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Behind this mound of dirt next to Concord Pike -- one of
three on the site -- workers are building a temporary
six-lane bypass to carry traffic around construction of an
interchange where the pike, Foulk Road and Rockland Road.
come together. |
Construction project manager Bill
Stewart said the contractor, Mumford & Miller, has been able to
make up time lost to February's snowstorm and other
winter-related delays and the job should be completed, as
scheduled, by late September or early October.
The detour, however, will not go
into effect immediately. Delaware Department of Transportation
is still negotiating with Louis Capano, owner of the Brandywine
Plaza office complex on the west side of Concord Pike to acquire
a right-of-way to link Foulk Road with the pike at the north end
of the bypass. DelDOT has not responded Delaforum inquiries
concerning the status of that part of the project and what, if
any, effect it will have on the timetable of the overall Blue
Ball Project.
Meanwhile, on the east side of the
highway, work is proceeding apace, not only on the roadway but
also on a 'greenway' pedestrian and bicycle path through the
site and down through Alapocas Woods to the Brandywine. Alapocas
Run, which even long-time residents did not realize did not
realize courses parallel to Concord Pike, has had extensive
restoration work done. A three-basin stormwater management
system is being constructed.
When the road network, which
includes an extension of Delaware 141 between Powder Mill road
and Blue Ball, is completed in 2006 or thereabouts, the bypass
will have been reconfigured into a two-lane road serving local
traffic and a combination recreation and conservation area that
is being developed concurrently with the roadbuilding. (CLICK
HERE to access DelDOT's Blue Ball Project Web site for full
details.)
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