US Route 301 Project Development

Introduction US Route 301 is a main north south route connecting the eastern states. In Delaware, the road

connects Glasgow, Delaware at US Route 40 to the Maryland state line near Warwick, Maryland and

Middletown, DE. Currently the route is mostly a two lane highway. Recently, a proposal to rebuild the

road into a four lane tolled highway has been in the news.

What is the Problem with 301? The biggest focus of the project are truck traffic, safety, and congestion. The road has seen very many

accidents. From 2000 to 2006 alone, 1193 accidents occurred. Of these accidents, 36% of them had

injuries or death. Trucks account for nearly 30% of the traffic on this busy connector. Population in the

local area is growing and new houses are being built. There is concern that the roads are not capable of

supporting the expanding volume of traffic. Projections for the future are for continued expansion and

development.

Who Is Impacted? Anyone who travels along US Route 301, whether they are local residents, or just passing through, is

heavily impacted. More than half of the traffic going north on US Route 301 are headed to destinations

further north than where the road ends. Many of them are leaving Delaware.But local residents must

use this road to reach schools, work and shopping. Traffic snarls and truck traffic make everyday errands

time consuming. The high number of personal injury accidents is a major concern. The hope is that

more lanes and a new route path will reduce traffic congestion on the road making road travel safer for

everyone.

Property owners in the way of the new road construction will be impacted. Buildings in the way of the

roadbed will be moved or demolished- whether they are houses or businesses, or even historic

buidlings. Access to the road will likely be limited, affecting business owners in the pocketbook.

Wetlands, farms, or other agriculture may also be destroyed by the project.

History of the Problem Plans for upgrading Route 301 had been discussed for several years now. One plan was to build a four

lane highway from the New Jersey Turnpike to Washington D.C. Another idea to was to build a road

parallel to Route 301. Limited budgets prevented any plans in Delaware to be completed. Farmers also

did not like the idea of rebuilding the road. However with traffic increasing, and populations growing,

the project was reopened.

In 2005, several meetings and workshops were held with the public. Interest in the project was high. At

any one meeting, up to 1000 people may have attended (no one was quite sure!). The point of these

meetings was to get public opinion on the project, and members of the public were happy to share their

thoughts.

The Alternatives There are three choices presented here, known as alternatives. The alternatives are the Yellow

Alternative, the Green North Alternative, and the Green South Alternative. All alternatives would result

in a four lane tolled highway from the Maryland state line to Route 1. Each has its own impacts, which

are summarized in the table below.

The Yellow Alternative

The Yellow Alternative would use the existing Route 301 road at the Maryland state line. When Route

301 reached Mount Pleasant, a new road would exist that parallels Route 896. It would travel east until

it connected with Route 1.

The biggest impacts from the Yellow Alternative would be a high number of impacts to houses,

businesses, and wetlands.

The Green Alternatives

The Green North and Green South alternatives are the same until it crosses the existing Route 301. Both

alternatives would go north from the state line and crosses the existing Route 301. The Green North

Alternative then would go north and cross Route 896, and then northeast until it met Route 1. The

Green South Alternative would go the same way as the Green North Alternative but would be located

further south than the Green North Alternative.

Alternatives

Yellow Green North Green South

Home Displacement 128 4 4

Business Displacement 58 8 7

Historic Properties 4 0 0

Acres of Wetlands 50.5 26.2 28.3

Acres of Agriculture 14.1 32.6 32.6

Acres of Farmland 203 437 398

Acres Upland Forested Areas 36.9 34.1 36.8

Total Cost (millions of dollars) 686 - 758 534 - 590 526 - 582

Who Worked On This Project? The main group that is working on this project is the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT),

under the authorization of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). DelDOT has been working

closely with the Wilmington Area Planning Council (WILMAPCO) to plan out these alternatives. Finally,

DelDOT held public meetings and workshops to get public opinion and comments about all alternatives.