Public input sought for Kings Highway, Gills Neck Road plan
Work is underway to develop a plan to coordinate all road-improvement projects along Gills Neck Road and Kings Highway outside Lewes. With public input on future improvements, the Department of Transportation is drafting a master plan that would give the state a big-picture guide when planning and approving projects.
As part of the Lewes Scenic and Historic Byway, the state has a responsibility to preserve the intrinsic resources of the greater Lewes area. To do that, context-sensitive design elements must be used to offer an experience that is more scenic while also addressing traffic and safety issues for drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians.
About the byway
The Lewes Scenic and Historic Byway was developed to preserve the character of roadways in and around Lewes. A byway committee has been working with the Department of Transportation for several years to develop a plan for Kings Highway, Gills Neck Road, Savannah Road, New Road, Cape Henlopen Drive and Pilottown Road.
With public input, a plan is developed to add road improvements that address traffic and safety issues while also preserving the intrinsic resources of the area.
The Corridor Management Plan gained the support of Lewes Mayor and City Council in October and was approved by DelDOT Secretary Jennifer Cohan just weeks later.
With a Corridor Management Plan in place, the byways group and DelDOT are now focusing on creating a master plan for Gills Neck Road and Kings Highway. With an approved plan, the public will have say in future improvements to byway roads.
“Each individual decision that happens for one development or the other, over time [it creates] a different road than what you had in the beginning,” said Jim Klein, a consultant working with DelDOT and the byway group. “The goal of this project is to make sure all of those things add up and work together. That is our biggest challenge.”
While the plan also encompasses Savannah Road, New Road, Pilottown Road and Cape Henlopen Drive, byway committee Chair Gail van Gilder said proposed and existing development along Kings Highway and Gills Neck Road requires their immediate attention.
She, along with Klein and Delaware Greenways Transportation Planner Jeff Greene, presented the master plan for Gills Neck Road and Kings Highway to a standing-room-only crowd Oct. 29 at the DNREC building at the end of Pilottown Road.
To preserve Lewes' character, the byway group's ideas included a landscaped boulevard along Kings Highway as it approaches the intersection with Gills Neck Road at Cape Henlopen High School, incorporating turn lanes and acceleration lanes, and bike and pedestrian paths. The plan also proposes a roundabout to alleviate traffic issues at Dartmouth Drive as well as landscaping to slow traffic on Gills Neck Road as drivers approach the recently softened curve near Cadbury.
“Should we not extend the pattern and fabric of the city of Lewes outward rather than bring the Coastal Highway development inward?” Klein said of the goal of the project.
Public frustrated
Many in the audience were not in favor of the Dartmouth Drive roundabout, saying it would cause more problems than it would solve. Many residents also aired frustrations with a plan to soften a second set of sharp curves on Gills Neck Road near the approved Showfield development, saying it encourages higher speeds.
“I sense the frustration of the crowd,” van Gilder said.
But without a plan in place, she said, complaining about the issues will go nowhere. She said it's best to develop a plan to address all of the issues comprehensively. Then when DelDOT requires a developer to make road improvements, she said, they can use the plan as a guide.
“Unfortunately, we didn't do this before any of the road construction started because we would've done it better,” she said. “What's done is done, and now we're trying to go back and fix it.”
When a project is approved, developers are often required to contribute to road improvements. Van Gilder said development along Gills Neck Road has resulted in piecemeal improvements. If a plan were in place, she said, all future improvements could be planned to work in harmony to create a safer and more picturesque roadway.
Van Gilder said the short-term goals of the project are to make safety improvements, such as improving the dangerous Junction and Breakwater Trail intersections with Gills Neck Road at the Breakwater community and at the base of the Freeman Bridge. Long-term projects will happen as more construction takes place, she said.
DelDOT will develop cost estimates for pieces of the project and to obtain necessary rights of way, van Gilder said.
Beyond the money developers contribute to each project, she said, DelDOT will also search for more funding sources to put the plan into motion.
A second public hearing will be held in January, van Gilder said. Between now and then, she said, meetings will be held with property owners along the byway corridor, including the Cape Henlopen School District, the city of Lewes, Delaware River and Bay Authority and Lingo-Townsend. The goal, she said, is to see if the byways committee and DelDOT can acquire rights of way to bring ideas from the plan to fruition.
To learn more about the Lewes Scenic and Historic Byway, go to byways.deldot.gov and click Lewes on the map. DelDOT will accept comments on the Kings Highway and Gills Neck Road master plan until Friday, Nov. 13. Comments may be sent to ann.gravatt@state.de.us.
