A formal groundbreaking ceremony will be held to mark the start of the long-awaited Route 301 toll road project.
Delaware Governor Jack Markell, Federal Highway Administrator Gregory G. Nadeau, and state Transportation Secretary Jennifer Cohan will be joined by the Delaware Congressional Delegation, and local and federal officials will be on hand for the Friday event.
The new U.S. Route 301 will consist of a new four-lane (two lanes in each direction), all electronic toll, limited access roadway on a new location. The route will generally extend northeast from the Maryland/Delaware state line, west of Middletown, and tying into State Route 1, north of the Biddles Corner Toll Plaza, south of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.
The new U.S. Route 301 Mainline will have interchanges with: Levels Road, existing U.S. Route 301 north of Armstrong Corner Road, and Jamison Corner Road.
The project should reduce congestion and the presence of tractor-trailer units in Middletown.
While Maryland built a four-lane Route 301 decades ago, controversies over routes and other factors led to delays on the Delaware side.
The need for the bypass has become urgent as growth in New Castle County shifted to the Middletown area, due in part of a lack of land in the north and restrictions on development in the county’s Unified Development Code. The Town of Middletown was not covered by the code.
The way was cleared for the toll road last year when the federal government allowed the use of bonds that allow lower debt payments while traffic builds up on the route.
Typically, toll revenues are low in the early going as motorists avoid toll highways.
Total cost of the project is upwards of half a billion dollars. The highway will be built under separate contracts as a way to encourage competition in bidding.
Click here for an earlier story on the project.
