Delaware
Sussex gets grant to fund Route 9 trail crossing feasibility study
The Delaware Bicycle Council approved a $35,000 grant Dec. 3, to Sussex County to help fund a feasibility study for a Route 9 tunnel crossing near Cool Spring Road to improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians.
Council members present at the meeting voted 12-0 to give 2025 Cycling Infrastructure Innovation grants of $35,000 to Sussex County and $15,000 to Newark.
Sussex County would use its allocation toward a study of a potential tunnel for the Lewes to Georgetown Trail, County Administrator Todd Lawson said Dec. 4.
“This is just for us to study whether the feasibility of putting a tunnel in that location works,” Lawson said. “We view this as a kick-start of an idea we are looking into.”
Sussex County Council will have to approve the balance of the study’s estimated $45,000 cost, he said.
The trail connects to Lewes, and the state is in the process of extending it the rest of the way to Georgetown.
“The biking community and users of the Georgetown to Lewes Trail have contacted Sussex County for an improved crossing at this location,” said John Fiori, the Delaware Department of Transportation bicycle coordinator who assists the council.
Currently, the only crossing of Route 9 for the trail is at the signalized intersection of Route 9/Fisher Road/Hudson Road, which was constructed by DelDOT, Fiori said.
But safety of the crossing is a growing concern as traffic on Route 9 has been increasing, with housing and commercial developments in the area and more planned.
A developer has proposed building 1,922 houses and 450,975 square feet of commercial space between Hudson and Cool Spring roads. Safety of the Route 9 crossing west of Lewes was discussed briefly at a Nov. 2 public hearing on that development project, which is located near the Route 9 trail crossing.
A Route 9 crossing project was championed for a couple of years by Walter Bryan, a bicycle council member who died in April.
Several alternatives for a crossing have been discussed over the years, including a bridge spanning Route 9.
The idea of a bridge was dropped for several reasons, including the angle of the crossing would require a very long span and there are high-voltage power lines running along the highway.
If the feasibility study supports the project, the county would have to convince the state and federal governments to fund and build a tunnel, Lawson said.
Sussex County Land Trust would also be involved in the project, he said. The group owns the Stephen P. Hudson Park near the potential Route 9 crossing site. It includes a trailhead parking lot.
The bicycle council’s five-member working group met with eight applicants as it worked to determine how to divide the $50,000 that is available, Fiori said.
Applications were ranked based on five categories: proximity to other bicycle routes or public facilities such as a community center, post office, library, school or park; creating a link between compatible facilities; eliminating hazards; inclusion in a master plan; and ability to complete the project.
Lawson said the Lewes-to-Georgetown Trail is exceeding all expectations, making an improved crossing an important project. The anticipated completion of the trail will bring many more users, but also increased need for a safe crossing, he said.
“People are going to be very attracted to that,” Lawson said. “It will exceed all expectations.”
Thomas Jefferson University is opening a regional campus of its Sidney Kimmel Medical College in Delaware, an effort that will result in the state’s first medical school.
Jefferson beat out three other bidders to establish the four-year program in partnership with the state. The other bidders were the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, the consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Ponce Health Sciences University in Puerto Rico, Spotlight Delaware reported.
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The inaugural class of 40 medical students will begin instruction in July 2028. Initially, the campus will be based at the University of Delaware in Newark, with Jefferson faculty providing instruction. A permanent home for the campus is still being finalized, the Inquirer reported.
The medical students will receive 18 months of preclinical training on campus before receiving clinical training from healthcare providers in Delaware’s southern counties, where the state’s physician shortage is most deeply felt. That shortage is compounded by an aging population, Delaware officials said.
“Jefferson is committed to being part of the solution to Delaware’s physician shortage,” Jefferson CEO Dr. Joseph Cacchione said in a statement. “We are proud to help build a future where every Delawarean has access to the care they deserve. Jefferson is all in.”
The school’s creation is being supported by $157.4 million from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Delaware is one of three states without a Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program. Since the late 1960s, Jefferson and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine have reserved seats for Delaware students.
“Sidney Kimmel Medical College has trained generations of physicians for more than 200 years, more than any other medical college in the country,” Said Ibrahim, dean of Sidney Kimmel Medical College, said in a statement. “It is a privilege to bring our mission to Delaware’s patients and communities.”
Jefferson has announced several expansions recently. The university is establishing a full-time doctor of nursing practice-nurse anesthesia program and several online graduate programs at the Lehigh Valley Health Network Center for Healthcare Education in Lehigh County. It also is opening a satellite respiratory therapy lab at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Allentown.
Delaware officials said medical students will start their classroom instruction at UD and then do their clinical training at offices and health care systems in Kent and Sussex counties, where the shortage of doctors is most acute.
However, ChristianaCare, which has its own partnership with Jefferson, is not participating. The state’s largest health care system was part of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine’s unsuccessful bid to operate the school. In a joint statement from ChristianaCare and PCOM, the two organizations expressed disappointment with not being part of the consortium of higher education institutions and healthcare organizations.
“The path forward raises genuine questions about whether the school’s goals can be fully realized without ChristianaCare’s meaningful participation in its clinical training mission,” it said. “The success of any four-year medical program depends not just on an academic institution, but on a true and committed partnership with its clinical partners — one built on shared mission, mutual investment and trust developed over time.”
Students in the first class can get their tuition subsidized, covering all of their education costs, in exchange for an agreement to work in rural Delaware for five years.
Running the medical school is expected to cost Jefferson $78 million over the next five years. The money is from a federal rural health grant through the Rural Health Transformation Program, which congressional Republicans created in the so-called “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act.”
The program will give $50 billion to every state over five years, though exactly the total each will eventually receive is unclear. Half of the money is to be distributed equally to states and the other half is awarded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services based on a variety of factors.
The state applied for $1 billion late last year to improve health care in Kent and Sussex counties. The Trump administration has so far allocated Delaware $157 million. Delaware is expected to receive at least $500 million over the life of the fund.
Delaware Ohio Housing Growth
A look at the rapid expansion of housing developments in Delaware, Ohio.
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Every few weeks Delaware city approves a new housing development. The city has more than 4,000 housing units in its development pipeline, contributing to the rapid growth in one of the fastest-growing counties in Ohio.
A crash shut down U.S. 42 in Delaware County in both directions June 2.
As of 7 a.m., U.S. 42 was closed from U.S. 23 to Jegs Place near the Delaware Municipal Airport.
It was not immediately clear whether anyone was injured in the crash or when the roadway would open.
This is a developing story and will be updated
Public Safety and Breaking News Reporter Bailey Gallion can be reached at bagallion@dispatch.com.
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