In an effort to create a safer path to Milford High School, Milford City Council approved a $75,000 change order to Eastern States Construction that would allow them to construct a mid-block pedestrian crossing north of the intersection of North Rehoboth Boulevard and Salevan Place. This is part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Milford School District signed on December 6, 2024.
“The city has a utility street rehabilitation contract with Eastern and we would like to have them construct this pedestrian improvement construction,” Willis Shafer, Public Works Director, said. “The invoices will be paid by the city and, at the end of the project, Milford School District will reimburse the city for all engineering costs associated with the project.”
The project includes a concrete median, curb ramps, pedestrian refuge island, detectable warning surfaces, signage, channelization and 250 linear feet of sidewalk along the southside of Rehoboth Boulevard.
“I would like to add that the school district is paying us, but they got Community Transportation Fund (CTF) money from various legislators to pay for it,” Mark Whitfield, Interim City Manager, said.
Council approved the request by a vote of seven to zero. Councilman Danny Perez was not present at the meeting.
This intersection was reviewed in late 2022 by Dover Kent MPO who recommended significant safety changes. Crash data indicated that most accidents occurred around 3 PM, at the time of school dismissal. Most involved property damage only, but there were over a dozen crashes that caused personal injury. The traffic light can also cause delays over one minute, the report presented to council in June 2023 stated.
“There is congestion and a lack of pedestrian/bicycle infrastructure,” the report read. “There is also awkward turning movement in the area. A public workshop held in December 2022 returned comments supportive for improving this intersection with multiple attendees stating that the intersection is at its worst when school lets out.”
Dover Kent MPO made several recommendations for the intersection. One was a protected intersection that would separate vehicles from bicycles and pedestrians and another was an elongated roundabout. A third was to leave the intersection as it was.
“A traditional intersection does not meet the project goals,” the report read. “A single-lane roundabout would no longer be effective by 2050 which means a two-lane roundabout would be necessary. This also does not meet project goals. Removing Rehoboth Boulevard northbound left turns using a jug handle on Salevan Place would require upgrading Salevan Road to standard, require left turns at 10th Street and could conflict with truck restrictions. This also does not meet project goals.”
The recommendation was to convert Northwest 10th Street to one way eastbound, convert the approach of Rehoboth Boulevard to 10th Street to a through lane and reconfigure North Walnut Street to accept a new traffic pattern while converting Northwest 10th and Buccaneer Street to one-way pairs. These changes would take place over a period of 20 years with a protected intersection created by 2037 and conversion of the streets to one-way by 2050.
A public workshop held in January 2023 found that attendees were overall positive about the changes although some were hesitant about the one-way pair option for Northwest 10th and Buccaneer Street. An interim improvement plan that could be implemented immediately would cost $1.14 million without design fees. The second phase of the project which would change traffic patterns and create pedestrian/bike lanes would cost $3.8 million without design fees. The final phase which would convert roads in the area to one-way and completely change traffic patterns would cost $4.3 million without design fees.
Kent County MPO highly recommended that the three phases be implemented to improve safety at this intersection.
