MILTON, Del- An intersection that can be seen as confusing in Milton may be getting changed. Town Council voted Monday night to send a request to DelDOT to install stop signs on Chestnut St. where it intersects with Atlantic St. Just east of this point, Atlantic becomes Cave Neck Rd.
Currently, traffic moving east and west on Atlantic has a stop sign, but the Chestnut St. traffic does not. Drivers who stop at Atlantic may think those on Chestnut have the same requirement and could pull into oncoming traffic. While drivers on Chestnut are often seen slowing at the intersection, concerned those on Atlantic will pull their vehicle in front of them.
Jim Harrington of Milton thinks converting the intersection to a 4-way stop is the safest solution to clear up confusion.
"You never quite sure who's got the right of way and things are changing really fast down here," Harrington says. "There's a lot more people moving into the area."
However, others think adding lights instead would be safer.
"My biggest concern is the fact that this road is used a lot for the fire company vehicles," says Helen Camenisch of Milton. "If they had lights here, they could press the little button and change the light, but they say there's a lot of problems with this 4-way stop. I have not seen a lot of it myself. I've seen a couple of accidents here, but it's very congested in the morning with kids going to school."
It is a traffic issue that has been debated for over a year. In 2023, Milton's Town Council did not ratify a 4-way stop plan. Subsequent feedback has led Council to consider asking DelDOT to make this change to the intersection.
Council previously said if the request moved forward Monday night, it would like the work completed by the end of May. Click here for Milton's official timeline of this process and request.
