Wilmington is now joining an ever-growing number of cities that are exploring ways of reconnecting neighborhoods and providing new public spaces by creating “caps” over highways. These new lands are being used to create green spaces, plazas and cultural amenities that can reconnect neighborhoods and make is safer for residents in the adjacent communities to walk and bike.

 

WILMAPCO is leading the effort to study the feasibility of “capping” one or more sections of I-95 between the Delaware Avenue Bridge to the north and the 6^th Street Bridge to the south. The areas between the bridges create an opportunity between neighborhoods for new public spaces for residents.

Join WILMAPCO, DelDOT and the City of Wilmington for an in-person Public Visioning Workshop on Wednesday, November 17 from 6-7:30pm at Trinity Episcopal Church, 1108 N Adams St, Wilmington. 

Project partners want to hear your thoughts on how to best use these potential new public spaces. Spanish interpretation will be available during this event.

 

We invite your feedback at a City Council Workshop for the City of New Castle Transportation Plan on Tuesday, November 9, 6 p.m., at the New Castle Senior Center, 400 South Street, New Castle, DE 19720.

During this in-person event, learn about and help shape potential recommendations in and near the City of New Castle. Recommendations will suggest improvements for walking, bicycling, parking, driving, flooding, and freight. WILMAPCO, the City of New Castle, and DelDOT are working with the community to develop an updated City of New Castle Transportation Plan. Planners are suggesting draft alternatives based on community ideas shared at the first public workshop last February and feedback at the second workshop in September.

WILMAPCO, DelDOT, and the City of Wilmington have launched a study to examine how to best reconfigure Union Street between Pennsylvania Avenue and Sycamore Street to make it safer and serve residents and businesses better. The goal is to develop Union Street into a “Main Street” corridor that supports future land use and transportation needs for all users and modes of transportation. We want to know what you think about improving Union Street. We want to hear your thoughts on how to best improve Union Street via a brief online survey. Click below to take the survey available through November 10.

WILMAPCO, DelDOT, and New Castle County Department of Land Use are nearing completion of a comprehensive update to the 1997 Churchman’s Crossing Plan. The Churchman’s Crossing Plan includes new recommendations for transportation improvements, land use strategies, and transportation demand management (TDM) strategies.

We'd love to hear your thoughts on the Draft Churchman’s Crossing Plan Update. Comments are sought through November 22, 2021 and can be emailed to Randi Novakoff at [email protected].

The annual Delmarva Winter Freight Meeting brings together regional freight, goods movement, and economic development stakeholders to enhance awareness of major freight planning programs and initiatives; share information on significant freight and goods movement trends; and encourage public-private partnership development. The event is free, but registration is required.​

You are invited to join New Castle County either online or in-person for a presentation about key recommendations in the draft NCC2050 comprehensive plan. Following the presentation, there will be a question and answer/comment session. The in-person version will be held on December 9 with a virtual option on December 15.

Prior to the event, please take a moment to review the NCC2050 Executive Overview by clicking here. Also, please review the NCC2050 Comprehensive Plan overview video by clicking here. Visit the NCC@2050 Website for more information on past events and to review published documents and reports. Feel free to send any comments or questions to [email protected].

The Delaware Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA) is holding a two-day virtual conference addressing COVID-Informed Planning Across Multiple Sectors and Implementing Equity Through Planning. The conference will be held on December 1 and 2.

Route 141 - The latest project along Route 141 in New Castle and Newport has been under construction since late 2019 in a $91 million effort to replace the aging overpass structures, improve traffic capacity and operations and improve safety.  Currently, in the second phase of improvements, the final paving work for the project is underway and expected to be completed later this year. For more information: www.sr141improvements.com/.

I-95 - Road work on I-95 in Wilmington is underway as part of the $200 million Restore the Corridor project. The project, which began in February of this year and is projected to end in the fall of 2023, will make repairs needed to extend the service life of the bridge and avoid costly rehabilitation work for at least 30 years. For more information: https://restorethecorridor.com/traffic-alerts.

Elkton Road - Beginning in August of 2020, construction is currently underway on Elkton Road from the Maryland line to Casho Mill Road.  

The $41.2 million effort is to reconstruct and widen concrete pavement to provide a third eastbound through lane between Otts Chapel Road and south Route 4. Other improvements include upgraded bicycle and pedestrian lanes, including a 10-foot wide multi-use path.  Phase 2 began on September 8 and will continue through next year. The project is expected to be done in the spring of 2023. For more information: http://elktonroadimprovements.com/

Route 299 - The south Route 299 Improvements Project in Middletown, from south Route 1 to Catherine Street, began in July and is currently in phase one out of nine.  The project will add pedestrian and bicycle paths, improve traffic capacity and operations, widen the roadway corridor to four lanes and improve safety.  

While Phase 1 is underway, water, sewer and drainage pipes will be installed during night work. The project is expected to conclude in the fall of 2023. For more information, www.sr299improvements.com.

Route 72 - From McCoy Road to Route 71, utility relocation is underway for Route 72 and should be completed by this fall, with road improvement construction expected to begin in spring of 2022. 

The $9.8 million project near Red Lion will widen the road to four lanes with bike lanes and sidewalks and provide a center turn lane. It is expected to be completed in 2024. Updates will be posted on the project website later this year. "

As part of a continuing effort to reduce emissions and be more environmentally friendly, the Delaware Transit Corp (DTC) has received a fourth Federal Transportation Authority (FTA) grant of $3,539,640 to purchase additional electric buses. The agency has now received more than $9.1 million through these grants to support the purchase of electric buses. DART is currently running 16 electric buses statewide, with 4 additional buses going into service this fall. The 6 additional buses to be purchased with the latest grant will bring the fleet total to 26 electric buses, or about 10% of the current fixed route diesel buses.

As reported by Tom's Guide, "Cycling has been part of Google Maps’ repertoire for years now, but there’s never been a proper navigation mode for people who prefer getting around on two wheels. That’s about to change with a new feature called ‘lite navigation’.

So, rather than entering turn-by-turn navigation the way you would in a car, cyclists will be able to see important details about their route at a glance."