I attended the meeting where DelDOT hosted a public workshop on the proposed Lewes Park and Ride and transit facility June 11. The Delaware Transit Corporation has developed a master plan for the facility, which is located at the former Wright Chrysler building adjacent to Lowe's property. Some 230 park and ride slots for cars and seven bus stalls are to be located on this property, along with a bus maintenance building along Shady Road.
DelDOT purchased this property for $6.4 million, giving more than the appraisal price. It now finds out that it will have to tear down the building and the cost has now jumped to $18.5 million, of course with taxpayer money. There was no public input before this site was purchased. Nor was there public input from the residents of Shady Road, where they intend to make the road larger to handle the majoriity of traffic coming from Route 9 in both directions and also for the traffic leaving the transit hub that needs to go north or straight over Route 1 on Route 9.
My concern is not the need for a transit hub. My concern is why they did not buy land for this hub farther north on Route 1 nearer to Route 16 where the impact (and I mean this literally due to the large amount of traffic at the intersection of Route 9 and Route 1) will not be so severe. Also the fact that the traffic coming off Route 9 onto south Route 1 has 3/10 of a mile to turn into the transit hub; this with the turn lane off Route 9 where traffic never stops creates a dangerous area. This is a poor choice of location.
The purpose of this transit hub is to curtail traffic on Route 1, to add parking for the Park and Ride farther south, and to add bus routes to Wilmington, Dover and Rehoboth Beach. At this point Lewes is not even on the radar. I live off Minos Conaway Road and can barely cross southbound route 1 to go north or on the return home cross southbound Route 1 to go home on the weekends, and forget holiday weekends. But of course DelDOT doesn't want to spend several thousand dollars for a stop light there; they want to spend millions so that the entire Route 1 will be affected by lack of planning.
I believe there are over 100,000 cars coming into the beach area each weekend, and double that during a holiday weekend. So 230 parked vehicles do not seem to warrant the money allocated and especially the location of this hub.
Adele R. Haas
Lewes
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