Traffic flow into and out of Lantana Square could be drastically changed by the Delaware Department of Transportation, according to a letter from DelDOT.
The letter, written by Transportation Secretary Carolann Wicks, was discussed at a Nov. 17 meeting of the Greater Hockessin Area Development Association at Hockessin Memorial Hall, attended by about 20 people. Click here to download a copy of the letter.
DelDOT is planning to make the entrance into Lantana Square from Limestone Road right-in/right-out only, said Mark Blake, GHADA’s vice president, reading from the letter.
The plan would extend the median on Limestone Road, making left turns into or out of Lantana Square impossible, and add a second lane to Valley Road to alleviate extra traffic exiting Lantana Square's Valley Road entrance, according to the letter.
The improvements to Lantana Square and Valley road will be funded for construction in the summer of 2011, Wicks wrote.
Residents had asked DelDOT to install a traffic light at that entrance to mitigate a traffic problems, and a meeting was held in August after a developer proposed building a WSFS branch across from the entrance.
But DelDOT engineers oppose installation of a traffic light there, Wicks wrote in the letter, because the light would be at the bottom of a large hill, possibly increasing the use of jake brakes by large trucks stopping there. It could also lead to rear-end traffic collisions, particularly in bad weather, she wrote.
"The department believes this will be the best solution to improve existing safety conditions in the area and will mitigate the impact of new development in the immediate vicinity," she wrote.
Community members want a traffic light there, Blake said, and Medori Enterprises, developer of the proposed WSFS branch, and the owners of Lantana Square have already agreed to pay for it. The intersection has previously been wired for a traffic light, he said, so it would cost the state nothing.
Larry Tarabicos, the attorney representing Medori Enterprises, agreed with Blake in an e-mail following the meeting. He has also sent a letter to DelDOT disagreeing with their proposal.
Somehow, DelDOT missed the community's overwhelming support for a traffic light, he said, but community members will have plenty of time to oppose the plan between now and 2011.
That intersection needs a traffic light and any plan to eliminate left turns from Limestone Road will create a whole host of problems, said Hockessin resident Larry Thurrell.
“I think the idea of a right-turn only will cause people to take alternate, illegal routes to get out of Lantana Square,” Thurrell said.
Other GHADA members voiced similar opinions, but made no formal plans at the meeting.
However, Blake wrote in an e-mail after the meeting, GHADA's executive board will review the letter and form an official position.
