Section 146 - Access to state-maintained highways(a) The Department is authorized to adopt standards and regulations for the location, design, construction, reconstruction, maintenance, use and control of vehicular and pedestrian access to and from any state-maintained highway in order to protect public safety, to maintain smooth traffic flow, to maintain highway right-of-way drainage, to regulate drainage from property leading into or carried by the highway drainage system and any other public purpose, as determined by the Department.(b) No person, firm, or corporation shall construct, open, reconstruct, maintain, modify or use any crossing or entrance onto a state-maintained highway, street or road, including any drainage modifications leading into or carried by the highway drainage system, without first having complied with standards and regulations adopted by the Department and having obtained a permit issued by the Department.(c) Any person, firm, or corporation who constructs, opens, reconstructs, maintains, uses or modifies an entrance onto or an exit from a state-maintained highway, street or road without first having complied with standards and regulations adopted by the Department and having obtained a permit from the Department for such entrance or exit shall be punished by a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 for each offense, and a further sum in an amount equal to the amount fined for the initial offense for each and every day such violation exists.(d) For purposes of this section, whenever the use to which a property is being put is changed such that there will be a significant alteration in the character, flow or volume of traffic, as determined within the sole discretion of the Department, a new permit shall be required.(e) The Justice of the Peace Courts shall have jurisdiction over violations of subsections (b), (c), and (d) of this section.(f) In addition to whatever legal or equitable remedies are available, the Department may install barricades across or remove any entrance or exit constructed, opened, reconstructed, maintained, modified or used in violation of this section and the standards or regulations adopted pursuant thereto, at the expense of the property owner.(g)(1) An applicant who has submitted an accepted entrance plan for review and obtained an erosion and sediment control permit may request, and the Department must issue within 10 business days, a temporary entrance permit to perform on-site permitted construction activities for any commercial or economic development project. An applicant who obtains such a temporary entrance permit and performs such on-site permitted construction activities does so at its own risk and the State, including all of its agencies, shall not be responsible for any harm to the applicant including denial of the project, required modifications to plans or work, and permits not being issued. No certificate of occupancy shall be issued prior to entrance plan approval and entrance construction being substantially complete.(2) For purposes of this subsection, "economic development project" means a development project creating full-time jobs, that is consistent with an adopted local government comprehensive plan and local land development and zoning ordinances. (h)(1) Any residential subdivision defined as a Level I or Level II project by the Department in the most recent version of the DelDOT Development Coordination Manual from which access is provided to a state-maintained highway shall be eligible to receive a credit for construction of off-premises improvements to a state-maintained highway. The credited amount shall be a percentage of the cost of the improvements equal to the percentage of the affordable housing lots that are set aside for affordable housing. The developer shall be relieved of the requirement to provide improvements consistent with the credited percentage. The Department shall administer this section and may promulgate regulations for that purpose.(2) For purposes of this subsection, "affordable housing lots" means a lot on which a residential dwelling is intended to be constructed for a household whose income does not exceed 100% of the median income for the area as defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.(i) Along existing highways, the Department may exercise its authority under § 137 of this title to acquire property rights for consolidating commercial entrances or to create new commercial interconnections, when the Department determines such consolidation or interconnection would likely improve safety in accordance with a Safe System Approach, as defined in § 135A of this title. Private properties made non-conforming under local zoning codes as a result of State acquisitions to consolidate entrances for traffic safety reasons are exempt from variance requirements under any county or municipal zoning code. Amended by Laws 2023, ch. 515,s 2, eff. 11/1/2024.Amended by Laws 2023, ch. 458,s 1, eff. 9/30/2024.Amended by Laws 2023 , ch. 46, s 1, eff. 6/20/2023.60 Del. Laws, c. 620, § 1; 63 Del. Laws, c. 163, §1.;