Coalition gets education on DelDOT processes

The Sussex Preservation Coalition hosted seven Delaware Department of Transportation officials at its March 12 meeting at Lewes library to learn how the agency’s planning and development coordination system works.

Part 1 of this story included updates on the traffic-impact study for the Cool Spring Crossing mixed-use community and the capital transportation program.

About DelDOT studies

The ongoing Coastal Corridors Study for Route 9 and Route 16, the major east-west roads leading to resort areas, is in draft form, said Leah Kacanda, DelDOT senior project planner. She said the study has focused on the area between Route 113, and Routes 9 and 16.

The draft study includes 15 recommendations for Route 16 and 14 recommendations for road work along Route 9.

The study has identified three main initiatives that require further study and interagency coordination, including re-envisioning Route 16 in Milton, accommodating traffic growth on Route 9 and looking at policies to achieve better transportation network connectivity.

Recommendations were based on traffic analysis, development trends, and feedback from the Coastal Corridors Committee and the public.

DelDOT and Sussex County initiated the study in 2019 to assess the current and anticipated transportation conditions in the area between the Maryland state line and Routes 1, 16, 9 and 404, in order to identify needs to meet today’s and future demands.

Kacanda is also project manager for the Five Points Study, which was completed in 2017. The working group is made up of DelDOT and Sussex County staff, residents and business people.

Henlopen TID

The Henlopen Transportation Improvement District, established in 2020, covers 24 square miles with 50 intersections and nearly 50 miles of roadway. Developers building projects in the district are required to pay a fee per unit for road improvements within the district. They are not required to provide a traffic-impact study because DelDOT has already done an extensive traffic study in the district.

Sarah Coakley, principal planner for statewide and regional systems planning, said the county and DelDOT arrived at the fee charged to developers, which covers 24% of road improvement projects in the district. The state covers the remaining 76% of costs.

She said $299 million worth of projects have been identified in the district, and one-third have been completed. Overall, the developers’ payments to the district are estimated at $70 million as more projects are done and developments are approved.

Intersection improvement considerations include 22 single-lane roundabouts, 38 traffic signals, two all-way stops, 38 two-way stops and two multi-lane roundabouts. Ten projects are in DelDOT’s current capital transportation program.

So far, Coakley said, 22 TID agreements have been signed with developers or property owners, and another nine are in process. To date, $1.3 million has been collected, with another $341,000 in right-of-way dedication and off-site construction.

She said developers can get financial credit for dedicating rights of way and road improvements. Examples of that are developers of the Cambria Hotel, off Route 24 near Rehoboth Beach, with right-of-way dedication for the Airport Road extension to Route 24; developer of the Cardinal Grove subdivision on Beaver Dam Road near Lewes, for frontage improvements along Beaver Dam Road near Kendale Road; and Southern Medical, located on Shady Road near Lewes, for a frontage sidewalk.

DelDOT has a TID dashboard on its website at deldot.gov to track projects in the district.

The district includes the area north of Lewes city limits, Five Points, Route 9 and Fisher Road to the west, Route 24 and Long Neck Road to the south, and Route 1 to the county’s Wolfe Neck Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility between Lewes and Rehoboth Beach.

Traffic-impact studies

Sireen Muhtaseb, traffic-impact group manager, said the studies are triggered by impact on the roadways, so system capacity can be preserved.

Not all projects are required to submit a study. A study is warranted for projects generating 500 vehicle trips per day (250 in and 250 out) or generating 50 trips per hour during peak times of 7 to 9 a.m.

Developers with smaller projects can contribute to an area-wide study fee for off-site road improvements.

DelDOT must also approve a developer’s entrance and construction plans that may include turn lanes or phasing of construction. Construction plans include internal streets, traffic signals, intersections and roadway improvement plans.

When all requirements are met, DelDOT issues an entrance plan approval letter to a developer.

The PLUS process

Developers of larger projects connecting to state roads must file a proposal to the Office of State Planning Coordination Preliminary Land Use Service.

Todd Sammons, assistant director of development coordination process, said state agencies review the plans, and provide comments and recommendations. The PLUS report is submitted to Sussex County officials and then made available to the public. 

“Our comments are technical in nature,” he said.

Sammons said DelDOT and Sussex County have a memorandum of understanding relating to land-use applications.

The county planning & zoning commission receives a preliminary traffic analysis for every land-use application. No public hearings can occur until DelDOT submits either the traffic analysis on the impact of a proposed project, or an area-wide study fee or final traffic-impact study review letter.

Sammons said this process ensures that county officials have all traffic information prior to making a decision on a land-use application.

He said DelDOT has a building permit tracking system to get real-time information and can use the permits to plan road improvements.

In 2023, 20 DelDOT staff members reviewed more than 2,400 design-plan submissions.

The DelDOT PLUS process includes traffic analysis, record plans, entrance and construction plans, measures to mitigate impact on traffic and possible off-site road improvements, proposed use and associated trip-generation figures, level of service analysis, existing zoning conditions including state strategies for spending, and compliance with county and municipal comprehensive plans.

In 2023, state planners conducted 282 major subdivision and 293 major commercial plan reviews in Sussex County, compared to 83 subdivision plans in Kent County and 91 in Kent County.

DelDOT is responsible for 90% of the state’s roadways.

Sen. Russ Huxtable, D-Lewes, was responsible for coordinating DelDOT’s staff attendance at the meeting.