The Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has launched a mobile driver license (mDL) pilot study that will run for six months. The pilot, which includes approximately 200 state employees and stakeholders, is designed to test user acceptance and new innovative features that can only be achieved with an mDL.

“Delaware is among the first states to test a mobile driver’s license, and we’re excited to help move this new technology forward,” said Governor John Carney. “Across state government, we remain focused on innovation, to connecting Delawareans with new technology, and finding new, more efficient ways to deliver services to Delaware taxpayers. This program is a great demonstration of that effort. Thank you to Secretary Cohan, her team at DelDOT and IDEMIA for making this pilot a possibility.”

“This six month pilot will help us see what mDLs look like in real-world scenarios and address any issues that arise as a result before we decide to fully adopt and implement this application for our more than 800,000 licensed drivers and ID card holders,” said Secretary of Transportation Jennifer Cohan.

“Keeping our personal information secure continues to be an important issue and I am proud to have sponsored the legislation to allow for this pilot study to move forward,” said Senator David McBride.

“It is exciting for us to be one of the first states to test this innovative technology that can both protect the privacy of our customers and enhance safety in ways that can’t be achieved with a traditional driver license or identification card,” said Scott Vien, Director of the Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles. “It is our responsibility to always bring the best-in-class offerings to our State and an mDL holds the promise of offering an always-updated, secure credential that will be easy-to-use by our consumers, businesses and law enforcement.”

The pilot is being run by both the Delaware DMV and IDEMIA, the company that produces the State’s physical driver licenses and identification cards.

Features of the mDL that will be tested include:

• Enhanced privacy for age verification – no need to show a person’s address, license number and birthdate, the mDL will verify if the person is over 18 or 21 and display a photo.
• Law enforcement use during a traffic stop – the mDL will allow law enforcement officers to ping a driver’s smartphone to request their driver’s license information prior to walking to the vehicle.
• Business acceptance – understanding how businesses that require identification or age verification interact with the mDL will be advantageous throughout pilot.
• Ease of Use – ensuring the mDL is able to be presented to any organization without difficulty.
• Secure access – the mDL is only unlocked and accessible by the mDL holder. The mDL is accessed through an app on the owner’s smartphone and is opened/unlocked by entering a user-created pin number or using facial recognition.

“We are pleased to be working with our long-standing partner, the Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles, on this innovative mobile driver’s license,” said Ed Casey, Chief Executive Officer, IDEMIA Identity & Security Business. “As the leader in driver’s license solutions in the United States, it is our responsibility to take the lead in bringing secure IDs to people’s smart phones. The variety of value-added features that protect and offer safety to all that interact with the digital ID is something we are excited about and pleased to be making a reality.”

Contractor R.E. Pierson will begin the next phase of work on the Route 141 Centre Road project on Monday, March 12, 2018.

On Monday, March 12, in preparation of the upcoming northbound lane closures, southbound Route 141 will be reduced to one lane from Route 100/Montchanin Road to Route 48/Lancaster Pike.

On Thursday, March 15, traffic will be shifted into a contraflow pattern on the southbound lanes of the roadway allowing one lane of southbound traffic and one lane of northbound traffic. This will allow for the complete closure of the northbound Route 141 lanes from Route 48/Lancaster Pike to Route 100/Montchanin Road.

The $17 million project, which began in October 2017, will replace the existing concrete roadway on this 1.4 mile section of Route 141 and on the Route 52/Kennett Pike interchange ramps, as well as replace concrete curbing, drainage, and guardrails.

Delays will be greater than what motorists experienced in the fall of 2017 during the first phases of the project and DelDOT is strongly recommending that motorists use alternate routes as major delays will persist into November 2018.

Ramps from Route 141 north to Route 52/Kennett Pike north and south will also be closed for the duration of work to reconstruct the northbound lanes of the road. In addition, no left turns will be permitted from Route 141 north onto Barley Mill Road or from Barley Mill Road onto Route 141 north.

The work on Route 141 north is expected to be completed in summer 2018. Contraflow traffic will then be shifted to the new northbound lanes and work will begin on Route 141 south, and continue into November 2018.

DETOUR INFORMATION
During the closures of the Route 52/Kennett Pike ramps located on the northbound side of Route 141 traffic will be detoured onto Route 100/Montchanin Road.

For additional information, an overview of the project can be found here.

Motorists may adjust their routes or travel times by using DelDOT’s Smartphone application. The DelDOT App is available for Apple & Android smart phones and tablets, and can be downloaded free, search for “DelDOT” at the Apple and Google Play stores. With the DelDOT App you can view real time traffic cameras, travel times, delays, advisories, DART’s Real-Time Transit Information, and also listen to WTMC 1380 AM.

The Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) has added two electric vehicles (EV) to its fleet as part of a new pilot program. Adding the two EVs will help the department assess the sustainability, ease of use, and maintenance of these vehicles compared to the department’s traditional fossil fueled light duty fleet vehicles.

