Will We Let DelDOT Close Off The Town of Christiana To Meet The Projected Growth Demands Of New Development?

 (Christiana's 1938 flood)

Update: DelDOT announced a September 11, 2013 meeting to discuss the issues with Christiana. Time and Place TBA.

From the inbox ~ Closing down one town so other cities can be built?

Please review this plan from DelDOT! They want to close off the East Main Street of Christiana. We are looking for support from the community to block this project! DelDOT along with developers are slowly destroying what is left of our community. Christiana is one of the oldest towns in Delaware. Established in 1684! A meeting will be held with the community and DelDOT at a date in August. I will let you know of the meeting date, time and place! Come out to support us in BLOCKING this closure!

Delaware Department of Transportation - Projects

www.deldot.gov

The project limits are SR 1 from north of the SR 273 Interchange to the Roth Bridge, and including supporting interchanges.

PROBLEM: New access from NB SR 7 to NB SR 1

I clicked through the pdf of what is euphemistically called the March 273 "listening tour" held with "community leaders" to be followed by April workshops.  The graphics and maps depict trouble spots and accident statistics for SR 1 above the canal. 

I was looking for DelDOT's explanation of why they must BLOCK SR 7 - the main road to the town of Christiana. All I found was a big yellow circle indicating the termination of access to the town.

My aha moment came on page 26 of the 31-page presentation [SR 273 Interchange Option 1] (note that the presentation was created by long-time DelDOT consultants RKK - who most famously hired disgraced Minner-Markell DelDOT Secretary Carolann Wicks immediately after she resigned from the public sector, although it's hard to call RKK a private sector firm since they suck up 100's of millions of Delaware tay payer dollars per annum and who knows if they even have to bid for their contracts).

On page 26 you will see Jerry Heisler's proposed Lincoln Center Development - which is probably on hold until the issues with Rtes 7 / 273 congestion are remedied. 

And, as you will remember, just south of Lincoln Center is the famous Governor's Square development parcel that squeaked through its  2011 Traffic Impact Study with fractions of seconds to spare - a failed credibility test of Markell's replacement DelDOT Secretary Bhatt.

I googled a pertinent comment rescue ~ February 11, 2012 at 9:43 am

Minus an open thread, there’s a JackPAC story at Celia’s blog that shows Stoltz, among others, with mega-contributions to Markell’s re-election PAC. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. http://delawaregrapevine.com/2-12JackPAC.asp
DelDOT’s subpar performance RE: Barley Mill Plaza rezoning and the lack of traffic impact studies (TIS) will be in the spotlight now that a new Stoltz-Markell moneytrain has been exposed. The Stoltz family had already bundled around 10K to Markell’s campaign coffers the last time I checked. This JackPAC looks like an easy pile on.
I’ll have to check whether Bear’s Governor’s Square rezoning and its questionable TIS decision (one of DelDOT Secretary Bhatt’s first actions in office) appears to have a rebound-effect from campaign funding from the developer. There’s no doubt of the greased palms of county electeds from looking at their votes and who’s funding their campaigns.
The Stoltz – Pam Scott-Paul Clarky connection is pretty obvious.
FYI- Look for goodies related to Stoltz mega-projects in Greenville under categories for the Department of Transportation / WILMAPCO under TIS / TOA in Clark’s Comprehensive Plan Update. It’s under review in a few weeks by the NCC Planning Commission.

[Check out today's headline about funky Markell campaign funds [Markell donates questionable campaign funds] And Stoltz family money bolstered NCC Councilman George Smiley political fortunes too, just sayin'. But I digress.....]

Lincoln Center.....Governor's Square.....they have been approved by the county but the question of road capacity must be met before they can get DelDOT letter of no objection for their building permits. 

This is where the new DelDOT regulations for TID-replacing-TIS come into play. How much do developers have to pay for these HUMONGOUS road improvements necessary for their new construction plans? [DelDOT On The Wrong Path - Potential Tax Payer-Subsidy For Private Development]

This desperate need to increase traffic capacity on SR 1 above the canal is also being driven by the capacity problem from development coming below. The new Rte. 301 is being routed conveniently along past the yet-to-be-realized cities of Whitehall, Bayberry and Westown. [Developers reap big profits on DelDOT US 301 land buys]

Here's DelDOT's 2011 - 2040 Traffic increase projections:

SR1 between US 40 to SR 273 will increase 
63% or 76,500 to 125,000

SR 1between Roth Bridge and US 13 will increase 
76 % or 79,500 to 140,000

~*~