Infrastructure & Transportation


A Delaware Platform for Roads, Bridges, Public Transit, Broadband Access, Traffic Relief, and Responsible Growth


Delaware's infrastructure must serve the people who live here now while preparing responsibly for the growth that is already coming. Roads, bridges, public transit, broadband, and long-term planning are not partisan issues - they are basic functions of government. Families need safe roads to get to work and school.

Businesses need reliable transportation networks to move goods and serve customers. Seniors, students, veterans, and workers need practical transportation options. Rural communities need broadband access that is no longer treated as optional. And taxpayers deserve to know that infrastructure dollars are being spent wisely, transparently, and with long-term results in mind.

The Independent Party of Delaware supports an infrastructure and transportation agenda built on safety, accountability, affordability, and smart growth.

Maintain What We Have Before Chasing What Sounds Good

Delaware must prioritize the basics: safe roads, structurally sound bridges, reliable drainage, properly maintained shoulders, safe intersections, and timely repairs. Too often, government allows essential infrastructure to deteriorate while pursuing headline-grabbing projects that may not solve the daily problems Delawareans face.

IPoD supports a "fix it first" approach that prioritizes maintenance, safety, and modernization of existing infrastructure before committing taxpayer dollars to expensive new projects. Delawareans should not have to dodge potholes, sit in avoidable traffic, or worry about aging bridges while government agencies spend money without clear public accountability.

We support:

  • Regular public reporting on road and bridge conditions.
  • Prioritizing dangerous intersections, high-crash corridors, and structurally deficient infrastructure.
  • Better coordination between DelDOT, counties, municipalities, utilities, and developers.
  • Faster repair timelines for roads damaged by construction, utility work, flooding, or heavy traffic.
  • Transparent project scoring so taxpayers can see why some projects are funded before others.

Infrastructure spending should be based on need, safety, congestion relief, economic value, and long-term benefit - not political influence.

Reduce Traffic Congestion Through Smarter Planning

Traffic congestion is one of the clearest signs that Delaware's growth has outpaced its planning. In New Castle County, congestion affects commutes, business productivity, and quality of life. In Kent and Sussex, rapid development has strained roads that were never designed for today's population, tourism, construction, and commercial traffic. Delaware cannot continue approving growth first and figuring out roads later.

IPoD supports a stronger link between land-use decisions and transportation planning. When major developments are approved, the state and counties must be honest about the real impact on traffic, emergency response times, school transportation, drainage, and local infrastructure. Developers who benefit from growth should contribute fairly to the infrastructure needed to support it, rather than shifting the full burden onto existing taxpayers.

We support:

  • Requiring realistic traffic impact studies before major developments are approved.
  • Strengthening infrastructure requirements for large residential and commercial projects.
  • Improving coordination between DelDOT and county land-use authorities.
  • Protecting rural roads from being overwhelmed by poorly planned development.
  • Using technology, signal timing, turn lanes, and targeted road improvements to reduce bottlenecks.
  • Planning ahead for beach traffic, evacuation routes, freight corridors, and seasonal congestion.

Growth should be planned, not improvised.

Build a Public Transit System That Works for Real Life

Public transit must be practical, reliable, and designed around how people actually live and work. Delawareans who rely on DART and other transit services need routes that connect them to jobs, schools, medical appointments, grocery stores, government services, and regional transportation hubs.

At the same time, public transit policy must be financially responsible. Transit systems should be measured by usefulness, reliability, ridership, cost-effectiveness, and service to communities that truly need transportation options.

IPoD supports improving public transit by focusing on practical service, not political symbolism.

We support:

  • More reliable bus service in high-need and high-ridership corridors.
  • Better transit access for seniors, people with disabilities, students, and workers without reliable vehicles.
  • Improved connections between Wilmington, Newark, Dover, Middletown, Georgetown, Lewes, Rehoboth,
    and other growing areas.
  • Better coordination between transit routes and job centers.
  • Cleaner, safer, and more accessible bus stops.
  • Exploring microtransit, on-demand service, and flexible rural transit options where fixed bus routes are
    inefficient.
  • Clear performance metrics for public transit spending.
Public transit should help people get where they need to go - safely, affordably, and on time.