The two Ford Focus Electric vehicles have a range of roughly 70 – 100 miles per charge, and will be based at DelDOT’s Danner Campus in Dover where an EV charging station has been installed. Replacing a gas car with an electric vehicle is estimated to save 4.7 metric tons of carbon emissions annually.

“When most people think of DelDOT vehicles, they think of large trucks like our snow plows and construction equipment which are largely diesel powered. Not all of our work requires the use of large, fossil fuel vehicles, so this is an opportunity for us to be more environmentally conscious and evaluate the usage of EVs as a fleet vehicle,” said Secretary of Transportation Jennifer Cohan.

The addition of the two electric vehicles, costing $27,299 each, brings the total number of EVs in the state fleet to a total of five, with the other three currently in use by DNREC’s Division of Energy and Climate. DelDOT is thankful for the technical assistance, cooperation, and financial support of the Division of Natural Resources (DNREC) in the installation of the charging stations at the Danner Campus, and will continue to work with DNREC on environmentally friendly initiatives.

In recent years, states such as Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, as well as numerous municipalities have launched initiatives to incorporate EVs in their fleets to reduce emissions and fuel costs.

Construction of the new US 301 continues to proceed with the first of the seven project phases nearing completion ahead of schedule. The nearly 14 mile-long, $636 million project is divided into seven contracts that are being built concurrently.

The R.E. Pierson Construction Company is finishing work on their 1.8 mile segment (1C) of the US 301 Mainline Project. The $21,315,701.98 contract was awarded to R.E. Pierson on January 6, 2016, and construction on the 1C contract commenced on February 29, 2016.

“R.E. Pierson Construction is very proud of our section of the new 301 alignment. Thanks to the collective effort of our project team and the Department’s staff, we have offset any project delays to secure a timely completion,” said Ralph Farabaugh, Construction Manager for R.E. Pierson.

Through December 24, 2017, the contractor has experienced 183 days that work could not take place due to inclement weather. Despite these lost days, the project is 41 days ahead of the original contract completion date of May 5, 2018.

Governor John Carney stated, “With efforts underway such as the Port of Wilmington expansion, it is critical that freight traffic can move easily through the region, and the new US 301 will be a great asset as we look to grow businesses that are already here and attract new ones to invest and build in Delaware.”

“We are very happy with the work R.E. Pierson has done on this extremely important project for our state,” Secretary of Transportation Jennifer Cohan said. “Opening the new US 301 by the end of 2018 is critical as toll revenues will pay the loans that have helped finance this project.”

This new 1.8 mile segment of concrete four lane roadway included 875,000 cubic yards of earth work, construction of a 140-foot single span bridge over Drawyer Creek, construction of a 190-foot 60 inch dual pipe culvert carrying a tributary to the Drawyer Creek, and the construction of a new bridge carrying the new US 301 over the Norfolk Southern Railroad.

Work is continuing to progress on the other six project sections:

• Section 1A – Route 896 to State Route 1, by Tutor Perini.

• Section 1B – U.S. Route 301 and SR 1 Interchange, by Tutor Perini.

• Section 1D – Constructing the intersection at US 13 and Port Penn Road providing toll-free access to SR 1, by Diamond Materials.

• Section 2A – U.S. Route 301, Levels Road to Summit Bridge Road, by Allen Meyers Contractors.

• Section 2B – Rebuilding the intersection at Summit Bridge and Armstrong Corner roads, near Middletown, by A-Del Construction.

• Section 3 – U.S. Route 301, Maryland State Line to Levels Road, by Greggo & Ferrara Inc.

Additionally, Greggo & Ferrara Inc. won the $7,958,310.00 contract to construct the toll infrastructure for the roadway which includes the gantry structures and equipment huts that will allow for automated tolling.

Ground was broken for the entire US 301 project on February 5, 2016. The project is partially funded by a $211 million U.S. Department of Transportation loan that will be paid back through toll collections on the highway. The total cost of the project, including land purchases and the maintenance of a reserve fund, is estimated at $636 million.

The Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) will be closing two lanes on I-95 northbound from the Newark Toll Plaza through the Route 896 interchange beginning at approximately 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 24, 2018, weather permitting, to allow for work to replace a failing segment of roadway. Beginning at approximately 11:00 p.m., a third lane will be closed to increase safety for the workers. The third lane closure will be removed at around 5:00 a.m. on Thursday, and the double lane closure will remain in effect into the evening hours on Thursday, January 25.

DelDOT crews have patched the roughly 20-foot section of roadway just beyond mile marker 2.5 in the vicinity of the Route 896 interchange three times over the past week, however, the road surface has continued to deteriorate, and re-patching has required unannounced lane closures to continue repairing the road surface.

This long-term repair will consist of removing the damaged roadway and pouring new concrete. Once the concrete has cured, the lane closures will be lifted.

Motorists traveling on I-95 north should expect significant delays in the area beginning Wednesday night through Thursday evening.

Message boards and alternative routes will be posted, and motorists can tune to 1380AM WTMC for the latest traffic information and utilize the DelDOT app for real-time road conditions.