Five Points Working Group kicks off Phase 2

The time for talk is over, and it’s time for the Department of Transportation to get to work. 

That’s the message DelDOT Director of Planning Drew Boyce sent at the final Phase 1 meeting of the Five Points Working Group, Oct. 29 at Beacon Middle School. 

“This is not going to be one of those study efforts that gets tucked up on a shelf,” Boyce said. “We are going to make sure there is continuity, and we get to completion on many of these ideas.”

Over a 10-month period, the working group developed a list of 104 ideas to improve transportation in the Five Points area, encompassing roadways from Cave Neck Road to Route 24. The list, which included new roads, improvements to existing roads, alternative modes of transportation and others, was narrowed to 78 before the working group gave top priority to 24. The full list can be found at www.deldot.gov/information/projects/FivePoints/.

Over the next several months, Boyce said, DelDOT and Sussex County will work together to act on some of the working group’s recommendations. DelDOT will take the lead and plans to present an implementation plan to the public by early 2019. 

A Phase 2 working group will be established – existing members may stay on if they wish – and it will meet two to three times a year to monitor and discuss progress. DelDOT also plans to host a workshop annually for the public to learn about the progress made and ask questions.

DelDOT Secretary Jennifer Cohan said the state has committed to spend $1 billion on transportation in Sussex County over the next six years and $4 billion across the state during the same time frame. 

“That is our commitment to you,” she said. “I need your commitment back because some of these are tough projects.”

Projects set to begin in the next few years include the Minos Conaway/Nassau Bridge project, the Route 24 bypass in Millsboro and realigning Old Orchard Road at Savannah Road outside Lewes. 

She said a lot of energy was put into the Five Points Working Group, and she doesn’t want to see it go to waste.

She said a solution to Five Points was presented to the public in 2007, but it was vehemently opposed. That’s why it was important to bring all stakeholders together in a public setting to discuss transportation issues. It’s taken more than a decade to circle back to Five Points. 

“We cannot let that happen again,” she said. “That’s why we did this process the way we did it, so we could have as much public input up front as possible.” 

Sussex County Administrator Todd Lawson is hopeful the recommendations will result in positive change.

“Not everyone’s ideas got on the list, but in the end, we’ve got a good roadmap in front of us to work on,” he said. “We don’t want this to go on a shelf. We’ve got to see this through.”

He applauded the collaborative nature of the working group. 

“So many times we hear that the county does land use and DelDOT does roads, and we’re at a disconnect. A working group like this brought us together, and hopefully we’ll be able to see these projects to fruition.”