Karl Baker

The News Journal

Work is underway on the U.S. 301 project in Middletown, home to a large number of long-distance commuters.

State transportation officials said the project could provide needed high-paying jobs locally.

The growth could curb the mega-commuting trend that has taken hold in the community.

State transportation officials hope the new $470 million U.S. 301 tollway will clear congestion from southern New Castle County and allow businesses to roll in – and not create a new pipeline for long-distance commuters.

A Census Bureau report released this year shows the southern part of the county has the state's largest number of residents who commute more than 90 miles a day for work, with some going as far as Washington, D.C., and New York City.

The 301 project, which recently broke ground, will create a high-speed, two-lane route to Del. 1 and the Maryland state line, providing a much faster option for commuters.

DelDOT planners, however, said the artery could create just the opposite of the mass morning and evening departure and arrivals – it may bring badly needed high-paying jobs.

"It could open up the door for more (business) investment west of Route 1,” said Drew Boyce, planning director at the state agency.

State Transportation Secretary Jennifer Cohan said Delaware’s fastest-growing region should see more jobs come to the area in a half-decade after the new tollway opens and connects Middletown's industrial-zoned lots to the network of expressways in the Northeast Corridor. For businesses between Del. 1 and the Maryland state line, it will mean a high-speed connection to Annapolis, Philadelphia, and beyond.

“Middletown is primed for (job growth), especially with 301 coming,” Cohan said.

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Southern New Castle County’s residential development has boomed during the past two decades, creating a carpet of subdivisions across former farmland.

The area offers less expensive housing options and solid schools within a two-hour drive of major East Coast cities that make long-distance commuting an viable option.

The census report, which used 2014 data, found that almost 5,000 Middletown residents spent 40 to 90 minutes commuting. The national average is around 25 minutes.

Middletown’s population increased from 6,361 in 2002 to just under 20,000 people.

But business growth – and the good jobs it can bring – has not kept up, said Middletown Mayor Ken Branner. That's likely one reason residents frequently commute long-distances, he said. For those who don’t have long commutes, some have to settle for low-paying jobs, he said.

“There’s a big pocket of people who have taken jobs that are less than what they’re capable of doing,” Branner said.

DelDOT and Middletown have partnered to plan the town’s business growth, and have designated its Westtown district as an area for new companies to sprout.

“The need for 301 has been established for decades and it has been exacerbated by the growth in Middletown,” Cohan said. “It is still the quaint town but it is close, too, whether it’s Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore, Annapolis or D.C.”

In February, DelDOT also estimated that building the new U.S. 301 will employ 5,200 workers in construction and 2,400 in supporting industries.

Middletown Councilman Robert Stout, owner of Alpaca Signs and Designs in town, said there's a need for high-paying jobs, and he points to the technology industry as the means to attaining those. Southern New Castle County needs to transform from a series of bedroom communities that send workers long-distances, he said, and the new highway could aid that transition.

Stout ran his Town Council campaign on the message of creating jobs and won reelection to the six-member body with the most votes of any of the six candidates vying for the three open positions on March 7.

“What is the future of high-paying jobs? It’s in high-tech,” he said. “Any person would like to work near to where they put their head down at night."

Middletown can become known as a technology town, Stout said, if developers move forward with a controversial proposal to build the Middletown Technology Center, a 228,000-square-foot complex southwest of Home Depot, near U.S. 301. The facility would be a data center where companies can store massive amounts of electronic information, and would feature a 52.5-megawatt, natural gas power plant.

“When you have industries like that move in, it is followed by other high-tech companies,” he said.

But there is also a vocal set of data center opponents who believe emissions from the facility's gas electrify generator would be intolerable. They have protested monthly since November after the Town Council approved the project during the summer.

Dave Wisniewski, the only Town Council candidate to have opposed the data center outright, lost in the recent poll. Following the election, he said the town should hold a referendum on the proposal.

In addition to high-tech, the 301 expressway could bring freight companies into southern New Castle County, Cohan said.

Multiple proposals to expand the Port of Wilmington, or build a completely new facility, are currently being considered. The increased shipping capacity will take advantage of future global trade patterns, she said, as more goods arrive on the East Coast rather than the west.

“What’s going on at the Panama Canal with the widening, the Eastern Shore is really primed for additional freight coming into the port,” Cohan said.

But tractor-trailer traffic is a sensitive topic in Middletown. While residents call for more jobs, many are outraged with a surge in heavy freight that passes along town roads destined for the Amazon.com’s distribution center, the Wal-Mart Supercenter, or to simply to bypass Interstate 95 between Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia.

Tim Seward, a lifelong Middletown resident, said quality of life in his area has sunk with the increasing traffic. While relief from the new expressway is welcome when it opens, he's worried that the three years of highway construction will make driving unbearable.

“It shouldn't take 20 minutes to get from a food store to home when you only live 6 miles away," said Seward, who is a vice president of the water well drilling company, RJ Seward and Son.

The Rev. Ryan Scott, a pastor who lives along Middletown’s western edge, said southern New Castle County could be more self-sustaining, but he doesn’t want it to become an “industrial center.”

“I don’t want to be like Delaware City,” he said, referencing that municipality’s oil refinery.

Job growth has been realized in retail, he said, and he pointed to restaurants and a movie theater that have opened in recent years. Long distance drives to north of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal or down to Dover to go shopping have become unnecessary, he said.

“I used to take my daughter up to Newark for music classes,” he said. “Not anymore.”

Lori Gagnon, a six-year southern New Castle County resident who lives outside of Middletown’s limits, said the businesses that have grown in the area hire mostly low-income workers.

"The jobs are here, but they aren't jobs that a professional would have," she said. "The teenagers and young people who just starting out will benefit from the retail stores and fast food chains."

Dan Blevins, principal planner for the Wilmington Area Planning Council said numerous new jobs will be created in southern New Castle County during the next two decades, but most will be more service-oriented, catering to the needs of the growing population there, rather than industrial occupations.

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WILMAPCO projects that 5,037 new jobs will be created in the Middletown, Odessa, and Townsend area between 2010 until 2040.

The growth causes Seward to look fondly upon the days when Middletown was a "hamlet."

“As a child, the biggest worry was where would we watch fireworks?”

Now you can’t even get into town on the Fourth of July, he said.

The final work on 301 should be done by December 2018. It's difficult to predict exactly what commuting and employment trends will be at that time, Cohan said, but job growth looks likely.

“I think it will open up more options for Delawareans that are looking to potentially relocate jobs without having to move," she said.

Contact Karl Baker at kbaker@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2329. Follow him on Twitter @kbaker6.