Roadwork to impact Bennett Orchards and other businesses

UPDATE: The Delaware Department of Transportation said the stretch of road will only be closed until May 16, 2025. At that time the road will be reopened and drivers can expect only partial lane restrictions going forward.

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FRANKFORD, Del. – A business said roadwork taking place could have a drastic impact on their bottom line and the owner of the farm is hoping it doesn’t put them out of business.

“This farm has been in business for six generations,” said Hail Bennett, Co-Owner of Bennett Orchards. “I am generation number six to be here on this very land and doing what we are doing and these kinds of plans and these kinds of situations are what puts small farms like ours out of business.”

Bennett said come next Monday, the entire road in front of the orchard will be closed down for five months due to a DelDOT project.

Bennett said he was notified about the roadwork a year ago, but was kept in the dark about the timeline and scale of the project.

“A lot of things changed, a lot of plans changed and when the final plan was drafted calling for a five-month closure going into the summertime period, no one consulted us and we found out from a DelDOT press release about five days ago,” he said.

Bennett Orchards grows peaches and blueberries, which ripen in June, July and August.

The farm relies solely on crop yields during the summer months for income and Bennet said closing the road will financially devastate it.

“Over four-and-a-half thousand cars a day go by this road, it’s much higher than that in the summer and we just feel like having it closed during the peak and busiest time of the year just doesn’t make sense for us or anybody else involved,” he said.

Bennett also said the proposed detours are not suitable for summer beach traffic.

He said in addition, the project will have impacts on school bus routes and other local businesses.

Bennett said he understands the roadwork needs to be done, but would like more input on the timeline on when it will take place.

“We’d like to see this pushed off to the fall,” he said, “we’d like to see this done at a time of year that’s less detrimental to everyone, but regardless of when it is done, we’d like to see the length of time shortened.”

Again, DelDOT officials are now saying that stretch of road will only be closed until May 16.