Too many traffic bottlenecks, unending development projects, and no master plan: no matter how many thoughtful letters are printed in the Cape Gazette on these subjects, and campaign pledges made every two years, nothing changes.
There are two overarching problems: (1) New proposals and projects are looked at individually, not in the context of regional and resource impact, and one-by-one, they all get approved, adding to area gridlock; and (2) too often objections and opposition can only appear after individual plans have been shaped and largely approved in private.
When will our governors, state senators and representatives, commissioners, and members of the boards of planning, zoning, and adjustment address this problem of isolationist decision making?
People are saying loud and clear we have had enough, and that our public officials need to stop saying yes to every individual development application.
Instead they should give more weight to the concerns of communities that surround the sites that are being overdeveloped, and consider development proposals in the context of how all the developments together relate to themselves and together compound the congestion problems.
Recently there have been letters printed in the Cape Gazette expressing serious concerns on two major project areas a couple of miles apart on Route 1: the Truitt Homestead assisted-living high-rise facility off Shuttle Road in the vicinity of the new Gateway shopping development where Fresh Market just went in; and new parcels being developed at the Dartmouth Quadrangle by Home Goods and the new Lefty's Alley and Eats.
Both of these areas have the same problem: existing traffic gridlock at a single entrance for major commercial stores and restaurants to both northbound and southbound Route 1 traffic, compounded by also being the only ingress and egress for numerous residential communities west of the intersection at Route 1. But in each one, they are being treated as separate, stand-alone projects.
With traffic in particular, we can't move on Route 1 during high season because our infrastructure is overwhelmed by the number of cars on the road, and this problem is creeping into non-summer months. But related directly to this problem is that we need better coordinated studies and policies relating to roads, schools, traffic lights, and transportation planning and solutions to address the overbuilding.
Officials need to start saying no on their own to new developments that do not present proper planning and up-to-date projections and foresight on the impact that the new structures will have on the existing surrounding community and infrastructure. And sometimes, to borrow a famous quote, they need to "just say no."
Mary Ann Fiske
Rehoboth Beach
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