New Burton Road between Front Street in Wyoming and Webbs Lane in Dover will close starting Sunday from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. (Delaware State News/Dave Chambers)
DOVER — Nighttime travelers on a stretch of New Burton Road might want to consider an alternate route for the first half of next week.
The Delaware Department of Transportation will close the stretch of road between Front Street in Wyoming and Webbs Lane in Dover to accommodate work on its West Dover Connector project.
Starting Sunday the road will close from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. through Wednesday. That’s if Mother Nature cooperates. If she doesn’t, the closure could stretch until Jan. 22.
Crews will work on installing bridge beams overnight. The road will be open during the day.
At night, northbound traffic will be detoured at Front Street in Wyoming onto Old North Road and directed to U.S. 13 in Camden where they will turn left and drive north to Webbs Lane.
Another left onto Webbs Lane will take travelers back to New Burton Road.
Motorists driving south on New Burton Road will be detoured to Webbs Lane, then south onto U.S. 13 and then west on Old North Road.
When finished, the $36 million, 3.2-mile long West Dover Connector will go from the Eden Hill Commercial Center on North Street to the south end of Rodney Village, next to Brecknock Park, with no lights or stop signs to delay travel. Construction began last year.
The project should be completed by 2017, according to Greg Layton, community relations officer for DelDOT.
“Everything is going as planned,” he said. “We haven’t had any major delays and it’s great for motorists because we do construction during the night so there aren’t any problems during the day.”
Currently, drivers traveling across Dover west to east or vice versa must take a longer route involving multiple roads, something officials said will change soon.
Since the connector will simplify travel, DelDOT projects more than 19,000 daily rides on it instead of other roads by 2035.
“It will provide direct connections for multiple residential areas to one another as well as to commercial and medical facilities,” Mr. Layton said.
Traffic lights at both ends of the connector will help control flow, while another one at the “spur” off New Burton Road will help cars entering and exiting there.
The U.S. 13 intersection will receive a signal upgrade and more turn lanes, while the North Street-Saulsbury Road intersection at Eden Hill will undergo similar changes.
The existing intersection of North Street and Saulsbury Road will be upgraded to accommodate additional through and turning lanes as needed for projected traffic volumes.
Bicycle facilities will be provided on the roadway shoulder in addition to a shared use path.
“We’re excited about the project and can’t wait until it’s completed,” Mr. Layton said.