The Committee of 100 | FYI Archives

New Castle County Chief Administrative Officer Sherry Freebery has convened a task force to discuss how to improve redevelopment in New Castle County. Members of the task force include Beverley Baxter for The Committee of 100; John McMahon, DCA; Suzanne Moore, Delaware State Chamber of Commerce; Maureen Minker, AIA Delaware; and Ron Walker, New Castle County Chamber of Commerce, representing business organizations. Individuals also representing the business community include Jeremy Abelson, PNC; Larry Tarabicos, Young, Conaway, Stargatt & Taylor; Doug Snyder, the Concord Group; Verino Pettinaro, Pettinaro Construction; and Jeff Bross, Duffield Associates. Umbrella civic organization representatives include Dan Bockover, CCOBH; Ken Murphy, GHADA; and Norm Spector, Bear/Glasgow Council of Civic Organizations. Nathan Hayward, Secretary of Transportation; John Wik, Director of DEDO; and Nick DiPasquale, Secretary DNREC; and Andrea Kreiner, Governor's Advisor, were invited from the State.

During the first meeting on June 11th, chaired by Department of Land Use Manager Charles Baker, the group noted examples of impediments to redevelopment in the County. Impediments focused first on large issues such as traffic Level of Service (LOS) requirements; environmental regulations, including riparian buffer, floodplain, and resource protection limitations; parking, landscaping, setback/buffer, and stormwater management requirements; sewer capacity problems; and building code standards. The discussion also included specific examples of the silliness of some requirements when it comes to implementing them in real-life situations.

The next meeting will be held July 11th. If you have ideas or specific suggestions to change the UDC or the Department of Land Use process in order to facilitate redevelopment, please pass them on to Beverley as soon as possible. The County is looking for ways to make some quick fixes as well as the more complicated changes that will take more time.

Tyler McConnell Bridge Task Force Decides

If you saw Beverley Baxter slip away from the June 18th Annual Barbecue early, it was because, after staying long enough to greet our guests, including Senator Tom Carper, Governor Ruth Ann Minner, and Treasurer Jack Markell, she was hightailing it over to Hagley's Soda House to participate in the crucial vote on the Tyler McConnell Bridge (TMB). Beverley has served on the TMB Task Force that has been meeting an average of twice a month since last September to determine what transportation improvements should be recommended to the Governor and Secretary of Transportation for the 141 corridor at the Tyler McConnell Bridge.

The June 18th vote was crucial, not only because the Task Force was voting on what to do at the bridge itself (vs several intersection-improvement decisions), but also, because an important vote in the preceding meeting had resulted in a nearly-evenly split group. Although there remained several points of contention, the Task Force ultimately voted to recommend construction of a new two-lane sister bridge to the Tyler McConnell Bridge, tobe located immediately South of the existing span (on the opposite side of the TMB from Hagley). The new bridge will have shoulders wide enough to accommodate commuting bicycles; however a separate pedestrian/bicycle path-part of the Delaware Greenways-will be constructed separately.

Design and construction will each take two years. Design work will begin immediately. However, the bridge will not be built until the need is "triggered." It was the triggering mechanism which split the group at its last meeting. The compromise triggering mechanism will be a thorough one. First, a series of short-term transportation improvements will be put in place and monitored. These include improvements to the intersections of SR 100 at Route 141; signal restrictions, retiming and coordination at the 141/Rising Sun Lane/DuPont Experimental Station entrance intersection; enhanced transit service; Integrated Transportation Management Systems (ITMS) installation; and Travel Demand Management (TDM) measures.

Second, an extensive monitoring program will be put in place, including annual turning movement counts at 6 intersections each fall; three-times-a-year collection of queue-length data in 2 locations; and daily traffic volume tube counts in 5 corridor segments. Once a year, all data will be provided to the TMB Working Group and at a Public Workshop. The data summary will include: LOS, V/C ratios, and delays at intersections, noting changes and trends; notable changes in turning movement volumes; plots of que lengths including durations; travel time delays through the corridor; annual traffic growth from tube counts; update on employment figures at AstraZeneca and the DuPont Experimental Station and Chestnut Run sites; update on the status of development in the area; update on accident statistics; and update on transit, ITMS, TDM and TMA initiatives.

Third, the Governor and Secretary of Transportation will appoint a small oversight group with "appropriate representation" to evaluate the data provided each year. The secretary and oversight group will make an informed decision on when to proceed with construction based on the data and input provided. Reaching consensus on this triggering mechanism was crucial to moving forward and it was a long contentious process. In the end, acceptance of this triggering mechanism was nearly unanimous. Joan Hazleton, representing Preservation Delaware, did not support it.

New Castle County Sewer Projects

Limited sewer capacity has become one of the major impediments to continued economic development in Northern New Castle County. While the County has plans for a new sewer system South of the Canal, capacity is increasingly limited, usually because of pinch points, North of the Canal. In its first meeting with County Executive Tom Gordon, the Business Group representatives raised this issue and the County Executive dedicated the May meeting to a discussion of sewer in the County. The extensive presentation by Special Services focused on maps of capacity and an explanation of the County's approval process. Because the group needed additional information, most notably identification of the specific sections and timing for expansion of capacity, a meeting was scheduled with John Husbands and his staff. During that meeting, representatives from Special Services made an impressive presentation, utilizing their new software, that showed that the County has made tremendous strides in getting a handle on the capacity in and the condition of the County's sewers. While there are still major capacity limits, the County's data clearly justifies the need for the scheduled improvements.

Projects with 2001 funding include Barrett Run Relief, Delaware City Sewer Rehab, Lower Pencader Sewer upgrade, Matson Run Relief Sewer, North Brandywine Sewer Rehab (including Naamans, Lindamere, Gordon Heights and Bellefonte), Dobbinsville Line Replacement on the Old State Road Interceptor, and the Chandeleur Outfall/Kirkwood Trunk in the Red Lion Sewer System. 2001-02 improvements include the Calf Run Relief, the Hyde Run Relief, the Little Mill Interceptor Relief, and the Red Clay Interceptor Relief. 2002 projects include the Belltown Interceptor Relief, the Glasgow Trunk Line Relief, and the Turkey Run Interceptor Rehab. Rehab in Brandywine Hundred South begins in 2002 and runs through 2005.