MILFORD, Del. - Milford City Council recently approved (page 28 of the agenda) upgrades to the bridge on Walnut Street. Also known as the Thorne Oliver Memorial Bridge, was built in 1987. It will undergo several changes to improve safety. Renovations will make it ADA compliant and include raising the bridge's surface slightly in hopes of slowing down traffic according to the City Engineer.
Dawn Tomczak who lives in Milford and relies on an electric wheelchair to travel, said at times she has waited 20 minutes for people driving on Walnut Street to stop just so she can cross,
"There's a pathway where the wheelchairs and bikes can go so that you can get across the street, but the cars that are coming in either direction, they don't know that that's there so they can't see us so we still just have to sit there and hangout and wait until all of the vehicles go by and hopefully one doesn't come flying through when you're in the middle of crossing."
However Nora Costanzeo, who also lives in Milford, said the traffic on Walnut Street is rather calm since the flashing traffic lights by DelDOT went into effect,
"Traffic is also very polite and going to the rules. They know that this is a residential street and area."
The City Engineer said this project's timeline is set for 45 days and is expected to begin on March 11. This work will cause closures of this part of the road during the project.