Challenge

Fatalities on Delaware roads have been rising over time, including within Kent County, Delaware, and the long-term pattern pointed to the need for coordinated action. Dover Kent MPO secured a Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant to prepare a Safety Action Plan that could guide this work. Since the MPO is not an implementing agency, the plan needed to offer recommendations that a wide range of partners could carry forward. This called for close involvement from the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) and local municipalities throughout the process.

Solution

To develop the plan within the tight timeframe needed to apply for implementation funding, Kittelson began by organizing and facilitating a safety working group and completing existing conditions analyses. This included developing a high injury network (HIN) and preparing maps to understand crashes related to impaired driving and vulnerable road users.

Public engagement informed the selection of appropriate countermeasures at locations along the HIN. The team tailored these recommendations to help municipalities (i.e., the agencies that can build projects using SS4A implementation funds) develop grant applications. Our team supported two of those applications: an intersection improvement in Milford, Delaware, and a corridor safety study on U.S. 13 in Dover, Delaware. The U.S. 13 study was awarded a $400,000 SS4A supplemental planning grant in 2025.

The plan offered DelDOT and the Office of Highway Safety direction they could use to continue their safety efforts in Kent County.