LEWES, DE -- In the midst of several proposed developments in Lewes, a 90-duplex/townhouse unit community called Overfall Preserve is now a topic of discussion, and it has raised concerns for some.
The development would sit on 13-acres between two busy byways: King's Highway and Savannah Road.
According to the current plans, traffic from the development would only feed onto Savannah Road. Gail Van Gilder with the Historic Lewes Byway Committee says that's a problem, especially with Dutchman's Harvest, an affordable housing community being built nearby.
"It's an additional 1,670 trips per day combined between the two developments," says Van Gilder. "That's a lot of cars being dumped at that intersection where we don't have the infrastructure to handle it."
More traffic on Savannah Road also means the potential for more pedestrian and bicycle accidents for those crossing the Lewes-Georgetown Trail.
Van Gilder and Lewes neighbor Douglas Spelman suggest a through street connecting King's and Savannah as a solution.
"This road would take pressure off of that one intersection," says Spelman. "It would be an asset for the residents of the new community and prevent them from having to go all the way around. It'd save them a lot of time."
There is currently a private road on the property that does just that. The pair is now urging planners to keep it, as part of the development's site plans.
"Once the development is built, it's impossible to go back and do it, so we're trying to do it up front before we lose this one time opportunity," says Van Gilder.
Van Gilder says she is in conversation with the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT), which she says has the power to require developers to incorporate the through road in their plans.
