When the Delaware Department of Transportation announced work would begin at the intersection of Choptank and Churchtown roads, they also announced they would partner with the New Castle County Police to control any traffic that may result from the construction.
    “There is a coordinated effort to address speed and other traffic issues in the community,” said Cpl. Trinidad Navarro, public information officer for the NCCPD.
    DelDOT has been working to widen and reduce the center incline on Choptank Road since June 2007. In the most recent phase of the project, DelDOT closed the entrance to the Back Creek Golf Club Community on Clayton Manor Drive in June so the entrance could be widened before construction began on Choptank Road between Churchtown and Armstrong Corner roads.
    Clayton Manor Drive re-opened last week, but while it was closed, residents from the Back Creek community reported an increase in speeding in the community, and worried that when the intersection at Choptank and Churchtown would be converted into a roundabout, the traffic would get worse.
    The official detour route during the construction of the roundabout will be from Bethel Church Road to Old Telegraph Road to Bohemia Mill Road. However, Back Creek residents feared motorists could choose to cut through the community by way of Clayton Manor and Back Creek drives, instead.
    In response to citizen requests, New Castle County Police will continue the patrols they increased last month as the construction at the intersection, which began Monday, continues into the winter.
    “They’re going to step up the patrols,” said Jim Westhoff, community relations officer for DelDOT.
    Navarro said in addition to the regular police patrols in the area, the department has put up a speed check board, had the mounted patrol in the community and assigned officers specifically for traffic enforcement in Back Creek.
    He said the mounted patrol is beneficial because officers can run battery-powered radar from horseback and their enforcement is not 9-1-1 driven.
    Navarro said most of the speeding in the area came from people within the community, not cutting through it.
    Nevertheless, Navarro asks motorists to use the posted detours during the construction and not use the community as a detour route.
    “It is an inconvenience, but the goal is to make the flow of traffic safer through the area,” Navarro said.
    Westhoff said the official detour routes are safer to drive on and safer for children.
    “We can’t tell [motorists] they can’t go through those roads [in Back Creek], because they’re public roads, but they better not speed,” he said.
    Westhoff said signs were posted along Choptank Road announcing the construction in advance, and have also been posted along the official detour routes.
    He said meeting with the residents of Back Creek has been a benefit.
    “Hopefully, this will be a template on how we handle detours in the future,” Westhoff said.
    The roundabout at Choptank and Churchtown roads will be the second along Choptank Road. The first, at the intersection of Choptank and Bunker Hill roads, needed to be redone when local farmers could not get their combines through it.
    Westhoff said the re-done roundabout has been a success. It has gone through a planting season and the opening of Appoquinimink High School, which is located on Bunker Hill Road, with no problems.
    After the intersection is done, Choptank Road will need to be widened from Churchtown to Armstrong Corner roads and a roundabout will be constructed at the intersection of Choptank and Armstrong Corner roads.
    Joe Antonio, resident of Back Creek Drive, said he still believes motorists will cut through the community and will wait and see if the patrols work.
    “They’ll have to be conditioned not to speed through here,” Antonio said.