Milford chronicle., 1932-01-08
ROAD BUILDING
PROGRAM URGED
TO Be CONTINUED
IContinned from Firsl Paqel

ton and the State Road as an emerg
ehcy project When this is com
pleted. it will relieve the traffic con
gestion which exists particularly on
week-ends and holidays during the
summer according to the report, anC
should also reduce materially the
number of fatalities. There have
been 13 fatalities at this intersection
during the past year.
A road AS miles in length near
FieldsbOrO is to be completed during
the coming summer, completing the
StNte Road-DOver dual highway to a
point about one mile south of Black
bird. Grading on the road which
begins at st. Georges, has been COM
pIeted to FieldsbOrO, and the contract
has been let for grading and paving
OF the last portion leading past
Blackbird.
One of the most pressing traffic
needs at the present is the widening
of u. S. Route 13 from Dover to Del
mar and U. S. Route 11S from Dover
TO Milford to width of 20 feet, Mr..
Mack said. He recommended that
as much as possible of this be placed
under contract this year and that it
be completed as rapidly as available
funds will permit. He also urged
the construction of sidewalks along
heavily travelled highways outside
the incorporated limits of towns and
cities, for which contracts have been
awarded during the past three
months. Additional contracts are to
be awarded, he said.
Mr.. Mack urged that the work of
grading and draining earth roads,
which has been carried on during
the year at an approximate cost of
$1,000 per mile, be continued where
conditions are favorable and the
amount of traffic does not justify
hard surface construction.
Survey work was carried on dur
ing the year by five parties; two in
New Castle and Sussex counties, and
one in Kent county. The emergency
appropriation of 100000, together
with the regular Federal aid appro-
priation, necessarily increased the
number of projects over previous
years Delaware was the first State
to apply for the Federal aid apprO-
pFiation.
During the year the department
held IL road lettings consisting of go
contracts with a total aggregate of
445 separate bids From December
I, 1880, to DeDcember l, 1881, the
Right of Way Department had more
wor kthan any year in its history,
having secured rights Of way on 80
contracts with a total mileage of
1888 miles.
Costs OF Right OF Way
The money spent for right of way /
during the year was as follows. Sec .
Ondary roads and sidewalks, $751;,
09S14; dual highway, $6S,O5515. The
highest cost was for the dual road
from st. Georges to AppOquinimink,
a distance of 9.93 miles, which was
$47,171S2, a rate of $5,O55.9S per
mile.
Surveys were made and plans pre-
pared by the Bridge Division for 62
bridges and $50 culverts during the
year, the completed cost of these be-
ing $203.4O0 and $64,20O respectively,
an average cost of $2,320 per mile
of highway constructed. This rep
resents IL per cent of the total
amount spent for construction. The
most important bridges under con-
struction during the year were the
plate girder bridge over the White
Clay Greek at Marshallton, and the
concrete pile bridges over the Draw
yers and APPOINTMENTS Rivers on
the dual highway.
Among the important roads built
this year in addition to those men
Il 4In To Ia nd ctr
off in Wilmington, which relieves
congestion of traffic on north Mar
ket street by passing it to points
west of Market street by way of the
Miller Road and Washington street.
Important secondary road connec-
tions were: Wrangel Hill-Clark's
Corner, COOch's Bridge Maryland line
in New Castle county Little Creek
Bay Road, Notwithstanding Sun, (
Fleming's Corner Whiteleysburg,
Kent county, and Double Bridges
Redden. Green's Mill-Bowden's ga i;
rage, Browns Church Middleford, {
and Elliott's School-Smith Mill road y
ways in Sussex county. n
Safety Record Marred !
The safety record for the year was
not as good as the former year, as
there were a slight increase of both '
fatal and non-fatal accidents. The t
increase was with pedestrians, said
to be due to the employment situa- S
tion which resulted in an increase t
of mixers. {
There was total of S54 acci-. \
dents, by State police, with Sc per- !
sons killed and 716 injured. The es- t
timated property damage was $142,- t
469 The number of arrests made c
during the year was 1886. The in
creasing number of pedestrians kill S
ed emphasizes the need of the con- I
of sidewalks along the v
heavily travelled highways, Mr. Mack '
said. Q
For the year of June 80. 1881 to d
1892, Congress appropriated $685. il
375 annually for Delaware. This h
together with the 100000 $
Emergency Public Works appropria-
tion was all taken up during the sea- f,
~, enabling the department to in &
BASE its program over recent years h
without bond issues.
The total income of the depart +,
ment for the year was $3,212,S03.33. =,
The total expenditures were S2,72S,- II
i734S, leaving a balance as of De- ;,