LEWES, Del. - On Wednesday evening, the Delaware Department of Transportation held a public workshop on the Henlopen Transportation Improvement District (TID).
DelDOT is working with local government to implement the TID. They say it is a boundary area of 24 square miles with 43 roadway segments and 62 intersections.
“It's a comprehensive way of coordinating land use and transportation. And the proposal is basically to collect fees from future development that then would be used to fund transportation improvements within the TID area,” says Sarah Coakley, DelDOT TID Program Manager.
Coakley says once the county and DelDOT come to an agreement to implement the TID, DelDOT will start a monitoring program to keep track of traffic, and will coordinate with the county to determine which projects are needed, and what order they go in.
At the workshop, DelDOT’s study proposal included 4 new miles of road, widening roads to 11 foot travel lanes, 12 new signals, 13 new roundabouts, 15 additional intersections, and goal improvements to maintain an average intersection Level of Service D.
Coakley says all of it is aimed at decreasing traffic, and accommodating the future land use plan.
“I thought it was very good. There was a lot of information to absorb, but I think it was presented in an organized manner, you get an understanding of what it’s all about. I'm walking away with the understanding of what A TID is. Before it was just three letters now I understand the concept behind it and what it can do for us,” said Jim Labella, who attended the workshop.
DelDOT says the full development is projected to be completed by 2045.