The comprehensive land-use plan for Sussex County is a work in progress, one that has already seen hours of workshops and meetings. The planning and zoning commission has worked tirelessly to develop a draft document now under consideration by county council.
Despite monumental efforts, so far, this plan is a sprawling document that may meet arcane state requirements, but does little to set a clear direction for future growth in Sussex County.
The 59-page mobility chapter offers literally a hundred strategies for identifying and meeting transportation needs.
This might have been a useful document 10 years ago, when rights of way may have been easier to obtain and intersections on Route 1, Route 113 and Route 26 were not already at what even the plan considers failing.
This is a plan for what might have been. What we need is a plan for the roads ahead.
The chapter's highest priority, if there is one, is establishing a mobility improvement committee to recommend to council how best to implement the rest of the plan.
To its credit, county council threw out the original recommendations for committee members; the new list remains a work in progress.
Unlike the original list of recommended participants, this committee must include a cyclist, a representative of older adults – and above all an emergency services expert – in addition to several members of the public.
Beyond the obvious, why not also include experts on innovations in ride-sharing and package-delivery technologies? Instead of paving over more farms and marshland, could we plan a central transit hub, where residents and visitors could access rapid transit to the Cape Region or to Dover, Wilmington and beyond?
We applaud officials working tirelessly to incorporate public comment and develop a workable plan, and we support efforts to establish priorities and timelines to achieve goals.
At the same time, the 2018 plan must not only improve our road network; it must also find ways to reduce pressure on roadways by emphasizing fast, efficient alternatives.
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Editorials are considered and written by Cape Gazette Editorial Board members, including Publisher Chris Rausch, Editor Jen Ellingsworth, News Editor Nick Roth and reporters Ron MacArthur and Chris Flood.
