Bowers Beach Fire Hall
October 26, 2004
4:00 to 7:00 p.m.

PROJECT UPDATE:

The project presented tonight was identified as part of DelDOT’s SR1 Corridor Capacity Preservation Program. The program began as DelDOT policy in 1992 and was made into law in 1996. The Corridor Capacity Preservation Program is intended to preserve the capacity of existing transportation facilities rather than build new facilities on new alignments. In 1998, ten locations were identified along the SR1/US113 corridor that will require improvements to the roadway in order to preserve the capacity of the facility. The Little Heaven / SR 1 area was one of these project locations identified and presented at Public Workshops in 1998.

The Delaware Department of Transportation developed Alternatives A and B for SR 1 in the area of Little Heaven. All alternatives developed preserve capacity and enhance safety by separating local and through traffic and removing the existing traffic signals located within the project study area. These alternatives were shown at the Public Workshop in February 2004 and included a bridge structure north of Mulberrie Point Road. Concerns were raised about the separation of the community and a lack of interconnectivity between the eastern and western sides of Little Heaven. The Bowers Beach, Frederica, and Magnolia Fire Companies also had concerns about emergency access to the Little Heaven area.

From feedback received from residents and the local fire companies, Alternatives C, D, and E were developed. Alternatives C, D, and E involve moving the bridge structure to the Bowers Beach Road intersection. The existing intersection at Bowers Beach Road will remain, but SR 1 will pass over the intersection on a bridge structure. There are variations on local access, notably in the vicinity of the Tara subdivision.

Alternative F was developed in response to comments from the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). The SHPO raised concerns over visual impacts to the Jehu Reed House, which is located on southbound SR1 at the Bowers Beach Road intersection. The bridge structure and the Bowers Beach Road intersection were moved to the south to reduce the visual impact of the bridge to this historic resource.

Alternatives C, D, E and F all include the extension of the project southward to Barratt’s Chapel Road. A new tie-in between Barratt’s Chapel Road and the western service road is provided, resulting in the closure of the median crossover located at Barratt’s Chapel Road. This avoids an unsafe situation of having several conflicting movements happening in the same area.

Alternatives C, D, E, and F were presented at a Public Workshop on July 20, 2004. As a result of comments received at that workshop and compiling all of the previous comments from residents, local fire companies, and state and federal natural and cultural resource agencies, Alternative C, with a slight variation, has been selected as the Preferred Alternative and presented here this evening. This alternative was selected based on a balance of the concerns of all parties involved.

A comment sheet is being provided for you to express your concerns about the project. Please let us know what you like and what you do not like about the project. As always, not every comment can be accommodated, but all comments will be considered.

Display Boards for Meeting

• Project History (485kb)*
• CCCP Objectives & Program Goals part 1 (253kb)*
• CCCP Objectives & Program Goals part 2 (257kb)*
• Milestones (431kb)*
• SR1 CCP Project Locations (1.07mb)*
• Little Heaven Accident Data (443kb)*
• Little Heaven Location Map (2.82mb)*
• Little Heaven Pictures (648kb)*
• Preferred Alternative (4.58mb)*
• North Tie-In (1.92mb)*
• Bridge Rendering (836kb)*
• Comment Form (103kb)*

* In order to view the file(s) that are saved in Portable Document Format (PDF), you will need to download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader from Adobe Systems. Visitors with visual impairments or limitations can also access a free suite of tools from Adobe Systems to assist in viewing documents in PDF format.