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"The
intent of the vote is to encourage DelDOT not to study it to
death," said zoning chairman Phil Lavelle before
representatives of area civic associations agreed 38-2 at a
meeting on Mar. 8 to take a stand on the issue. The action
presumably adds weight to a more detailed resolution previously
adopted by the council's executive committee which Lavelle
conveyed to the transportation agency at a public hearing on
Mar. 1.
Although
Lavelle told the meeting that he did not want to
"overcomplicate things [by dealing with other than] the
traffic capacity of the bridge," several council members
argued that a preference for more than a motor vehicle crossing
should be stated. After Joseph Mitchell, the council's long-time
resident expert on transportation, and state Representative
Catherine Cloutier joined the chorus, president Daniel
Bockover agreed to change the wording of the statement
accordingly.
The
council allows each of its more than 100 civic association
members two voting representatives. It was not stated how many
of the votes, cast by waving index cards, were pairs or singles.
While the
statement specified that the expanded bridge should, "as a
minimum," match the four lanes of the rest of state Route
141, which it carries over the Brandywine, Lavelle assured the
group that "no one is advocating expanding beyond four
lanes."
He said a
quick Delaware Department of Transportation decision on what to
do about the bridge is important because it will take time to
design and construct a span and it is needed to
accommodate planned expansions of the Astra Zeneca
headquarters complex and the Du Pont Co. Experimental Station.
He also warned that failure to act will only increase the volume
of traffic on Montchanin and Thompsons Bridge Roads through the
Brandywine Valley and lead to pressure to put up traffic signals
and eventually improve that route.
Bockover
said Brandywine Council should stand counter to "a powerful
group that doesn't want you to have more than a two-lane bridge
[although] you have a four-lane highway leading to it from both
ends." He added that "the only way to put four lanes
[of traffic] across that [present] bridge is to double the
speed."
The only
vocal dissenter to the recommended position was a man who did
not identify himself but said that he is "almost never
caught in traffic" at the bridge, adding that "two
lanes is what is keeping [Route 141] from becoming a
freeway."
In
another matter, the council voted -- that time, 24-4 -- to
support placing an all-weather footpath along Grubb Road between
Naamans Road and Majestic Drive pending a decision about what
improvements should be made to the road. Lavelle said both plans
that DelDOT presented to a recent hearing amounted to
"overkill." One idea would be to widen the road to
include bicycle lanes and to build conventional sidewalks on
both sides; the other would be to construct a wide combination
pedestrian and bicycle path on one side.
Bockover
said DelDOT "could bring in a few truckloads of asphalt
right now" and provide for other than motor vehicles to use
the narrow road. There already is a paved path between Majestic
Drive and Foulk Road.
In
yet another action, the group endorsed a plan by the Brandywine
Masonic Lodge to put an addition on its hall at 2016 Foulk Road,
subject to approval of that project by the North Graylyn Crest
Civic Association. That will require a change in deed
restrictions.
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