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West Dover Connector renamed POW-MIA Parkway

James Dawson/Delaware Public Media
Sen. Tom Carper speaking at the renaming of the West Dover Connector ceremony Monday.

Fallen and missing military members will be remembered when Dover’s newest road opens next year.

The long anticipated West Dover Connector will be named the POW-MIA Parkway.

DelDOT Secretary Jennifer Cohan says the $38 million project will help cut down on unnecessary traffic winding through Dover streets.

“Right now, a lot of those people who aren’t necessarily going into the City of Dover are going through the City of Dover and adding to traffic congestion, so this will be an easy way for them to get from Route 13 to the west side of Dover,” Cohan said.

Local and state officials helped unveil the new name Monday morning, with representatives from the Delaware National Guard and Dover Air Force Base joining in the event.

Construction has been underway for months.

Initial concerns of increased traffic and road noise from nearby minority communities have quieted down, according to Cohan.

“With this new project, especially with this bike and pedestrian path, it really opens up a lot of opportunities for services for the folks in Rodney Village – specifically access to the Kent County rec center and the Boys and Girls Club where they didn’t have that access before,” she said.

Those paths will snake along the roughly three miles of new roadway, connecting Route 13 next to Brecknock Park to Route 15 near the Kraft Heinz plant.

By 2035, DelDOT expects an average of nearly 20,000 daily trips along the roadway.

The POW-MIA Parkway is expected to open by next July.