WILMINGTON — With an uptick of vehicular crashes in work zones in 2021, the Delaware Department of Transportation is attempting to shore up roadway safety.

In collaboration with the Delaware State Police, DelDOT launched its Electronic Speed Safety Program in mid-January, as authorized by the bond bill for fiscal year 2022.

Initially, it has been implemented specifically for the entirety of the “Restore the Corridor” project, which runs along Interstate 95 in Wilmington and is repairing bridges to extend their service life and prevent costly rehabilitation for at least 30 years.

The I-95 work zone was identified as a dangerous road by DelDOT, after a high number of crashes and speeding violations took place in the area. When construction on Restore the Corridor began in February 2021, these rates forced DelDOT to take action.

Last year, there were 423 crashes in the work zone, which concerned highway officials, said DelDOT’s director of community relations Charles McLeod. Additionally, despite reduced traffic in the corridor, total crashes increased 35% and severe crashes increased 47% in 2021 over the baseline average from 2018-19.

But the cameras appear to be doing their job.

While presenting DelDOT’s requested budget for fiscal year 2023 to the Bond Bill Committee on March 28, DelDOT Secretary Nicole Majeski said an estimated 38,000 trips occur every day at the I-95 work zone. Since the implementation of ESSP, there have been over 15,000 violations, she said, adding that road officials are already seeing safety improvements in the area — a 39% decrease in crashes at the work zone from this time last year, a 10.7% decrease in average speed for the southbound lane and a 8.2% decrease in average speed northbound.

Mr. McLeod added that, prior to the launch of ESSP, DelDOT concluded that one of the causes of the high number of crashes was the new traffic pattern. The two-lane stretch on I-95 required motorists to merge into a single lane at the work zone, and drivers would often wait until the last minute to do so, causing traffic to slow, he said.

“The department took several steps to try and address these issues. We added more signs, message boards. Some nights, we put weather markings signaling that it was ‘exit only,’ so that motorists were encouraged to merge into that single-lane formation and not wait until the last moment.” Mr. McLeod said.

To further encourage safe driving, the ESSP initiative authorized cameras at the north- and southbound lanes of the work zone. The cameras monitor speeds 24/7 in areas where limits are reduced, automatically tracking those caught speeding and relaying the violations to DSP, who reviews and validates them.

Though only warnings are currently being issued to these violators, a grace period will end this month on a to-be-determined date, Mr. McLeod said.

As the program’s vendor, DelDOT chose Conduent, a company that owns, operates and maintains the ESSP camera equipment and citation-collection system. DelDOT’s Office of the Secretary and Traffic Engineering Section are responsible for any other engineering, safety or policy decisions, while DSP is tasked with approving citations.

According to DelDOT’s website, the posted speed limit at the targeted site is 45 mph. However, a motorist passing an ESSP camera going a few miles over should not worry about a ticket because the program only authorizes citations to drivers going 13-plus mph above the limit. This number was produced by DelDOT after it researched other states’ automated speed-enforcement practices.

Scott Neidert, a DelDOT traffic safety engineer and ESSP program coordinator, said he speaks with Conduent almost daily to assure the process is running smoothly. He said that, aside from an act of vandalism to a camera on ESSP’s first day, it has been a valuable addition.

“Me and my team are constantly looking at these numbers. It’s a daily occurrence. We look at everything. We’re checking to see if there’s an uptick or decrease of events or possible violations. We just keep tabs on every aspect of it,” he said.

“We are kind of still ... sorting out some of the kinks in the program, but as far as maintenance goes, we have that pretty much under control at this point.”

ESSP at the I-95 work zone is the only safety speed program in the state, and since it was authorized in the 2022 bond bill, any future iterations elsewhere will require additional legislation.

But Mr. McLeod said that, should ESSP continue to show improvement, there is certainly a possibility for expansion.

“Over the past few years, we’ve really tried to improve safety and eliminate the number of crashes we were seeing between vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists and anyone on the road,” he said.

“It’s a multi-pronged approach that we’re trying to take here. This is the first time that we’ve used these type of cameras, and they’ve been used successfully in other states. We’ll continue to see how it works here, and we’ll see if that merits any future expansion.”

Mr. Neidert applauded DelDOT leadership for being open to new innovation, as well as for prioritizing the safety for all Delaware drivers.

“One of the most important things to me as the program manager is to kind of think outside the box. Think of new ways to get people’s attention, get people to slow down, get people to use crosswalks,” he said.

“You learn from trends you see, and you see what works and what doesn’t, but ultimately, safety is the top priority.”