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Don’t look for any improvements on New Road, at the Five Points intersection or a faster way to get into Rehoboth anytime soon.
Even with an influx of cash from increased fees and tolls, state transportation officials are still $500 million short in funding.
The Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) asked for $1.5 billion from the General Assembly last year in its revenue package; it received $1 billion in anticipated revenues from fees and tolls over the next six years.
The already anemic six-year Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) capital transportation program will be cut yet again to make up for the shortfall.
Of the 23 projects getting delayed or shelved, 10 are in Sussex County – all east of Georgetown.
Included in the list are projects on New Road, Plantation Road, Camp Arrowhead Road, Angola Road and the Nassau pedestrian/bicycle trail connection, Five Points-Route 9 interchange as part of the Western Parkway project and improvements on Route 1 at the entrance to Rehoboth Beach.
But, an increase of nearly $1 billion in revenue over that six-year span has allowed for new life for several key Cape Region projects, including widening and improvements on routes 24, 26 and 54, said Darrel Cole, director of DelDOT public relations.
The total budget for the six-year transportation plan is $2.9 billion.
Of the 13 potential DelDOT projects in the Cape Region, three are considered in the construction stage: Indian River Inlet Bridge; Lake Gerar Bridge in Rehoboth Beach; and the Church Street intersection in Rehoboth Beach.
“Every project needs to get done,” Cole said. “But with the anticipated revenue tough decisions have to be made.”
Cole said many of the scaled-back projects would still be worked on, but in different phases with construction either shelved or moved beyond the current six-year plan.
“There is always more demand than there is money,” he said.
When making changes, officials gave priority to projects already in progress. Also, they considered safety, air quality, traffic congestion and volume.
Rep. Joe Booth, R-Georgetown, said he is confused at the newest round of DelDOT cost-saving measures.
Booth said there was $100 million in unspent DelDOT money at the end of the last fiscal year.
Cole said the money was a carryover that was assigned to projects or other initiatives.
“I thought we had a spending plan and the plan was in place,” Booth said. “The six-year plan had been reduced to $1.5 billion with no projects cut.”
Booth, who voted for DelDOT’s revenue package last session but against the Bond Bill because of DelDOT’s reliance on outside consultants, said constant changes are eroding public confidence in the transportation department.
“They are not delivering what they promise they will deliver, or they change their mind and that happens too often,” Booth said. “That is costing taxpayers millions of dollars.”
He said skepticism over the Western Parkway and Route 113 bypass projects show that DelDOT has credibility issues. “This shows how they need to restore the public’s confidence,” he said.
Booth said he still maintains that DelDOT spends too much on outside consultants. “How can they support spending $600 million over the past 11 years on outside consultants when they are not putting shoulders on roads, not fixing intersections and not repairing back roads in Sussex?” Booth asked. “These are real quality-of-life issues.”
Even so, Booth said he realizes DelDOT is strapped for cash to complete major road projects. As a member of the Joint Finance Committee, he is pushing to get DelDOT’s operating money taken out of the Transportation Trust Fund and placed in the general fund, as is the case with other state departments.
“But, we will be looking for another $60 million for the general fund – this is going to be a rough year,” he said.
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Region’s on-hold projects total $90M
Projects in the Cape Region now on hold or changed by DelDOT action include the following:
• New Road widening with shoulders has been placed beyond six years. The estimated cost is $20 million. Cole said the purchase of rights of way is three times more than the actual construction.
• The Plantation Road project, which includes widening, shoulders and sidewalks, will continue with engineering and purchase of rights of way, but any construction is beyond another six years. The estimated cost is $8 million.
• The project to improve the entranceway to Rehoboth Beach has been shelved indefinitely. The estimated cost is $13 million.
• Improvements to the Route 9-Five Points interchange, estimated to cost $50 million, have been shelved beyond six years.
• The Camp Arrowhead Road project, which includes resurfacing, drainage and widening, will continue with design and rights-of-way purchase, but construction will not begin for at least another six years. The estimated cost is $2.6 million.
• Transportation officials will work on the purchase of rights-of-way for the Angola Road project, but construction on the $5 million project to widen the road with shoulders has been shelved.
• The Nassau rails-to-trails connection has been shelved beyond the six-year plan. The estimated cost is $4 million.
Contact Ron MacArthur at ronm@capegazette.com
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