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Delaware Department of Transportation officials turned down a proposal to redesignate Interstate 95 as a means for diverting through traffic to the riverside bypass. They did so after New Castle County Council backed Councilman Robert Weiner's threat to delay county approval of Astra Zeneca Inc.'s intended expansion if that doesn't happen |
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Michele Ackles, manager of external affairs, said that, while DelDOT is "not adverse in concept" to the idea, it "is not pursuing any change at this time." "We do not feel there is yet a clear-cut consensus in the greater Wilmington area ... in favor of the change," she said, adding that there was, for instance, an earlier resolution from Wilmington City Council opposing it. A resolution adopted by a 6-1 vote at County Council's meeting on Dec. 21 declares among its preambles that "the county would be hard pressed to approve a level-of-service waiver for Astra Zeneca ... if the name change does not occur to reduce traffic congestion." Only Councilman Penrose Hollins voted against the measure.The resolution declares that Council "urges Governor [Thomas] Carper to immediately launch a plan" to effect the name change. The governor, in a statement, said it is up to DelDOT, "if there is a proposal for a name change", to initiate a request to federal authorities, who are the ultimate arbiters. The statement did not indicate what position Carper now takes on the matter. In the past he has been quoted as opposing a change. Ackles said it would cost an estimated $1 million to replace directional signs on the expressways and their approach roads. "There are no funds to do that in our capital improvement [budget]," she said. Weiner first raised the issue at a Dec. 7 meeting of the land use committee, which he chairs. "If it [approval for the changes] doesn't come through by March, Astra Zeneca will be unable to break ground by June and that would be a shame," he said at that time. "If there has to be a showdown, there will be a showdown." The Council resolution stops short of specifying any consequences for not changing the designations. Weiner said, however, that he hasn't backed off from linking the two matters. Astra Zeneca officials have said that naming roads is outside the company's purview and that they strongly resent "being held hostage" in the dispute. Weiner said in a statement issued after the vote that the county's Land Use Department supports his asking that Astrra Zeneca be restricted to providing less than sufficient parking space for "every single employee" as a condition for approval of its subdivision plan. That would "put teeth into [its] stated commitment to mitigate single-occupancy vehicles as a condition [for] subdivision approval." The thinking is that, if employees cannot park at their worksite, they will find ways to get there other than driving solo. "We will apply this same standard to Du Pont Co. and all other companies so that Astra Zeneca will not perceive they are at a competitive disadvantage," Weiner said. "We must be able to welcome new employment opportunities to Delaware in the future and we can only do so if we are truly committed to a public-private partnership of mass transit and privately [financed] off-site park and rides [parking lots], telecommuting, ride sharing and staggered work hours." County Council must give final approve to the Astra Zeneca development plan after it has gone through the Department of Land Use and Planning Board process. The company was scheduled to make public preliminary plans for its expansion into state-provided land south of its present corporate complex at Concord Pike and Powder Mill Road at a Dec. 22 meeting of the Blue Ball Project taskforce. Astra Zeneca has indicated that it will seek expedited county approval of its development plan so it can begin construction by early summer. The name swap idea was advanced several years ago by Brandywine Hundred community interests in an effort to cut back on the amount of traffic on I-95 passing through the hundred. It was reasoned that, if the present I-495 along the Delaware River were redesigned I-95, interstate traffic would take that route. Motorists unfamiliar with the area tend to stick with the Interstate highway identified by the basic designation and shun more easily traveled if somewhat longer bypasses. "I-95 carries 100,000 cars and trucks a day. If you change the name, you immediately get rid of the 55,000 that have no intention of stopping here," Weiner said at his committee's meeting. In order to comply with nomenclature of the Eisenhower-era Interstate highway system, the present I-95 would have to become I-195. |
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READ RELATED STORY: Astra Zeneca reveals plan for developing Blue Ball tract READ PREVIOUS STORY: Deliver on I-95 name change or else, Weiner tells governor |
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