Big changes proposed for Minos Conaway/Nassau bridge

Since 2008, nearly 200 crashes have occurred at seven Route 1 crossovers from Five Points to just north of Minos Conaway Road. Sixty-one occurred at the crossover immediately south of the Nassau bridge alone, while the blinking light at St. Jude Church accounted for 42 crashes and Minos Conaway Road for 37 more.

If the Department of Transportation moves forward with an ambitious $32.7 million plan to overhaul the Minos Conaway/Nassau bridge corridor, the look and feel of the road system approaching the resort area will change significantly. Project Manager John Caruano says it will be for the better. 

“It’s very dangerous,” he said of the several crossovers. “From a safety standpoint, we had a lot of crashes in that area.” 

The proposed project, presented to the public at a Feb. 15 workshop, would eliminate all crossovers from Minos Conaway Road to Five Points and create new local roads running parallel to Route 1 on both sides from Minos Conaway Road to the Nassau bridge. A two-lane road and trail would run under the Nassau bridge to connect the new roads, giving drivers who currently have to cross two lanes of high-speed traffic a safer path to the opposite side of the road.

The new southbound road from Minos Conaway would connect with Janice Road near the Lewes Senior Center. A multi-use trail is proposed to connect Minos Conaway Road to the Lewes-to-Georgetown Trail, which will run along the railroad tracks from Lewes to another section of Minos Conaway farther west. Construction is set to begin later this year on the second phase of the Lewes-to-Georgetown Trail.

The new road layout would result in significant changes at three intersections. For each, DelDOT proposes two options. Since Minos Conaway would no longer have direct access Route 1, planners propose a roundabout to accommodate traffic using a new exit off Route 1, traffic from Minos Conaway and traffic coming north along the new road from the Nassau bridge. 

At the new three-road intersection with Janice Road, DelDOT proposes either a traditional traffic light or a roundabout. The same options, on a larger scale, are proposed for the four-road intersection at Nassau Road and New Road. 

Immediately south of the Nassau bridge, DelDOT also plans to widen Route 1 from two to three lanes, accommodating an acceleration lane coming from Janice Road. 

Design for the project is expected to continue through 2022, with right-of-way acquisition occurring concurrently until 2021. Construction is expected to begin in 2022 and last two years. 

The project fell into place thanks, in part, to the decommissioning of the railroad last fall. Prior to that, Caruano said, it was difficult to meet all of the traffic needs in the limited space. 

“This way anyone on either side of Route 1 can go whichever direction they want,” he said. 

Safety and efficiency of the intersection of Route 1 and Minos Conaway Road was identified in DelDOT’s 1999 Corridor Capacity Preservation Program, which attempted to preserve future expansion of Route 1 by minimizing the impacts of development along the corridor. The overpasses from New Castle County to southern Delaware were a result of the program. 

Capuano said DelDOT had originally planned to build an overpass at Minos Conaway Road, but it would’ve required acquiring already developed commercial and residential properties. 

“It would’ve gone across into Meineke and into the Nassau Grove development and taken some of those houses,” he said.  

In 2011, DelDOT did a feasibility study for a connector road from Route 1 southbound to New Road. At the time, the Delaware Coast Line Railroad was still using the railroad tracks to transport materials to SPI Pharma near Cape Henlopen State Park. The feasibility study evaluated adding a single, one-way lane of travel along the railroad. 

DelDOT then developed conceptual designs for the New Road connector in 2015. It was determined the project had significant risks and expenses associated with the proposed plan.

Caruano said he and his colleagues will take comments received at the public workshop and reevaluate the plan to see if any tweaks are needed. For more information on the plan, go to https://www.deldot.gov/information/projects/SR1MinosConaway/workshop/.