Delaware DOT Opens Final Major Step in I-95/SR-1 Interchange Project

AASHTO Journal, 18 October 2013

The Delaware Department of Transportation opened on Thursday a new elevated flyover ramp off northbound Route 1 onto northbound I-95 in Dover, completing the final major improvement included in the $147 million Interstate 95/State Route 1 interchange project.

The completion of the flyover ramp means that traffic will no longer need to merge across five interstate lanes to drive north toward Wilmington. Another similar ramp was completed in August for southbound traffic. According to officials, this section of I-95 carries 220,000 vehicles every day, with roughly half of those vehicles exiting onto Route 1 south, making it one of the busiest intersections in the state. The projects are part of the last phase of a multi-year, multi-project Interstate Improvement Program that included the replacement of the Churchmans Road Bridge over I-95, a lane widening project, and the I-95 Newark Toll Plaza reconstruction.

“The need for this work was driven by increasing traffic volumes and development pressure south of I-95, which has led to reduced levels of service within the area of the Christiana Mall and the I-95 and Route 1 interchange,” said DelDOT Secretary Shailen Bhatt in a statement. “Historically, morning and evening traffic volumes have had to struggle. For many years this area has had deteriorating traffic conditions at many other times of the day and often throughout the weekends. Now with these two ramps open, the flow of traffic will ease considerably with no merging or crossing lanes of highway speed traffic.”

While the majority of the work is done, DelDOT officials say there are still several months of work to go, mostly to complete paving and striping, though all entrances and exits near the I-95/Route 1 interchange will be functional “before holiday shopping season.”

Additional information on all I-95 projects throughout Delaware is available here.

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