Plantations residents fear impact of planned road work

April 30, 2024 47

Members of the Plantations Condo and Owners Association are taking on state transportation officials as they prepare for Phase 2 of the Plantation Road project.

At the top of the list of their concerns is the potential impact on the community’s property and entrance along Plantation Road, including the potential loss of the two white silos, which have marked the community’s entrance for decades.

Preliminary plans for Phase 2 include a two-lane road with sidewalks on the east side of the road, an 8- to 10-foot shared-use path on the west side the road, left-turn lanes in front of Plantations and Plantations East, and a pedestrian crosswalk just south of the two communities.

Charles McLeod, Delaware Department of Transportation’s director of community relations, said the project is still in very early design work, and a concept has not been completed, so it’s much too early to offer any insight into how the silos at that entrance might be impacted, if at all.

In a letter to the Plantations association, DelDOT’s Bryan Behrens, group engineer for south property development, said when design work is completed, right-of-way acquisition can start in 2025, which could take up to three years. Utility relocations would follow, with road construction following that, he said.

Community’s concerns

In previous meetings and correspondence with DelDOT officials, association President Jeanmarie Dolan has relayed the community’s concerns and laid out specific objections.

Dolan said if DelDOT plans proceed as outlined, the community will lose its two iconic white silos, which remain from a farm that was once on the property. It will also require fencing to be relocated, a line of mature trees to be cut down that buffer the closest residents to the road from noise, and two existing ponds may have to be modified to move them farther from the road.

The community wants a traffic signal at the entrance.

Dolan said making left turns out of the community is so problematic that many residents turn right, and go south and use other roads.

Behrens said a traffic signal study has been completed. At this time, traffic and crash data indicated a signal is not warranted.

Dolan said the community will not support any design that significantly impacts the quality of life of residents, meaning the destruction of green space, property and trees.

She said there is not a need for two left-turn lanes. “Our traffic entrance volume would be fine with one central turn lane serving both Plantations and Plantations East,” she said.

She said DelDOT should remove plans for a wide, shared-use path cutting into Plantations property. “The introduction of this path into our community entrance and exit presents a hazard to traffic and pedestrians,” Dolan said.

Dolan said the community wants to retain its mature trees so they would not be destroyed for relocation of utilities. She said the community wants the utilities placed underground.

Design work must not impact the two silos, she said. “These have historic significance to Plantations and Lewes,” Dolan added.

The community also would support a reduction in speed to 35 mph along Plantation Road.

The Plantations and Plantations East communities were built between 1987 and 2000, as two of the first large housing projects in the Cape Region. Plantations includes 32 single-family homes and 200 condominium units in 25 buildings. East is a mix of nearly 400 units, including single-family homes, condominiums, townhomes, duplexes and villas.

Letter to Huxtable

In a March 16 letter to Sen. Russ Huxtable, D-Lewes, the association explained its concerns related to eventual eminent domain against Plantations properties.

“So far, the state has refused our efforts to have the silos designated historic,” Dolan wrote. “While the silos do not directly impact our lives, they are a symbol that represents our community and provides a link to our past. With so much of Sussex County being developed, these links are rapidly disappearing.”

Dolan wrote: “Residents of Plantations are fortunate to live in a community that was not overdeveloped and has large areas of natural, open space. Diminishing this space, removing buffers, killing our trees, reducing the size of the ponds, and installing power lines next to our homes diminishes our quality of life.”

Dolan said, in case the plans proceed, the association has hired an appraiser to determine the financial loss to the community and will make every attempt to acquire adequate compensation from the state.

Phase 1 work progresses

Phase 1 of the project, with much of the same work as proposed in Phase 2, is underway from Salt Marsh Boulevard to Robinsonville Road. The project also includes a connection to the new Plantation Road-Beaver Dam Road-Route 9 roundabout.