State OKs $1.8M for Milton Royal Farms

By a unanimous vote Sept. 17, the state Transportation Infrastructure Investment Fund, a governing body of the Delaware Department of Transportation, approved a $1.8 million grant for Royal Farms to do traffic improvements near the intersection of Route 16 and Union Street Extended in Milton.

Royal Farms has proposed to build a new gas station and convenience store on a 2-acre parcel at the corner of Route 16 and Union Street Extended. The project’s site plans have already been approved by the Milton Planning and Zoning Commission, but the main hang-up for the project, which was first announced in 2021, has been planned improvements to the intersection. 

The scope of work includes reconstruction, widening and restriping of Route 16 and Union Street Extended. There will be dedicated left turns into the parcel from both approaches on Route 16 and a right-turn lane on Union Street Extended. Plans also include a bike lane through the intersection, modifications to the traffic signal, a pedestrian crossing, stormwater management upgrades and a new transit stop. Royal Farms officials said at the Sept. 17 meeting that the store will create 24 new jobs.

For a for-profit entity like Royal Farms to be eligible for a TIIF grant, it must meet four criteria: demonstrate job creation, how the venture will stimulate secondary job growth, demonstrate no adverse impacts to disadvantaged communities and the business must demonstrate financial stability.

In support of the application, Kristiana Robinson of the Delaware Division of Small Business said new employees from the Royal Farms will boost state and local tax revenues, and Royal Farms is a stable business in good standing with the state.

Shawn Tucker, representing Royal Farms, said the improvements to the intersection are needed with or without the store there. While the store is within the town’s Transportation Improvement District, that plan, which helps provide state funding for transportation improvement projects within participating municipalities, has not yet been finalized. Tucker said Royal Farms paused construction on the new store and sought state help when it became clear that costs for the intersection, which Royal Farms originally intended to pay for out of its own pocket, were higher than anticipated. He said Royal Farms typically invests $7 million into each new store. 

Milton Town Manager Kristy Rogers said, “I think this is an economic engine for the Town of Milton.”

Mayor John Collier said the project will help bring much needed safety improvements to the Route 16/Union Street Extended intersection. 

The TIIF committee did raise concerns that the project takes place in an area that is already mostly developed and is right next to another gas station/convenience store, Milton Quick Stop. Rogers said the Route 16 corridor within Milton does not have a lot of space for new development and much of the development is fairly new. 

Satisfied, the committee voted to approve the Royal Farms application.