Update on construction I-95/Route 1 interchange in Delaware

Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez joined state officials for an update on the progress of construction at the I-95/Route 1 interchange near the Christiana Mall.  

The new interchange is designed to drastically improve traffic flow through what is one of Delaware’s worst bottlenecks.  The $85.7 million project is already well underway and is expected to be completed by October 2013.  “What this is all about is investing in our future,” says Mendez.  He says improving travel in Delaware and improving infrastructure nationwide is a non-partisan ideal.  “There are no Republican bridges, no Democratic roads, this should be a bipartisan issue.”

The project will include the construction of six bridges, two crossing over I-95 and four over Route 1.  The construction contract was awarded to Cherry Hill Construction, based in nearby Jessup, Maryland.  The company’s project manager Roger Lant says Delaware workers will do much of the road and bridge construction. 

“It’s really important that we create a safe condition and an efficient condition,” says Delaware Secretary of Transportation Shailen Bhatt.  “Because it’s not just people who are going to their work and jobs and [traveling] with their families, but it’s also businesses and companies that need to move goods through.” 

In November, First examined the project and the impact the new interchange will have on the future of the site, while looking back to remember the history of the area.