The Middletown Corridor Coalition met with WILMAPCO Council member Kash Srivinash ( Wilmington Mayor's rep.). This marks our last meeting with all the members of the WILMAPCO Council, except those who work for DelDOT. We gave our new PowerPoint and it was well received by everyone we presented to in the last two weeks. We focused on several issues. Toll Diversion on the Maryland side as well as in Middletown proper, Bottle necks created at I95 and the Christiana Mall, Traffic created at the 40 Corridor, and of course the new funding proposal by DelDOT. And of course the Spur, and how it would only be used by 1% of the traffic on the 301 corridor.
We have also met with all those running for Governor, Lt. Gov. Carney, Jack Markell, and Mike Protack. These men are now very aware of all the problems that will be created by the Rt 301 project. Most notable the effects it will have on the already cash strapped state of Delaware.
We have also met with Bond Bill co-Chair Rep Lofink and have been invited to speak in front of the Legislators on the Bond Bill Committee. This is the group that will vote on the funding of Rt301.
Next week, Monday the 7th) we will be meeting with Rep. Cathcart to go over comments that he will be making at the April 10th WILMAPCO Council meeting at 6:30pm.on our behalf. I will also be meeting with P.Brooks Banta the Commissioner of the Kent County Levy Court and presenting our objections to the Rt 301 project and explain why this now effects all Delawareans. I have been invited to give this presentation to all the Commissioners in Kent county.
The importance of all these meetings is to inform as many people as we can to the issues at hand. Hopefully people are listening and the right decision will be made. Please try to make the meeting next Thursday evening at the WILMAPCO building in Newark at 6:30pm. This meeting will start on time and comments can be made at the beginning of the meeting. I mean really on time.....
If you don't want to speak, you can give your minutes to others that want to speak.... like me.... Come out and show your support to stop the Rt 301 project form getting on the Transportation Improvement Plan ( TIP).
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I received this FIOA email, stating that DelDOTs traffic numbers ( which they submitted to FHWA) have been inflated. They used a total of 15k cars a day in the FEIS..... This is as of 2008. Again this shows that the toll revenue will not come anywhere near paying for this project. Please take this into consideration when deciding on the ROD.
It really speaks for itself:
Subject: Installation of Permanent Count Station on US 301
Mark / Don / Mike:
As part of the US 301 planning effort, we've come to the conclusion that it would be very desirable to install some sort of permanent count station on US 301 right at the MD/DE state line to document traffic volumes where the new toll plaza would be constructed. The primary reason for this need is that the bond rating agencies will eventually be scrutinizing the traffic data on US 301 as they make decisions which will affect the repayment cost/terms of the bonds. It is likely that the state line traffic will be studied in most detail since this is where the majority of tolls will be collected.
Currently, there is a permanent count station (ATR 8016) very close by (about a mile north of the state line), but it is influenced by traffic volumes on Strawberry Lane and Warwick Road. The data in the Traffic Summary manual reflects this variability, with volumes ranging from about 10,000 vpd in the winter months up to about 16,000 vpd in the summer months. Conversely, at the state line, the volumes that have been sporadically collected with road tubes seem to fluctuate much less, generally between 9,000 and 12,000 vpd.
We have collected classified traffic counts at the state line on 10 different occasions since mid 2000 and have even begun a monthly counting program at the state line in October 2007. The data is helpful, but still does not provide a completely clear picture of the daily and monthly variation in traffic that we expect would help the rating agencies as they make decisions which will influence the terms of the bonds.
Do you know how would we go about installing some sort of permanent traffic count equipment (in-pavement loops, side-fire microwave, etc) at the state line? Assuming we can get funding for the equipment, do you know of any issues we would need to consider regarding the installation of this equipment?
Thanks!
Jim
Jim
Burnett, P.E., PTOE
Associate
RUMMEL,KLEPPER & KAHL, LLP
Consulting
Engineers
800-787-3755
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The Toll revenue DelDOT is saying would pay for the bonds will not start producing until 2020 when the road is complete. In addition, those tolls will not even cover the interest that will start accruing on that loan as soon as 2009. There will be a lag of 6-12 years with no income on Rt 301 where we would still have to pay back the loan.
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