Future
As the main north–south state highway in Delaware, as well as the primary route to the Atlantic Seashore, DE 1 is currently seeing major problems with its existing infrastructure, most of which dates back to its 1978 inception. In addition to the building of a new cable-stayed bridge over the Indian River Inlet to replace aging twin box-beam bridges built in the 1970s, DelDOT has been rebuilding DE 1 between Dewey Beach and the Rehoboth Outlets, primarily to give DE 1 a "Main Street" feel, but at the same time, making improvements on underground utilities. At the US 9/DE 404 junction near Lewes, DelDOT is currently undertaking a widening project that will have DE 1 widened to a total of six lanes between the junction and DE 1A, relieving congestion to both beachgoers and those wishing to shop at the numerous outlet stores that dot the area.
Even on the toll road between Dover and Wilmington, there are plans to widen the highway between Tybouts Corner and I-95/Delaware Turnpike to six lanes, as a need to reduce congestion, as well as rebuilding the DE 1/I-95 cloverleaf interchange to one with high-speed ramps, allowing southbound and northbound traffic to access I-95 without having to "mix" in with merging traffic (the new DE 58 bridge over I-95, completed in 2006, being long enough to accompany the additional lanes). In addition to the expansion projects, plans are underway to build an "extension" of the highway, which will carry the US 301 designation, that will bypass Middletown and allow an alternative route to Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, without having to travel on the heavily congested I-95/John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway on Maryland's Western Shore.
DelDOT is currently improving the interchange with DE 1 and I-95 in Christiana. Traffic volumes have increased at the interchange, which is located near the Christiana Mall. The project includes adding "fly-over" connecting ramps from northbound and southbound DE 1 to northbound and southbound I-95 which will allow for easier merging patterns and the elimination of lengthy backups on the current ramp design. Construction of a new "ring access road" around Christiana Mall began in February 2011 and was completed in March 2012, with a newly built bridge over DE 1, just south of the I-95 interchange. Completion of the reconstruction is expected in the later part of 2013.
Other plans, including rebuilding DE 1 to a "semi-freeway" (similar in nature to US 301 in Maryland) have also been floated, but the future currently lies in the possible privatization of both DE 1 and the Delaware Turnpike, as well as the possible upgrading of the highway to an Interstate Highway route.
There are plans to replace several at-grade intersections with grade separated intersections along the route. They include DE 1/Frederica Road in Frederica, DE 1/Bowers Beach Road in Little Heaven, DE 1/DE 30 in Milford, and DE 1/Thompsonville Road in Milford.
Read more about this topic: Delaware Route 1
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