Master plan needed for Route 1

People love to grouse about Delaware's Department of Transportation. Our state transportation system is so much a part of everyone's daily life that it makes an easy target.

The fact of the matter, however, is that we have an excellent network of roads - a comprehensive and pervasive network of roads - in Sussex County and throughout Delaware. Those who travel up and down Route 1 can feel - through the smoothness of the ride of their tires on new asphalt - how DelDOT is keeping that important path to our resort areas in excellent shape.

But it's not just the major roads of Sussex County that receive DelDOT's attention. The interior roads of Sussex, which offer a hundred different ways to make our way to destinations all over the county, are also in good shape, and DelDOT keeps them that way.

Bicyclists and walkers would like to see more shoulders on many of them, but for the most part we can't complain.

Still, there will always be areas where improvement is needed and would be welcomed. One of the most pressing is the commercial stretch of Route 1 between Five Points and Delaware Seashore State Park south of Dewey Beach.

With the dizzying array of shopping, dining and recreational opportunities along what has become Main Street for Delaware's Cape Region, this stretch of highway needs a level of attention far above what it has now. It has a lot going for it in terms of literal attractiveness - one of the busiest stretches of roadway in the state - but it lacks one of the very basic components that make people comfortable: safety.

The constant sirens and flashing lights of emergency vehicles are a steady reminder of the many accidents and injuries - too many of them fatal - that plague the ocean boulevard.

Stopgap measures like another crosswalk or another stoplight are OK for the short term, but for the long-term health and vitality of this ocean boulevard, a more comprehensive view needs to be taken to increase the safety and aesthetics of this important corridor.

DelDOT and Sussex County officials need to put their heads together to find the resources for a complete analysis and study that will lead to a plan that we can begin implementing year by year, so  20 years from now we can all say “Wow, we did the right thing.”

That effort needs to begin immediately. Increasing traffic, congestion and safety problems won't wait.