The new Claymont Transportation Center will now be known as the Harris B. McDowell, III Transportation Center. The center will return to full service capacity on Dec. 4, 2023.
"The opening of the Harris B. McDowell III Transportation Center is a major milestone in the continued economic redevelopment of Claymont and will serve as an important gateway for residents, businesses and visitors to Delaware," said Delaware Gov. John Carney. "As a proud Claymont native, I couldn't be more pleased to help celebrate the completion of this project and I want to thank our team at Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) for their hard work."
In 2016, Delaware's Congressional Delegation of U.S. Sens Tom Carper (D-DE) and Chris Coons (D-DE) and then-Rep. Carney helped secure a $10 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the construction of the station.
"The new Claymont rail station is proof of what is possible when local communities work with the state and federal government to bring our infrastructure into the 21st century and support economic development," said Sens. Carper and Coons and Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE). "After the closing of the former Evraz steel mill, Delaware rallied behind the Claymont community to help turn economic adversity into an opportunity for redevelopment and job creation. Today, we are celebrating an important step forward in Claymont's revitalization through the opening of this modern and accessible train station."
"This was an incredibly complex project many years in the making and from the beginning hundreds of people from multiple agencies have been involved in this effort with the singular goal of providing Claymont with a first-class transportation center we can all be proud of," said DelDOT Secretary of Transportation Nicole Majeski.
"Anyone that has utilized the former Claymont Station knows how challenging it was to catch a train. The design of the new transportation center focused on the user experience, making public transit an easy, convenient and smart choice," said John Sisson, CEO of the Delaware Transit Corporation,
The new center, boasting more than 800 parking spaces, including 13 EV charging stations, two ADA-compliant high-level covered platforms with wind screens, benches and USB charging ports, bicycle racks and repair stations, real-time passenger information displays and vending machines, opens for Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) train and Delaware Transit Corp. (DART) and SEPTA bus service on Dec. 4, 2023.
In October 2022, Gov. Carney signed legislation sponsored by State Sen. Sarah McBride (D-DE) and State Rep. Debra Heffernan (D-DE) to formally name the new Claymont Transportation Center in honor of Sen. Harris B. McDowell, III (D-DE), who represented the First Senate District from 1976 until 2021, becoming the longest-serving member in the history of the Delaware General Assembly.
