Drivers in the Millsboro area can expect two detours while the new Millsboro Bypass and bridge are being built at Hollyville and Robinsonville roads.
Hollyville Road at Route 24 will be closed sometime during current construction, DelDOT engineer George Pierce told the Coastal Point this week, saying it will probably be around the first of the year, and drivers will be detoured around it. Robinsonville Road is more likely to be off limits as the project nears completion.
“We are working that out. We have to convert the Route 24 intersection near Robinsonville Road, so that detour will be at the end. The project really won’t be too impactful, except for the residents on those roads, but everyone will be able to get in and out,” Pierce said.
The project includes a two-lane connector road between Routes 113 and 24 north of Millsboro. The new alignment will extend east and bridge over Fox Run Road, the Norfolk Southern Railroad, the Millsboro Pond and Gravel Hill Road. The new road will connect to Route 24 west of Mountaire Farms. There will be one artery for traffic traveling in each direction on the 2.8-mile bypass and a 45-mph speed limit.
Known as a cloverleaf, the overpass will have two loops, one in the northeast quadrant and one in southwest quadrant. It is being built to accommodate traffic for the next 20 to 30 years. There are two contracts for the work, a $99 million contract for the bypass and $40 million contract for grade-separated intersections, or the overpass, according to Mark Whiteside, project engineer and manager for the Delaware Department of Transportation Project Development South.
Biking and walking paths will extend the entire length of the bypass, separated from the roadway by grass buffers.
“The impacts won’t necessarily be bad. Our department does acknowledge the amount of traffic congestion in Millsboro now, and it’s only getting worse. We all can see that. The Millsboro Bypass will help mitigate that congestion, and we will do everything we can do expedite construction,” Whiteside said.
“The only way to get on Route 24 now is through Millsboro. We want to lighten congestion, especially during peak hours. One thing really causing congestion is trucks. The quality of traffic flow is very poor in that area. We are building this for safety and to alleviate that congestion. We hope the trucks will use it,” he said.
Signage will direct trucks to the bypass, instead of through downtown Millsboro, with its quaint shops and restaurants.
R.E. Pierson Construction Co., based in Pilesgrove, N.J., and with satellite offices in Sussex County, will be the contractor for the dual alignment of the bypass. The other contract will be bid upon.
The project is expected to be completed by Memorial Day of 2025, likely with a ceremony.
“Oh, yes. There will be a ribboncutting. I’m sure everyone will be out there, clapping and patting each other on the back,” Pierce said.
A public information session, to explain detours, lane shifts and delays during construction, will be planned for this fall.
DelDOT officials started talking about a bypass about 20 years ago, when they were working on the Route 113 North-South study, Whiteside noted.
“For a project this big, and considering the environmental impacts, there is a chance for it to be prolonged because you need the environmental document approved. There is a lot of public input, coordination, that needs to be considered,” he said.
State officials also had to obtain rights-of-way for about 47 parcels that will be impacted by construction. That is still being done, but enough of them have been obtained to begin, he said.
DelDOT pays property owners fair market value for their land and works with a real estate team. Whiteside said DelDOT will pay about $15 million for rights-of-way.
Construction will be funded by the federal government and state through FY25, with the majority, or 80 percent, being paid by the federal government.
In March, Gov. John Carney was among dignitaries who gathered on Fox Run Road in Millsboro to mark the beginning of work on the new, $139 million Millsboro bypass and remembered it being talked about 30 years ago.
“So this has been a long time coming,” the governor said, noticing hundreds of trees that had been cut down and were piled in the field where he stood. The governor, a proponent of the Tree for Every Delawarean Initiative, in partnership with the Urban and Community Forestry programs, asked, “Are we going to replace them?”
Secretary of Transportation Nicole Majeski nodded and told Carney, “Rest assured all the trees we have had to take out, we will replace them. We are committed to replacing them,” as the governor nodded his approval. This week, Pierce also said they will all be replanted.
Joining Carney for the groundbreaking in the spring were dignitaries including Sen. Tom Carper, Sen. Gerald Hocker, Sen. Brian Pettyjohn, Representative Ruth Briggs King and Representative Rich Collins.
“We think alike especially with projects like this,” Carper said, talking about the importance of improving infrastructure locally, statewide and nationwide and saying the bypass will save lives.
“Us. The people in our families. Kids. Wives. Husbands. It’s pretty hard to put a price but it’s going to keep us safer,” Carper said.
Briggs King said she “can feel the pain” of drivers frustrated as they are stopped in long lines of traffic in Millsboro.
“It’s been a long process, many public meetings. I thank all the people from DelDOT for listening. Thank you for funding and thank you for the support,” she said.