February 22, 2007 by webmaster.

From WBOC.com:

DOVER- It is going to be a long road ahead for the Delaware Department of Transportation and its more than $1 billion shortfall.

DelDOT’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year relies heavily on tax money. The department now faces a $1.5 billion shortfall over the next six years, down from an initial shortfall of $2.7 billion. DelDOT cut back on road projects to bring that number down.

DelDOT and Gov. Ruth Ann Minner want to raise nearly a $1 billion to make up for that shortage. The plan calls for raising the gas tax by 5 cents and increasing the tolls on Route 1 by as much as $1.

DelDOT also wants to eliminate EZ-Pass discounts and increase the registration and vehicle fees at the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Since there would still be a shortfall, DelDOT would have to borrow the other $500 million.

Without that money, Minner warns that it would be difficult to maintain roads, bridges and railroad crossings. And the governor says DelDOT could lose out on $220 million in federal dollars for local projects.

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February 15, 2007 by webmaster.

Courtesy of WBOC:

SNOW HILL- A heated debate over a busy Route 113 intersection near Snow Hill has come to an end.

Maryland State Highway Administration officials decided not to add a traffic light at the Route 12 intersection. The road changed from two lanes to four back in December. Five accidents have occurred there since then, all with injuries.

SHA District Engineer Donnie Drewer said a study of the road concluded a traffic light is not needed at the intersection.

But local drivers say it is the only way to keep them safe.

“When you’re trying to cross the intersection you’ll have so much more of a traffic flow of people going toward Virginia, toward Ocean City,” said Leigh Ann Vreeland of Snow Hill. “I think they’re setting up a lot of people for a lot of problems here.”

Drewer say drivers need to get used to the dualization.

“You drive something daily, the same thing over and over again and you just get use to it,” he said. “And when there’s a change put in, you don’t realize there was a change and that’s when there’s an accident.”

Drewer said the SHA plans to add more yield signs and rumble strips along Route 113.

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February 15, 2007 by webmaster.

Story courtesy of the Chincoteague Beacon:

CHINCOTEAGUE — Construction will begin next month on the $68 million Chincoteague Causeway bridge to replace the worn spans near the island and will continue until the end of the decade, officials said Thursday as they detailed the huge building and engineering effort.

Virginia Department of Transportation officials and an engineering firm met with local business owners during the Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce’s annual membership meeting to discuss what island residents and visitors will experience between the project’s March 2 start date and its Nov. 9, 2009, completion.

The Richmond office of American Bridge Company in November was awarded the contract by VDOT for the construction of new approaches and bridges over the Black Narrows, Chincoteague and Lewis Creek navigational channels.

“American Bridge knows what they’re doing on water in marine work,” said Bruce Garber, who works for Jacobs Civil Engineering and is the VDOT consultant for the project.

“I’m very pleased to say the initial indications from American Bridge have been very positive and I’m very encouraged by them.”

The new bridge is eagerly anticipated by the town’s residents and the hundreds of thousands of visitors attracted by the town, the famous July Pony Penning events and the popular Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and Assateague Island National Seashore.

Beginning next month, Garber said island residents will see American Bridge’s presence on Chincoteague, with the arrival of barges — one carrying a gigantic crane — floating materials over to begin building temporary bridges, or trestles.

Work will immediately begin at Abutments A and B, which are located by the existing Black Narrows bridge’s south side and at the Maddox Boulevard site, respectively.

There, several pilings will be driven into the ground to build a trestle. A crane will then be loaded onto the trussel and begin the process of driving pylons for the bridge locations. During this process, Garber said that several test pilings will also be driven to test the bridge’s technical design and measurements.

Work on the Abutment A location, which begins at Black Narrows and ends at the tip of Marsh Island, will not be as easy because of nesting bird restrictions that begin in April and end in late August.

“So they intend to do as much work over there in March as weather will allow in that restricted area,” he said. “Afterwards, the focus will be shifted to a much greater degree at the Maddox Boulevard location.”

After the restricted period has ended, they will have more “production” pilings ordered and will begin driving them throughout the fall and winter months of next year.

Work next month will also begin by a subcontractor provided by Delmarva Power in the movement of power lines to Chincoteague. Garber said some power line poles just beyond the Black Narrows bridge will be moved to the south end of the bridge, crossing back to the power distribution station on the island.

Garber said that a field office has been provided by American Bridge on Church Street, just behind the old elementary school.

Though public relations will go through the VDOT office, he said that if anyone has any immediate concerns about the bridge, he or one of his associates will be available inside one of the office trailers there.

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