Ever since the plan for Route 24’s Atlantic Fields shopping center was proposed in May 2024, people from nearly everywhere except the Sussex P&Z have voiced concerns. The issue that appears most often in the Gazette is the belief that the chosen location is either undesirable or unprepared for the traffic the center is expected to generate. For context, the site is currently a soybean field less than a mile from Route 24’s intersection with Route 1. Traveling westbound on Route 24 from Route 1, drivers encounter four traffic lights. This portion of Route 24 was recently widened to two lanes on each side of the highway. Although traffic becomes relatively heavy during peak seasonal periods, nothing unusual occurs outside of mild signal backups during the rest of the year.
Critics argue the added traffic from Sussex County, the Salisbury area and potentially beyond could significantly increase daily congestion on Route 24, especially in the summer when tourists are in town. While this may seem like a valid reason to oppose the center’s location, it is still one of the most practical sites when considering key factors. It sits near the major population and tourist hubs of the beach region, making it far more convenient than alternatives. Some suggest moving the project to Milton or Millsboro, but both locations are far enough to undermine that convenience. Millsboro would require beach-area travelers to navigate the one-lane-each-way stretch of Route 24 through heavily developed Long Neck. A Milton site would push even more drivers onto Route 1 for several additional miles, requiring them to pass through numerous traffic signals – exactly the conditions many residents already complain about.
It is also worth noting that many who oppose the location of Atlantic Fields would likely support a similarly sized housing development on the same field. Such a development would generate comparable, if not greater, daily traffic as residents commute year-round. In that sense, the opposition to the shopping center’s traffic impact rings somewhat inconsistent.
Traffic may indeed worsen once the center is built, but realistically, there is no feasible way to prevent that. Development in the area is ongoing, population growth is steady and the regional road network can only be expanded so much. Given these constraints, the proposed location for Atlantic Fields may not be perfect, but it remains one of the most logical and efficient options available.
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