April 2017
WILMAPCO Meetings

All meetings are open to the public. Unless otherwise noted, meetings are held in the WILMAPCO Conference Room.

April 4, 3:00 p.m.

April 13, 10 a.m.

April 13, 1 p.m.

April 17, 6:30 p.m.

April 20, 10 a.m.

Good Friday WILMAPCO Closed
April 14

In case of inclement weather, please call (302) 737-6205, or toll free from Cecil County at (888) 808-7088 for cancellations or postponements.

For updates or more information on upcoming WILMAPCO meetings, please visit www.wilmapco.org
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WILMAPCO E-News 
Transportation news and events from the
Wilmington Area Planning Council (WILMAPCO). 
WILMAPCO News
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Rt9Route 9 Corridor Master Plan
WILMAPCO's Route 9 Corridor Master Plan is nearly complete. The plan outlines strategies for revitalizing a three-mile stretch of Route 9 near Wilmington, including the highway's adjacent communities. Requested by New Castle County, the work has been guided by a steering committee of civic leaders, state and county government, and community organizations. The plan, guided by an extensive outreach process, makes both detailed and broad recommendations, including: rezoning to separate industrial and residential, new truck routes to keep trucks off of residential streets, redesigning key intersections to improve traffic and safety on Route 9 and Memorial Drive, creating pedestrian and bicycle connections between neighborhoods, and much more. To view the draft report, please visit www.wilmapco.org/route9. If you have any thoughts on the draft Plan, or have any public meetings or events we could present it at, please contact Bill Swiatek at: (302) 737-6205 x113 or [email protected] or Jake Thompson at: (302) 737-6205 x116 or [email protected] .

UPWPWILMAPCO's Draft Work Program will soon be Available for Public Review  
On April 3, WILMAPCO will release its draft FY 2018 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) for public review and comment. The UPWP, WILMAPCO's $2.1 million dollar work program, includes a summary of administrative, technical, and transportation planning tasks to be performed by the agency for the upcoming fiscal year. Interested residents and organizations are invited to review and provide written comments on the draft UPWP from Monday, April 3 to Friday, May 5. The document will be available at WILMAPCO's office or online at www.wilmapco.org/upwp. For more information, to comment, or to request a copy, please contact [email protected] 
or call (302) 737-6205.
Local News
bike
UnionStUnion Street Reconfiguration Project
West Side Grows Together, the City of Wilmington, Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) and WILMAPCO are seeking your feedback on proposed changes to Union Street between Pennsylvania Avenue and Sycamore Street.

To allow you the opportunity to review and provide feedback on proposed changes, a Public Workshop will be held on Wednesday, April 26 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the Woodlawn Library, 2020 W 9th St, Wilmington
 
Proposed changes include reducing vehicular lanes from three to two, adding clearly marked crosswalks and a buffered bicycle lane, and increasing the number of parking spots by adding diagonal back in parking. The goal of the project is to create a safer Union Street for all. Currently, speeding traffic along Union Street makes it unsafe for those walking, biking or taking public transportation. This project will make it safer for people to walk and bike, and enjoy all the businesses along the corridor.
 
To review project information and provide feedback, please visit www.wilmapco.org.  

WebinarBe Clean and Green Webinar
Join the RideShare Delaware Team and Morgan Ellis of Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) to broaden your knowledge of clean transportation in Delaware on Wednesday April 5, from 10 to 10:45 a.m. Learn how your company can benefit from state programs through use of alternative fuels and what Delaware is doing to go green.  To register for this webinar, please visit http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/regform?oeidk=a07edwauncnde5dad50&c=f197c850-0376-11e7-aad6-d4ae52a82222&ch=f220f580-0376-11e7-aad6-d4ae52a82222.

UDHarnessing Technology for Place-Based Economic Development
The University of Delaware Institute for Public Administration invites you to a session that will introduce participants to how states, localities, and businesses are coordinating investments in technology and place to help their communities successfully compete for talent, jobs, and revenue. Planners, public officials, and all those interested in economic development are encouraged to attend on April 18 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. This session will be hosted by 1313 Innovation at 1313 N. Market Street, Suite 110A in Wilmington, DE. The registration deadline is April 11. To learn more, please visit www.ipa.udel.edu/events.html.

National News
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TrainsStop! Trains Can't Safety Campaign 
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) launched the Stop! Trains Can't campaign aimed at young male motorists to make the right choice at railroad crossings. The campaign is the latest in a two-year effort by U.S. DOT to reduce accidents, and ultimately fatalities, at railroad crossings around the country. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) have partnered on the nationwide effort. Its message is simple: Stop. Trains can't. To learn more, visit www.transportation.gov/stop-trains-cant.  
 
HI5Community-Wide Interventions That Have Health Impact in 5 Years (HI-5) Web Forum: An In-Depth Look at Public Transportation Expansion 
Join Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other national experts to discuss expanding public transportation, one of the CDC's Health Impact in Five Years (HI-5) initiative interventions. The HI-5 initiative highlights a list of non-clinical, community-wide approaches with a proven track record. Each intervention listed is associated with improved health within five years and is reported to be cost-effective or cost-saving over the lifetime of the population or even earlier.

This Web Forum series highlights specific interventions identified in the HI-5 initiative and will provide stakeholders with the opportunity to hear real-world examples of how local and state-level organizations have expanded public transportation to meet the needs of their communities.

For more information, visit https://www.cdc.gov/policy/hst/hi5/ and to register, visit: https://publichealthinstitute.webex.com.

SDCarsMost U.S. drivers are not ready to share the road with self-driving cars 
According to CBS 4, "In a study conducted in 2016 by AAA, the level of acceptance towards driver-less cars continued to be less than 25% although in the 2017 study, drivers were getting a bit more comfortable in surrendering some features of driving, but are not totally ready to give up complete control. Some other findings from the AAA survey include:
  • Half (54%) of U.S. drivers feel less safe at the prospect of sharing the road with a self-driving vehicle, while one-third (34%) feel it wouldn't make a difference and only 10 percent say they would feel safer.
  • The majority (59%) of U.S. drivers want autonomous vehicle technology in their next vehicle, while the remainder do not (25%) or are unsure (16%).
  • Three-quarters (78%) of Americans are afraid to ride in a self-driving vehicle."
 
TransitWho Rides Public Transportation 
According to the Transportation Research Board, "The American Public Transport Association has released a report that summarizes passenger characteristics of U.S. public transit users. Regional surveys were conducted between 2008 and 2015 and included slightly different questions in each region to accommodate the local needs of transit customers."  To view the report, please visit www.apta.com/resources/reportsandpublications/Documents/APTA-Who-Rides-Public-Transportation-2017.pdf.