A plan would turn the intersection of Marsh and Harvey roads into a gateway for Arden. (Ken Mammarella photo)

Slow down on Harvey Road in the Ardens, plan urges

Ken MammarellaGovernment, Headlines

A plan would turn the intersection of Marsh and Harvey roads into a gateway for Arden. (Ken Mammarella photo)

A plan would turn the intersection of Marsh and Harvey roads into a gateway for Arden. (Ken Mammarella photo)

Plans underway to improve transportation safety in Arden, Ardencroft and Ardentown would, among other things, aim to slow down traffic on the communities’ major roads.

The next meeting on the plan, organized by the Wilmington Area Planning Council, will be Wednesday, Feb. 15, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Buzz Ware Village Center, 2119 The Highway, Arden.

An 11-page summary of Connecting With the Ardens shows a lot of traffic on Harvey, Marsh and Veale roads – and also a lot of speeding.

Harvey – which runs through the heart of Arden and leads to a half-interchange with Interstate 95 – gets 7,000 to 8,000 vehicles per day. Marsh, on its western edge, gets 9,500 to 10,600. Veale, which splits Ardencroft, gets 3,000 to 3,500.

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The speed limits in the study area range from 25 to 40 mph, and a traffic study last October concluded that 15% of the traffic at five checkpoints was going 3 to 25 mph faster than the speed limit.

The council is proposing – and things change, and that’s what these meetings are all about – multiple ways to “manage vehicular speeds and deploy safety countermeasures,” the plan’s first goal.

On Harvey at Marsh, for example, a map calls for a gateway and a roundabout. The document exemplifies the gateway with a photo from Rehoboth Beach, showing a large welcome sign in a planting the splits the roadway.

Other areas of Harvey would get mini roundabouts and medians, plus bioswales and bumpouts (planted areas that reduce the width of the road). All those encourage drivers, in different ways, to slow down. A second gateway is envisioned at Sconset Road, and Harvey would be narrowed to one through lane westbound as it approaches I-95.

Veale would get six medians, with the speed limit cut from 35 to 25 mph.

Two maps address a second goal, for a bicycle/pedestrian network. One creates bike lanes on both side of Harvey. The other sends cyclists onto less-traveled streets, such as Hillside Road.

The third goal calls for enhancing pedestrian crossings of the three major roads.

The fourth goal envisions nicer shelters at 13 school and transit bus stops in the study area.

The plan will also explore improving bus service, especially to the new Claymont Transportation Center.

Planning is expected to be completed this summer.

The traffic safety plan is intended to integrate with other other initiatives, such as “the villages’ foundational plans, Arden’s Water Quality Master Plan, the Ardentown Paths Plan and the Wilmington Montessori Safe Routes to School Plan.”

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