The following letter was sent to DelDOT, with a copy submitted to the Cape Gazette for publication.
A much more cost effective solution to the Minos Conaway intersection is as follows:
Convert the blinking light at the intersection of Route 1 and Tulip Drive to the east and Slipper Shell Way to the west to a full-time stop light. It is used only now when people are leaving the St. Jude Apostle Church on weekends and is controlled by the State Police.
Add a U-turn lane at the light so that cars leaving the Minos Conaway Road who want to head north could make a U-turn at this new stop light and then proceed north.
Remove the turning lanes at the Route One and the Nassau Road and Janice Road intersection.
Add grade separation of the intersection of Route One and Minos Conaway Road and also to the proposed stop light.
There is a sign at the north side of the Route One overpass (over the old Delaware Coast Line Railroad) which states “Welcome to Delaware Beaches” and it is a half mile to the proposed stop light. There should be an additional sign which states in “in the next 9 miles there are 14 stop lights at intersections in this beach area and that the first one is in a half mile.”
A second sign should state that “the speed limit is 45 mph for the next nine miles.”
Some comments regarding my proposal:
I live in Sandbar Village, and although I don’t have any traffic statistics, during the beach season, leaving Sandbar and going onto Route One is very, very dangerous because cars coming off the overpass are typically going 15-20 mph over the speed limit on 45 mph. During the rest of the year this intersection is only very dangerous. The only safe time is when the Delaware State Police are controlling this light when people are leaving the church!
Coming north from south of Sandbar Village, there are two possible methods to enter Sandbar Villages – one making a U-turn on Route One at the Nassau Road and Janice Road intersection, or taking Route 404 to Nassau Commons Road and then going right onto Janice Road and then going right onto Route One for 1/10th of a mile along the shoulder to make the right into Sandbar Village. My wife considers the latter safer, but again the cars coming off the overpass are always speeding independent of the season. In the off-season, the procedure is much easier for either method!
This new light would remove the very dangerous U-turn at the Route One and the Nassau Road and Janice Road intersection.
This new light would allow cars access to the retail stores on the west side of Route One from the either direction.
This light also would allow the fire department trucks to easily go either north or south on Route One in a safer manner.
In the 34 miles on Route One from the Dover Air Force Base to the Route One sign announcing the entrance to the Delaware beaches there will be no stop lights once the light at Route 16 is removed and replaced with an overpass.
This proposal meets the first three requirements stated in your Project Purpose & Need document:
Maintain the capacity of Route One corridor and improve safety at the unsignalized intersection of Route One and Minos Conaway while improving mobility and access for the local traffic.
Add grade separation of the intersection of Route One and Minos Conaway Road over the overpass, and to the proposed stop light.
Access to SR 1 will be maintained. The multi-use trail is not needed!
Ray Mahr, PE
Lewes
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