Pete Schwartzkopf 
 State Representative
14th District

Legislative Letter - February 2, 2004
  The Route One traffic Mitigation Committee continues to move forward.  The committee met on December 2nd and started with a PowerPoint demonstration by DelDot on the short term solutions that were before the committee.  The demonstration was very informative but one point was taken out of context and proved troublesome for weeks to follow.  That suggestion was to install better signage north of Milford to direct through traffic onto US 113 to avoid the beach traffic and to clean up some of the confusing signage within the SR 1 corridor.  During the presentation, a new universal “beach” sign, similar to the seagull sign for the Bay Bridge, was unveiled and new signs were proposed for Rt 1A and Rt 1B or State Road.  This was just an attempt to better clarify where these two exits were and to give visitors to the area more time to get into the proper lane.  It was not an attempt to get traffic to bypass Rt 1A and force more traffic onto Rt 1B.  However, someone misunderstood and rumors started to fly that this committee was trying to flood State Road with incoming traffic.  That is definitely not true.  I would rather work to improve the entranceway into Rehoboth than to use State Road as a main entrance.
    After the presentation, the committee had a very spirited debate.  Very quickly, we came to the realization that we were not going to make everyone happy so we tried to make decisions that would benefit the greater good or the most people.  We adopted eight measures that ranged from small to large projects.  The highlights of those measures are:

1.  Convert the bus lane into a third southbound lane of travel between Dartmouth Road and SR 24.  This would be a temporary measure that will disappear when DelDot starts construction of the permanent third lane.

2.  Prohibit left turns from westbound Savannah Road onto SR 1 southbound.  Traffic will be directed to turn at Rt. 12 Westcoat’s corner and enter SR 1 at the traffic light near Troop 7.

3.  Install a second lane for traffic turning left from southbound SR 1 onto Rehoboth Ave.  In essence, we are trying to double up the cars as they wait for the light so when the light turns green we can get the same amount of cars through the intersection on a much shorter light cycle.  That would allow the northbound lane of SR 1 to have a longer green cycle to help reduce the backups into Dewey Beach.

4.  Allow one lane to “Right Turn on Red” at SR 24 and SR 1.

5.  Install a mountable concrete separator between the left turn lanes going into Rehoboth and the two through lanes which continue on towards Dewey Beach.

6.  The last three measures all deal with improved signage starting north of Milford and continuing throughout the SR 1 corridor.  They would include hanging “DO NOT BLOCK INTERSECTION” signs and green road name signs from the span wire between the traffic lights.

These eight measures are already completely funded by DelDot and contracts will be awarded in the spring when the weather breaks.  As with any roadway project, the weather is the big unknown factor.  As I learned by monitoring the “Forgotten Mile” road project, road crews cannot lay roads or pour concrete for curbing if the temperature is below 32 degrees or if the ground is frozen, and you know what kind of winter we have had so far.  Let’s all pray for warmer dry weather to arrive very soon.  DelDot has assured me that these measures can be in place before Memorial Day if the cold spell breaks by March.
    I want to remind everyone that these measures will not fix our traffic problems.  Hopefully, they will help to reduce the number of days during the summer when traffic is so heavy.  Being a realist, I know that the month of July and most of August will still be out of control.  Our local economy is very good and our area has grown so fast.  Housing brings people and they bring cars so the problem will only increase.  These measures are an attempt to keep our head above water as the area continues to grow while DelDot tries to identify mid- and long-term solutions for our roadway problems.
    To that extent, we held another meeting on January 6th to discuss possible mid-term solutions.  There were many good ideas bandied about and DelDot will study them and decide which ideas are feasible and workable and present them to the committee at our next meeting scheduled for February 18th at 7:00 pm in the Lewes Library.  The public is encouraged to attend and offer their comments.  Also, the Rehoboth Entranceway Study Group has been formed and will begin looking at ways to improve the entire area from SR 1 to the Rehoboth Lewes Canal. 
As always, I am open to any suggestions to ease our traffic problems or any other concern.  You can contact me by mail at 24 Coventry Road, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971, by email at peter.schwartzkopf@state.de.us or by phone at 302-227-6252.  I am also available to speak at any homeowner’s association meeting or any other gathering of residents of the 14th District.

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