Planners took the document that could guide changes to the 202 corridor in northern New Castle County to the public for a final look this week.
The suburban 202 or Concord Pike corridor is lined with strip malls and parking lots, and is notorious for traffic. The master plan being developed by the Wilmington Area Planning Council (WILMAPCO) aims to make the corridor work better for all users over the next 30 years.
Improving conditions for pedestrians and cyclists is one of the draft plan’s main recommendations.
“You can just plan for cars, or you can try to plan for everything,” said WILMAPCO planner Dave Gula during a virtual public workshop Monday. “We’re hoping we can plan for everything and get a really good value out of the corridor that we have.”
The draft Concord Pike (U.S. 202) Corridor Master Plan is also recommending better timing of the corridor’s many stoplights, improvements to intersections to make it easier to walk across the highway, and expansion of public transit.
Gula addressed concerns that the plan recommends more development along Concord Pike. He said the plan merely aims to focus redevelopment that’s likely to happen anyway into certain areas. The draft plan recommends redevelopment be mixed-use and include recreational amenities.
“We want to establish the appropriate criteria to influence development,” said Gula. “We want people to have some blueprint for how things should happen in a perfect situation, and we know there will be redevelopment in the future.”
The draft plan also suggests forming a Route 202 Monitoring Committee to help prioritize projects for implementation and keep the community involved.
Planners are still accepting written comments.
