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Château-country folk wary of
a domino effect on their road Some
residents of the Greenville-Centreville area see a Delaware
Department of Transportation scheme to turn Kennett Pike into
"another Kirkwood Highway or Concord Pike" behind plans to build
turning lanes at and to illuminate the intersection of Kennett
and Kirk Road. "This has the potential of going all the
way out Kennett Pike," Kimberly Hoffman, a lawyer representing
resident Jill Cantera, told a recent meeting of Kennett Pike
Association trustees. "We want something more appropriate to
Kennett Pike." Opponents of what DelDOT regards as safety
improvements have been quietly attempting to have the plan
scaled back. Specifically, they want the intersection designed
for a 35 mile-an-hour speed limit instead of the presently
planned 50 mile-an-hour configuration.
Mark
Chura, executive director of Delaware Greenways, brought a map
which he said depicted the most recent "speed design." Several
attenders at the meeting claimed it showed no substantive change
from what had previously been presented. The new one showed five
11-foot-wide lanes where there now are four. The left-turn lanes
overlap. "This is a battle we can win," County Councilman Robert
Weiner said, adding that Claymont residents, who are generally
regarded as having considerably less political clout, beat back
a similar "through traffic" proposal for Philadelphia Pike.
Despite having obtained some supportive media publicity in their
effort to generate public and legislators' objections, "there
hasn't been a groundswell about this yet," Hoffman said. |