Nassau Bridge crossover should be closed

The Delaware Department of Transportation recently completed a number of changes to median crossovers along an 8.5-mile stretch of Route 1 between Cave Neck Road and Prime Hook Road. Many of those changes force drivers to turn right onto Route 1 to find a place to do a U-turn and travel in the opposite direction. Many crossovers have been closed altogether, now only accessible for emergency vehicles. These changes were made in the name of safety. 

With Route 1’s daily traffic exceeding 30,000 vehicles per day and likely to increase in coming years, these projects were smart, even if they may frustrate some drivers who now have to calculate a few more minutes into their travel time. 

But DelDOT has the opportunity to do more. The crossover at the southern base of the Nassau Bridge has long been unsafe. It has been the site of many crashes, including another just last week. Now that DelDOT has proven it can limit crossovers to emergency vehicles, there are no concerns that closing this crossing might hamper response times for fire engines and ambulances leaving Lewes Fire Department’s Station 2 next to the bridge. 

This crossover has long been dangerous, as there were more than 60 crashes between 2012 and 2018, and more than 50 in the years since then, according to Delaware’s Public Crash Data Dashboard. 

While it is true all crossovers in the Minos Conaway Road project corridor will eventually be removed, DelDOT would be wise to expedite the closure of this one, because it continues to be the site of many accidents and even more near misses.