Expand Broadband Access Across Delaware

High-speed internet is no longer a luxury. It is essential infrastructure for education, healthcare, small business, agriculture, remote work, public safety, and everyday life. Rural Delaware, in particular, cannot be left behind in the digital economy.

IPoD supports expanding reliable broadband access to unserved and underserved areas, especially in Kent and Sussex Counties. But broadband expansion must be done with accountability. Taxpayer and federal dollars should produce measurable results: actual connections, reliable speeds, fair pricing, and service that reaches the people who were promised help.

We support:

  • Completing broadband expansion to unserved and underserved homes and businesses.
  • Prioritizing rural communities, farms, small businesses, and students who lack reliable access.
  • Holding providers accountable for speed, reliability, affordability, and buildout commitments.
  • Requiring transparent reporting on where broadband dollars go and what results they produce.
  • Encouraging competition where possible to protect consumers from high prices and poor service.
  • Supporting digital access for seniors, students, veterans, and low-income households without creating
    wasteful bureaucracy.

Every Delawarean should have access to the modern infrastructure needed to learn, work, communicate, and compete.

Strengthen Infrastructure Accountability

Delaware taxpayers deserve to know that infrastructure money is being spent wisely. Large transportation and infrastructure projects often cost millions of dollars and take years to complete. That makes transparency essential.

IPoD supports stronger oversight of infrastructure spending, including clearer timelines, public reporting, cost controls, and accountability when projects run over budget or fall behind schedule.

We support:

  • Public dashboards showing project status, cost, delays, and completion timelines.
  • Independent review of major cost overruns.
  • Competitive bidding and strong anti-corruption safeguards.
  • Better communication with residents and businesses affected by construction.
  • Long-term maintenance planning before new projects are approved.
  • A stronger focus on return on investment for taxpayers.

Government should not ask Delawareans for more money until it can clearly show that existing money
is being managed responsibly.

Plan for Delaware's Future Without Losing Delaware's Character

Delaware is growing. That growth brings opportunities, but it also brings pressure on roads, schools, emergency services, farmland, beaches, water systems, housing, and local communities. Infrastructure planning must be tied to a broader vision for Delaware's future.

We cannot allow unmanaged growth to turn small towns into traffic corridors, rural roads into development shortcuts, or beach communities into year-round congestion zones without the infrastructure to support them.

IPoD supports long-term planning that balances growth, affordability, property rights, environmental stewardship, and quality of life.

We support:

  • Coordinated statewide planning between transportation, housing, economic development, agriculture,
    conservation, and public safety.
  • Protecting farmland and rural communities from reckless overdevelopment.
  • Improving evacuation routes and coastal resilience planning.
  • Planning infrastructure around real population growth, not political wish lists.
  • Ensuring Kent and Sussex Counties receive fair attention, not just New Castle County.
  • Building infrastructure that supports small businesses, working families, and local communities.

Delaware should grow in a way that makes life better for the people already here - not harder, more expensive, and more congested.

Our Commitment

The Independent Party of Delaware believes infrastructure is one of the clearest tests of whether government is doing its job. Safe roads, strong bridges, reliable transit, broadband access, and smart long-term planning are not luxuries. They are the foundation of a state that works.

We will support infrastructure policy that is practical, transparent, fiscally responsible, and focused on the everyday needs of Delawareans. We will oppose wasteful spending, political favoritism, reckless development, and short-term decisions that create long-term problems.

Delaware needs infrastructure that keeps people safe, supports small businesses, connects communities, reduces congestion, expands opportunity, and prepares our state for the future - without losing the character that makes Delaware home.

 

Source notes: DelDOT FY2026 budget materials reference maintaining 14,402 lane miles of roads and 1,722 bridges. Delaware
broadband planning materials reference $107 million in BEAD funding, with implementation anticipated from 2026-2030.