 404, 491)

Part II — The Bridges of Delaware (2 hours duration, 2:30 — 4:30 PM ET)

Covered Bridges of Delaware (Wooddale, Ashland, Smith's)
Bridges of the Brandywine River (9 structures, Wilmington city limit)
Bridges of the Christina River (8 structures, Wilmington city limit)
Bridges of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal (7 structures)
Indian River Inlet Bridge
Cape May-Lewes Ferry
Delaware Bay Crossing (fictional/proposed)
Delaware Memorial Bridge

Part III — The Highways/Bridges of Delaware (Virtual Tour) (2 hours duration, 5:00 — 7:00 PM ET)
Sussex County roads
Kent County roads
New Castle County roads/bridges

***The above is a provisional schedule and exact times/durations are approximate***

[jeffandnicole]

If we get a chance, I'm tossing props out to my Alma Mater, Goldey Beacom College on Route 7.  A full campus with dorms and building with classrooms, the total length of which is shorter than the strip-mall shopping center across the street.

[roadwaywiz95]

My thanks to everyone who contributed to yesterday's marathon online event and also to all of you who tuned in for part/all of our virtual road meet experience! Please take a moment to vote in the poll above and also feel free to leave your additional feedback below. We are always looking to improve our product and experience for viewers so if you have suggestions and ideas for how we can improve our future programs, please don't be shy!