Roundabout section opening date to be determined
The end of March has come and gone. That was the planned timeline for Delaware Department of Transportation officials to open the Plantation Road to Beaver Dam Road portion of the roundabout near the Five Points intersection.
“With nearly seven inches of rain over the past two months, work on all our projects slowed, including this one. We’ll be sharing a revised schedule soon,” said Charles McLeod, DelDOT director of community relations.
The roundabout is part of Phase 1 of major road improvements along Plantation Road to the Robinsonville Road intersection.
When complete, the 90-degree turn along Plantation Road near Lowe’s will become more gradual as it nears the new roundabout. The extended Route 9 access road will have two dedicated left-turn lanes onto westbound Route 9, with a dedicated merge lane for right turns onto eastbound Route 9 toward Five Points.
Lowe’s has installed a new entrance off the southbound lanes of Route 1 adjacent to the DelDOT Transit Center.
Salt Marsh Boulevard, which provides access to the Henlopen Landing community, will no longer intersect Beaver Dam Road at Church Street. Instead, it will have its own leg off the roundabout. Salt Marsh Boulevard remains closed during the first phase of construction. The Church Street connection to Beaver Dam Road will also be eliminated.
Going southbound out of the roundabout, Plantation Road will be dualized past Shady Road, where one of the two lanes will become a dedicated right-turn lane for traffic using Robinsonville Road.
Route 9 will also see improvements. Vehicles traveling westbound from Route 1 will have two dedicated turn lanes into the roundabout off Route 9. The goal is to store more vehicles to alleviate backups into the Five Points intersection, which often block southbound Route 1 traffic, according to DelDOT officials.
The project included the demolition of the Bests’ Ace Hardware building along Route 1.
The new road through the former Bests’ property will have a dedicated right-turn lane, a through lane to the new roundabout, and a hybrid lane for left turns and through traffic.
Work will continue on Plantation Road after the roundabout and the new road through the former hardware store property open. The entire project is expected to be complete by spring 2025.
