Those of us who live and work in eastern Sussex County are all too aware that worsening traffic congestion has become a 12-month phenomenon. One of my reasons for running for the state 6th District Senate seat is that, as county administrator and county finance director before that, I saw that, while Sussex accounts for 23 percent of Delaware's population, we received only 9 percent of the state's major capital roads project funding for Fiscal 2018. DelDOT anticipates that, under the new fiscal year budget, the share allocated for Sussex will increase, but to only 14 percent.
In a recent news account, DelDOT revealed a 70 percent traffic count increase on Route 24 from 2010-16, and an 82 percent increase on Route 16 - not really a surprise to any of us who live here. We in the Delaware 6th District (Milton, Harbeson, Lewes, Angola, Rehoboth and Dewey) have had a 26 percent increase in registered voters in the last almost six years, but in no way have highway planning and road infrastructure kept up.
As your state senator, I will fight for the needs of our residents in Dover.
David Baker
Democratic candidate
State Senate District 6