Is there a solution for Malfunction Junction?

With local legislators and Sussex County leaders taking renewed interest, state transportation officials are taking a new look at how to improve an intersection that has confounded motorists for so long it has its own name: Malfunction Junction.

The Five Points intersection is fed by key roads: northbound and southbound lanes of Route 1, Beaver Dam Road, Route 9 and Plantation Road, each of them among the most heavily traveled in the Cape Region, converging at an intersection that is a gateway into the City of Lewes.

Delaware Department of Transportation officials developed a plan for the  intersection nearly 10 years ago, but it was met with so much opposition, they called it quits. Since then, key parcels that had been reserved for possible roadwork have now been developed.

At the urging of Sen. Ernie Lopez, R-Lewes, DelDOT officials met April 29 in the Lowe's parking lot just a few feet from the intersection to discuss a path forward. House Speaker Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth Beach, also attended.

“We have looked at options in the past including an overpass,” said Mike Simmons, DelDOT's assistant director of project development. “This is really six points; it's hard to configure an overpass with six roads coming together. We need to turn it into four points.”

Options to ease congestion at the intersection – including an overpass, a new road known as Western Parkway and the relocation of Route 9 to combine it with Beaver Dam Road – were presented in 2007 and 2008. Some business owners opposed an overpass because it would have required relocating their  establishments, Simmons said, adding there was strong opposition to the Western Parkway as well.

“We stopped working on this because of the lack of support and also the lack of any funding,” Simmons said.

Schwartzkopf said he's frustrated public support did not develop for the proposed improvements. “DelDOT would have been able to do something to help for many years ahead,” he said.

Geoff Sundstrom said because Sussex County government has placed a high priority on Five Points improvements in its annual report to DelDOT, state transportation officials are obligated to take a look at options.

Lopez said he feels strongly that work at the intersection will score highly in DelDOT's project prioritization process. Sundstrom said safety issues at the busy intersection would add weight to the scoring process.

DelDOT's Mark Cote said the landscape in the area has changed over the past decade, noting key parcels that had once been reserved for possible roadwork are now developed or scheduled for development, including land in The Vineyards and Lewes Crossing.

Lopez said it's unproductive to dwell on the past. “That was then,” he said. “We have new data; we need to focus on what we are going to do better.”

He said the area around Five Points is changing, with additions to existing communities and several new developments under construction. “This is coming at a good time,” he said.

Simmons said residents in Belltown and Jimtown could be affected by roadwork and federal environmental law will become part of the process once options are presented. “We can't unjustly impact low-income families. I'm sure that issue will be raised during workshops,” he said.

Even if a project is approved and put into DelDOT's capital transportation plan, it would be years in the design, engineering and rights-of-way purchase stages before construction could be contemplated if a funding package could be secured.

DelDOT's latest traffic count for the Route 1-Route 9 aspect of the intersection is more than 54,800 vehicles per day. Even though the last count was conducted in 2005, it is still the second highest average daily traffic count on any road in the county.