Milton misses out on overpass name stamp

If everything goes as planned, after years of construction, the new Route 1 overpass at the intersection of Route 16 could be completed in the first quarter of 2026. I know it’s much too late to do anything about it now, but I wish the new overpass at the intersection had been oriented with Route 16 crossing over Route 1 instead of Route 1 crossing over Route 16. The reason is simple – I think Milton is losing out by not having its name on the side of the overpass.

The state has done what I’m talking about before. In May 2019, a new overpass opened at the intersection of Route 1 and Northeast Front Street in Milford. It featured “Milford” in large letters on the side.

More recently, the Millsboro Bypass opened. Similar to Milford, the bridge going over Route 113 in Millsboro features the word “Millsboro” on the side. A piece of flair not included in the Milford overpass is a concrete stamp of Delaware in the Millsboro bridge’s support columns in the middle of Route 113. 

Of the three overpass locations, I’d say the Milton overpass project is the one most tied to the town’s downtown district.

The Millsboro overpass is one segment of a new miles-long road that’s literally designed for vehicles to avoid going into downtown Millsboro.

The Milford overpass is primarily used by vehicles going to the businesses on Silicato Parkway and the two nearby schools. I’m guessing most vehicles heading into Milford coming from the north take Route 113, while most vehicles coming from the south take Rehoboth Boulevard.

Again, I know it’s too late to get Milton’s name on the overpass at the Route 16-Route 1 intersection, but it’s not too late for any type of overpass that gets built at the Route 1 and Cave Neck Road intersection.

Observations of Nassau area

While I’m on the subject of local overpasses, I’ve got a couple of winter-related observations for the Nassau bridge area.

First, when it snows, Route 1’s southbound lanes are going to be treacherous approaching the bridge. In the best of snow removal conditions, Route 1 often drops to one in-the-middle-of-the-road lane, and that’s when there’s someplace for the plows to push the snow. This winter, from Red Mill Pond to the top of the bridge’s western ramp, there’s going to be an uninterrupted line of jersey barriers. I believe the plow drivers will salt and remove snow diligently during snow events, but I also think snow is going to build up much faster than before because the plows aren’t going to hammer snow into grass beyond the breakdown lane. Fortunately, this will be a temporary problem. 

Second, when it does snow, there’s going to be some good sledding on the bridge’s western ramp, particularly the Nassau Road side. Similar to the southbound Route 1 side of the bridge, all the trees and brush have been removed. However, instead of a hill heading straight toward the new road DelDOT is building, the Nassau Road side heads straight into a new – and deep – stormwater retention pond. I’m presuming the pond will be dry most of the time and the hill on the backside of the pond is going to stop anyone sledding before they reach Nassau Road. I’m not encouraging anyone to drive there, but if I lived in one of those nearby homes, I would definitely walk over there and take the kids down on the toboggan.

Joke of the Week

Jeff must have felt something blowing in the wind, because he submitted this joke in case I wrote a story in the future about offshore wind. I didn’t write a story, but a couple of days later there was action on one of the local lawsuits. As always, send jokes to cflood@capegazette.com.

Q: What kind of music do wind turbines like?

A: They’re huge heavy metal fans.