Our election is over and Sussex County Council is set for the next two years. While Mark Schaeffer won in District 3 we must take note that Patti Drago garnered over 10,000 write-in votes with a campaign cobbled together by nonpolitical volunteers in only six weeks. That is an amazing feat and speaks to the concerns many in District 3 had, not only with the Republican candidate, but with the state of affairs we face here in eastern Sussex. Make no mistake, the message sent is clear. Residents of eastern Sussex are tired of development without infrastructure first, tired of gridlock. Patti Drago deserves the thanks of all of us in Sussex for stepping up and giving District 3 residents a choice. I certainly hope she will stay involved in Sussex County issues and perhaps run for office again.
A new phase starts now, watching what the council does regarding land-use decisions and, in particular, what Mr. Schaeffer does. Paying particularly close attention to decisions affecting the Route 24 corridor, has been, and will be, a focus of those of us who live along Route 24.
We are in gridlock now, and not just because of construction. There are just too many feeder roads with too many homes funneling to a two-lane road, deemed major only because of all the traffic it must carry. What can you expect? A new measure of our crowded area is the maxed out capacity of Love Creek Elementary School, and this just after a few years! This too should come as no surprise. The residents along Route 24 in eastern Sussex deserve better, both those who have been here for years and those more recently attracted to our area. We are all paying a price for land-use decisions made over the past years that have placed us in this situation. Without proper infrastructure to support the population growth, all residents are put at risk.
And one last thing, speaking of risk, the crosswalk on Camp Arrowhead Road that I first wrote about in March is still there. In early October, retired DelDOT Secretary Cohan took responsibility for it and said a sight visit would be happening soon with a whole solution to follow. What does it take to get this done? This is a black eye on DelDOT and I implore DelDOT to make it happen, make it go away. If the council and planning and zoning continue to allow shared amenities and bike paths that go nowhere, bikers, walkers and drivers will all be at risk. I still don’t know how anyone could think this crosswalk was a good idea!
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