DELAWARE- Long before the idea of a growth special took shape, the roads kept showing up in my reporting, again and again, in different ways.
It started with stories about rising pedestrian fatalities. Then it was new developments with unfinished or unpaved roads. And every busy season, the same images kept repeating themselves: traffic backing up farther on Coastal Highway and frustration becoming part of daily life for people who live here.
So when we began planning this story, we didn’t start with officials. We started with the people who use these roads every day. Longtime residents told us what they’ve been feeling for years: the roads are getting worse.
Newer residents shared something just as telling; many moved here expecting a quieter, slower Delaware, only to find congestion that didn’t match the picture they had in their heads.
That led us to DelDOT, where we learned the challenges are shared across multiple agencies. Secretary of Transportation Shante Hastings acknowledged the department is struggling to keep up, and the reasons are layered. Sussex County roads receive far less federal funding than New Castle County. While DelDOT says it would prefer to improve roads before large developments are built, that ideal doesn’t always line up with available funding.
Along the way, I also learned how different Delaware is from neighboring states. In places like Maryland and Virginia, counties manage their own road infrastructure. In Delaware, that responsibility falls almost entirely on DelDOT.
There are also gaps in planning. Sussex County’s land-use map doesn’t fully align with the state’s, creating disconnects between where development is approved and where road improvements follow. The county points to the state. The state points to funding. And in the middle are the people driving, walking and biking these roads every day.
Changing that system wouldn’t be simple. Shifting road responsibility to the counties would require legislative action and DelDOT officials note counties may not want that burden, which includes everything from maintenance to snow removal.
What this reporting showed me most is that growth doesn’t just happen on paper. It shows up in traffic backups, safety concerns and daily routines. And as Sussex County continues to attract more people, state and local leaders will have to find better ways to work together. Not just to keep traffic moving, but to keep people safe in the First State.