Roads inadequate for commercial rezoning

Sussex County officials should take note: A 12-acre shopping center on Route 1 at the entrance to Rehoboth is expected to add about 11,000 weekday trips to traffic on Route 1.

That estimate, by the developer’s own traffic consultant, is nearly 20 percent more than state officials estimate was already using Route 1 near Rehoboth in 2012.

Vehicles making those trips have to come from somewhere – Route 1, Route 24 and Route 9 for starters.

This development required no rezoning because it is going up on land already zoned commercial – and it’s not the only commercially zoned site near the Route 1 corridor waiting to be developed.

Meanwhile, other than sidewalks and crosswalks on Route 1 and intersection improvements on Routes 24 and 9, state transportation officials have no plans for highway improvements in the Cape Region.

Even when it comes to the Five Points intersection, so inadequate it’s known as Malfunction Junction, there is no plan for what to do or how to pay for it.

When growth in the commercial corridor on many days is already bringing traffic to a standstill at points from Route 16 to Dewey Beach, one thing should be abundantly clear: Our highway system cannot support rezoning agricultural land near Route 1 for commercial purposes.

It is irrational to suggest existing highways can handle the proposed 114-acre Overbrook Town Center, with its 5,000 parking spaces – 10 times the size of the commercial area under construction near Rehoboth. From the point of view of those who live here, the roads to get to this shopping center will not support this project.

There is room for commercial growth in Sussex, but it should be directed away from Route 1 to the county’s central spine: the Route 13-Route 113 corridor. Commercial growth in central Sussex would draw traffic away from congested Route 1 and would better serve residents of western Sussex.