Return to News Index

NCCo drivers frustrated with commute
June 15, 2004
Melissa Tyrrell, Staff reporter
Wilmington News Journal

Jill and Roger Herr of near Summit have spent the past two years getting up earlier and earlier to get to their jobs in downtown Wilmington each day.

They pack breakfast treats in their 2003 Pontiac Grand Prix, a comfortable car with leather seats they bought especially for their commute. They swap e-mails from a dozen friends on the latest word about accidents. Most days they leave at 6:15 a.m.

While one butters bagels for two and reads the newspaper aloud, the other navigates through the intersection at U.S. 301 at Mount Pleasant. And off they go, hoping to get a five-minute jump on the 14,234 other commuters living south of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. If it's a good day, they'll be at work 40 minutes later.

The Herrs moved from Brandywine Hundred to join the growing number of people moving south of the canal. Most hoped for a quick commute on Del. 1 to job hubs in Wilmington, Dover and Philadelphia.

But for many residents of southern New Castle County, the trip is getting longer. The trick is getting to and from Del. 1. Those who live on the west side of the county can spend 20 minutes to an hour driving one way through rush-hour traffic to get to their jobs.

"It just didn't dawn on us that this was how it would be every day," Jill Herr said. When they hunted for houses two years ago, they drew a 30-mile radius around Wilmington to keep their commute to a minimum.

With each year, the time in the car and frustration mount. For a short spell, Roger Herr talked with a therapist because he felt increasing road rage. He was yelling more as drivers cut him off without signaling or raced into merges.

"It was really getting to me," he said.

The Herrs toy with the idea of moving back north. Like many residents, they wonder how road improvements can keep pace with the number of new residents.

The number of commuters grew by 65 percent between 1990 and 2000, according to U.S. Census figures. That's slightly higher than the 60 percent population growth. The number of commuters driving more than 90 minutes to get to work grew from 32 to 436.

By 2010, the Department of Transportation plans to spend about $25 million upgrading roads to ease that commute.

More interest in car pools

The Herrs drive in one of 5,000 more cars making the daily trek each morning from the Middletown area since 1990.

Most people still don't carpool; the Census reported that 11,851 drove alone.

That trend might change. The number of Middletown-Odessa drivers requesting ride-share information has tripled in the past year, said Tammy Ford of the Transportation Management Association of Delaware.

In the meantime, the Herrs are among 1,412 who share a car. The couple said cost drove that decision. They figured they spend about $300 each month on gas and tolls. If Jill Herr were to drive, she'd spend the same, plus about $100 to park downtown where she works as a paralegal. Roger Herr parks for free at his auto shop on Lovering Avenue.

Many drivers on southern county roads are from Maryland. Michele Ackles, spokeswoman for DelDOT, said about 17,000 drivers cross the state line on U.S. 301 each day.

A few miles north at Mount Pleasant, the average daily count reaches 22,472 drivers.

"It's busy, no question at all," Ackles said of the intersection where U.S. 301 and Del. 896 split. "And it's substandard."

U.S. 301 study planned

For those who live on the west side of the county south of the canal, U.S. 301 is the major artery north and south.

Comprehensive studies on the highway's 13-mile stretch from the state line to Summit Bridge have been reworked since the 1980s as engineers watched the western edge of Middletown change, Ackles said. Once again, the state plans to start over. Ackles said engineers will draw upon old reports but will invite public comment this fall.

The road carries drivers from new homes as well as a significant number of trucks — about 12 percent to 15 percent compared to the usual 8 percent to 10 percent for roads of its kind, Ackles said.

A weigh station soon will be built at the Maryland line so police can watch for overloaded trucks that damage roads.

After that, the state will tackle the intersections at Mount Pleasant and Boyds Corner that cap the region's best east-west route, Del. 896.

More development

The road and intersections were reported to be failing state standards in the spring, when New Castle County planners discussed plans for the Village of Bayberry, a development on Del. 896 that could bring about 5,000 people within 10 years.

The landscape where Bayberry will sit was what drew the Herrs, and the plans for that land worry them.

"We saw this and thought, 'Oh, my God. This is beautiful, this is where we want to be,'" Roger Herr said.

"Now I think , 'Oh, good, school buses,'" Jill Herr said. "There's no way for us to avoid this road."

While the state plans for the major roads, residents notice congestion on secondary roads.

John Delaney, a resident of Crystal Run Farms since 1985, complains that commuters speed along Ratledge Road, a narrow road often used by tractors. But, he said he also takes shortcuts east to U.S. 13 each day.

Delaney, who described his commute to Delaware City as easy, said his wife's journey to downtown Wilmington grew worse since Del. 1 opened.

"Now so much traffic is going toward avoiding the toll that they're coming through back roads," Delaney said.

Getting to shops on the major roads is trickier, too. Delaney said he notices drivers riding the shoulder against oncoming traffic to exit Happy Harry's at Mount Pleasant.

Rita Parker, of Middletown, takes back roads to avoid Del. 299, Middletown's Main Street, an east-west route that has grown more congested. In her 15 years of living in Village Brooke, only in the past five has she noticed traffic jams in town.

"You actually have to know the ins and outs of the streets," said the retiree, who avoids leaving town to shop in Dover or Wilmington. "I stay strictly down here."

Engineers also are making plans for secondary roads such as Choptank, Marl Pit and Cedar Lane roads.

"These used to be farm-to-market roads," Ackles said of the shoulderless strips. Ackles said residents call with concerns that improvements to these roads will bring more speeders in front of their yards.

"We want to make sure this doesn't become 301," Ackles said. "That's not our intention."

Quality of life helps

In the meantime, residents of the area learn to cope. Most say the time spent in the car is balanced by their quality of life in the Appoquinimink region.

"I still like it," said Thomas Miller of Drawyers Creek. "I think the traffic is horrendous. ... You just put up with it."

He said he attributes the problem to developers who promise newcomers a "breezy commute." There's a perception Del. 1 made things faster, but then the volume of cars just slowed it down again, he said.

After nine years, his wife, Mary Hope, gave up her trek into Philadelphia. Countless hours listening to books on tape were taking a toll. "She got home wiped out," he said.

The Herrs toy with the idea of renting a condominium in Wilmington for the work week. But at the end of each day, when they hit Old School Road, they breathe a sigh of relief.

They slow down, wave to neighbors and sometimes stop to scoop turtles out of the road.

"This is what makes the drive worth it," Roger Herr said, looking into his back yard. "That view."

Reach Melissa Tyrrell at 838-3189 or mtyrrell@delawareonline.com.