Lewes Transit Center could alleviate traffic along Rt. 1
16.5 million dollars and physical labor will turn an empty lot along Route 1 into the Lewes Transit Center, all in the hopes of relieving traffic.
“In the summer time it is ridiculous.” Says Lewes resident Amy Brown.
It takes people who work at the outlets instead of maybe 15 minutes…an hour to get to work some days.”
The up-and-coming transit center is a three-phase project.
Phase one includes a park-and-ride with 248 spaces, which is expected to be completed by the summer of 2017. Amenities include security cameras, bicycle racks and a repair station.
Delaware Transit CEO John Sisson says the only other current one in Sussex County right now is located in Rehoboth Beach.
“What we like about this park and ride is that people coming from the north or people coming from the west will be able to come here…get on a bus, use the HOV Lane, and probably go faster than the cars stuck in traffic.” Explains Sisson.
Phase two is a maintenance facility slated to be finished in 2018 and would be able to maintain buses year-round.
Sisson went on to explain that would include “…fix route transport buses, be able to fuel them over here and then have space for our drivers and get their assignments, have a break, use the restrooms, those things.”
Phase three will act as a visitor center for passengers and is slated to begin construction by 2019.
According to Sisson, 80 percent of the project was funded by The Federal Transit Administration. Five million of those funds came from a State Of Good Repair grant, which Delaware applied for.
The remaining 20 percent came from the Delaware Transportation Trust Fund. Governor Jack Markell says most of that fund comes from things like gas taxes and tolls.
Markell says the project should appeal to all sides of the political spectrum.
“This is not a democratic issue, it’s not a republican issue when you’re talking about better transportation, less congestion, more economic development, that’s good to all political party so we shouldn’t have a lot of partisan debates about that.” Explains Governor Markell.
Even though construction for the visitor’s center won’t happen until 2019, we’re told people can use the park-and-ride as early as next summer.
According to Sisson, they charge eight dollars a day at their current existing location in Rehoboth Beach but they have not decided on rates at the Lewes location.
Transit officials are also still working on potential routes with one idea being a round trip between Lewes and Dover.
