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Included in an omnibus bill that’s heading to Gov. Jack Markell to be signed into law is a controversial funding mechanism to finance design and land acquisition for the hotly-contested U.S. 301 Bypass project.
Located in southern New Castle County, the main part of the project would build a four-lane limited-access toll road, running from the state line south of Middletown to Route 1 near Biddles Corner. The project includes a separate “spur road” that would provide a direct link from the Summit Bridge, south of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, to Middletown.
Proponents say the project is needed to deal with anticipated growth in the area, as well as to detour truck traffic around Middletown and its increasingly suburban environs.
Estimates for the project range from $800 million to $1 billion.
Under the bill sent to the governor, SS 1 for SB 202, the state will float $125 million in so-called "GARVEE bonds” – a type of borrowing underwritten by federal highway funds the state expects to receive in the future. Twenty-five states reportedly issue GARVEE bonds, but this would be a first in Delaware. Over the 15-year repayment period, the state would pay a total of $40 million in interest (debt service) to bond holders.
State Sec. of Transportation Carolann Wicks said the $125 million will enable her agency to complete the project design and the land acquisition for the corridor.
State Rep. William Oberle (R-Beecher’s Lot), a member of the Bond Bill Committee, voted against the measure, expressing concerns about the state engaging in a new type of borrowing.
“On the GARVEE bonds, I just happen to think they’re a bad idea,” he said. “It opens up another well from which to draw [money]. My sense is that we should not be undertaking any road project that we cannot finance through the current confines of our Transportation Trust Fund.”
Oberle and other legislators also said they were perplexed that DelDOT’s projections of the number of vehicles that will use the project on a daily basis are drastically different from estimates made by a regional transportation planning organization. The figures differ by about 100,000 trips per day.
State Rep. Greg Lavelle (R-Sharpley) noted that since the road is being partially financed with toll money, the disagreement is more than just academic.
“This discrepancy will have to be reconciled or we will have a problem,” he said.
Before passage of the funding bill, State House Minority Leader Dick Cathcart (R-Middletown) successfully pushed for the passage of a measure, House Resolution 35, to bring all of the stakeholders together to resolve some of the questions that hang over the project.
Cathcart said not only will the group deal with the differing ridership projections, they will also look at the spur road portion of the project, which has drawn its own specific opposition.
“I want to explore establishing some trigger mechanism that must be meant before any work on the spur can be started,” he said.
DelDOT has said the spur road will be built in the last phase of the project. Opponents say if there is less traffic and development than expected, taxpayers may be able to avoid the expense of building the road, potentially shaving an estimated $150 million to $200 million off the total project cost.
The group will meet sometime over the next six weeks.
Included in an omnibus bill that’s heading to Gov. Jack Markell to be signed into law is a controversial funding mechanism to finance design and land acquisition for the hotly-contested U.S. 301 Bypass project.
Located in southern New Castle County, the main part of the project would build a four-lane limited-access toll road, running from the state line south of Middletown to Route 1 near Biddles Corner. The project includes a separate “spur road” that would provide a direct link from the Summit Bridge, south of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, to Middletown.
Proponents say the project is needed to deal with anticipated growth in the area, as well as to detour truck traffic around Middletown and its increasingly suburban environs.
Estimates for the project range from $800 million to $1 billion.
Under the bill sent to the governor, SS 1 for SB 202, the state will float $125 million in so-called "GARVEE bonds” – a type of borrowing underwritten by federal highway funds the state expects to receive in the future. Twenty-five states reportedly issue GARVEE bonds, but this would be a first in Delaware. Over the 15-year repayment period, the state would pay a total of $40 million in interest (debt service) to bond holders.
State Sec. of Transportation Carolann Wicks said the $125 million will enable her agency to complete the project design and the land acquisition for the corridor.
State Rep. William Oberle (R-Beecher’s Lot), a member of the Bond Bill Committee, voted against the measure, expressing concerns about the state engaging in a new type of borrowing.
“On the GARVEE bonds, I just happen to think they’re a bad idea,” he said. “It opens up another well from which to draw [money]. My sense is that we should not be undertaking any road project that we cannot finance through the current confines of our Transportation Trust Fund.”
Oberle and other legislators also said they were perplexed that DelDOT’s projections of the number of vehicles that will use the project on a daily basis are drastically different from estimates made by a regional transportation planning organization. The figures differ by about 100,000 trips per day.
State Rep. Greg Lavelle (R-Sharpley) noted that since the road is being partially financed with toll money, the disagreement is more than just academic.
“This discrepancy will have to be reconciled or we will have a problem,” he said.
Before passage of the funding bill, State House Minority Leader Dick Cathcart (R-Middletown) successfully pushed for the passage of a measure, House Resolution 35, to bring all of the stakeholders together to resolve some of the questions that hang over the project.
Cathcart said not only will the group deal with the differing ridership projections, they will also look at the spur road portion of the project, which has drawn its own specific opposition.
“I want to explore establishing some trigger mechanism that must be meant before any work on the spur can be started,” he said.
DelDOT has said the spur road will be built in the last phase of the project. Opponents say if there is less traffic and development than expected, taxpayers may be able to avoid the expense of building the road, potentially shaving an estimated $150 million to $200 million off the total project cost.
The group will meet sometime over the next six weeks.
