The Belle Mead proposal, near Lewes, should be summarily rejected. The most recent dualization of Del. 24, from Del. 1 to Love Creek Elementary School, was a hellacious process that lasted over two years. For that period of time, traveling on that part of Del. 24 was pure misery. The traffic was bumper to bumper for hundreds of yards at a time, and the going was glacial.
When the project finally finished, the traffic flowed much better. Traffic jams are less frequent, and there are fewer exasperated drivers. But it looks like the Delaware Department of Transportation has no plans for any more dualization to the west of the schools. All it did beyond the schools was add a center turn lane that ends at Love Creek Bridge.
This center lane does help traffic move better than it did before, but it is far less efficient than full dualization. That means this is it. This is the best traffic flow we can ever expect on this section of Del. 24. There’ll be no road improvements from the schools to the bridge, so any more traffic (an additional 6,800 daily vehicle trips from the Belle Mead case alone) will result in a continually degrading traffic situation. That’s unacceptable.
County Council should reject this development because it will mean a return to “traffic hell” for this section of Del. 24. And it will be permanent because no relief from DelDOT will ever be forthcoming.
Paul Barbin
Millsboro
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