Delaware Route 2
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| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by DelDOT | ||||
| Length: | 16.13 mi[1] (25.96 km) | |||
| Existed: | 1936 – present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end: |  MD 279 near Elkton, Maryland |
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 DE 4 near Newark DE 896 near University of DE DE 72 near University of DE DE 273 near University of DE DE 7 near Stanton DE 41 near Prices Corner DE 141 near Prices Corner DE 100 in Elsmere DE 48 in Wilmington DE 9 in Wilmington |
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| East end: |  DE 52 in Wilmington |
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| Highway system | ||||
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→Delaware Route 2 is a 16.13-mile (25.96 km) long east–west 4 to 6 lane highway located in northern New Castle County, Delaware. It begins at the junction of Delaware Route 52 in Wilmington, and terminates at the Maryland state line near Elkton, Maryland. DE 2 is known variously as Elkton Road, Christina Parkway, Chestnut Hill Road, South Chapel Street, Library Avenue, Capitol Trail (or Kirkwood Highway), Wilmington Avenue, Lincoln & Union Streets along its 14.91-mile (24.00 km) route. DE 2 is a very heavily travelled highway, with an annual average daily traffic (AADT) of over 52,509 vehicles in its busiest section from Delaware Route 41 to Delaware Route 141.
What would become DE 2 was paved by 1924 and became a state highway by 1931, receiving the DE 2 designation by 1936. The road was progressively widened into a divided highway from Wilmington to Newark between 1942 and 1964, bypassing some portions of the road which are now known as Old Capitol Trail. DE 2 was routed to bypass Newark by 1990, with DE 2 Business designated on the former route through Newark.
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[edit] Route description
Delaware Route 2 begins at the Maryland state line as a continuation of Maryland Route 279 (Elkton Road). Elkton Road provides a four-lane surface arterial between the city of Elkton, Maryland, Interstate 95 Exit 109, and west Newark. The route then turns east onto the Christina Parkway, forming a concurrency with Delaware Route 4 and Delaware Route 896 with Delaware Route 2 Business continuing east on Elkton Road toward downtown Newark. At the intersection with South College Avenue, where Route 896 heads to the south, Routes 2 and 4 continue east on Chestnut Hill Road to the intersection with Delaware Route 72 (South Chapel Street).[1][2]
Route 2 then turns north onto Route 72 and runs along the east side of Newark on South Chapel Street and Library Road. At the intersection with Delaware Route 273, Route 2 meets the eastern terminus of Delaware Route 2 Business and Route 2 continues east, along with Route 72, onto the Robert W Kirkwood Highway, a road named for American Revolutionary War participant Major Robert W. Kirkwood that serves as a major commercial thoroughfare between Newark and Elsmere. Route 72 splits from Route 2 at the south end of Possum Park Road. Route 72, Polly Drummond Hill Road, Upper Pike Creek Road, Milltown Road, Delaware Route 7 (Limestone Road), and Duncan Road all provide north–south routes from the Kirkwood Highway into the Pike Creek Valley. Almost all of Kirkwood Highway is developed with commercial strip malls and shopping centers, as well as numerous residential subdivisions and apartment complexes such as Woodmill Village, Woodmill Townhomes, Meadowood, & Green Valley.[1][2]
The road crosses the Red Clay Creek and comes to the intersection with the Newport Gap Pike, which heads north as Delaware Route 41 and south as Delaware Route 62. From this intersection, Route 41 shares a half-mile overlap with State Route 2 through Prices Corner to the Exit 6 partial-cloverleaf interchange of Delaware Route 141, which joins the Kirkwood Highway with Interstate 95 and New Castle via U.S. Route 202 and Delaware Route 141 (Basin Road).[1][2]
Delaware Route 2 continues east on the four-lane divided Kirkwood Highway to the Little Mill Creek crossing adjacent to the V.A. Hospital, where it crosses into Elsmere and becomes Wilmington Avenue. In Elsmere, Route 2 crosses Delaware Route 100 (Dupont Road) and then over CSX's Philadelphia Subdivision between Route 100 and Prospect Road on a four lane bridge. Route 2 then enters the city of Wilmington in the Canby Park neighborhood where it splits onto the one-way pair of Union Street westbound and Lincoln Street eastbound. It passes through the Hill Top and Little Italy neighborhoods before ending at Delaware Route 52 (Pennsylvania Avenue).[1][2]
[edit] History
What would become DE 2 was originally an unimproved county road by 1920.[3] By 1924, the road was paved.[4] The road became a state highway by 1931.[5] When Delaware designated its state highways by 1936, DE 2 was designated to run from the Maryland border southwest of Newark to DE 52 in Wilmington, following Elkton Road, Main Street, Capitol Trail, New Road, and Union Street.[6] By 1939, DE 2 was widened into a divided highway between Prices Corner and Elsmere.[7] The divided highway portion of DE 2 was extended west from Prices Corner to DE 7 by 1942, bypassing the original alignment to the north.[8] By 1957, a portion of DE 2 west of the DE 7 intersection was moved to a new alignment slightly further north.[9] The divided highway was extended west to Red Mill Road by 1959. Also by this time, DE 2 was split into a one-way pair in Wilmington on Union Street and Lincoln Street.[10] The road between Newark and Red Mill Road became a divided highway by 1964.[11] The Christina Parkway around the southern edge of Newark was completed by 1984.[12] By 1990, DE 2 was realigned to bypass Newark on its current alignment, with the former route through Newark becoming DE 2 Business.[13]
[edit] Major intersections
The entire route is in New Castle County.
| Location | Mile[1] | Road | Notes |
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| Maryland state line | 0.00 | MD 279 west (Elkton Road) |
Western terminus, continues as MD 279 |
| Newark | 1.05 |     DE 2 Bus. east / DE 896 north (Elkton Road) / DE 4 (Christina Parkway) |
Western terminus of DE 4, west end of DE 896 concurrency |
| 2.70 | DE 896 south (College Avenue) |
East end of DE 896 concurrency | |
| 3.56 | DE 4 east (Chestnut Hill Road) / DE 72 south (Chapel Street) |
East end of DE 4 concurrency, west end of DE 72 concurrency | |
| 4.99 | DE 2 Bus. / DE 273 (Delaware Avenue) |
Eastern terminus of DE 2 Bus., west end of DE 273 eastbound overlap | |
| 5.19 | DE 2 Bus. west / DE 273 (Main Street/Ogletown Road) – Ogletown |
East end of DE 273 eastbound overlap | |
| 6.42 | DE 72 north (Possum Park Road) |
East end of DE 72 concurrency | |
| Marshallton | 10.34 | DE 7 (Limestone Road) |
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| Prices Corner | 12.09 |  DE 41 north / DE 62 east (Newport Gap Pike) |
West end of DE 41 concurrency, western terminus of DE 62 |
| 12.67 |  DE 141 to I-95 – Newport, Fairfax |
Interchange, East end of DE 41 concurrency and southern terminus of DE 41 | |
| Elsmere | 14.36 | DE 100 (Dupont Road) |
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| Wilmington | 15.41 | DE 48 (Lancaster Avenue) |
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| 15.60 | DE 9 south (4th Street) |
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| 16.13 | DE 52 (Pennsylvania Avenue) |
Eastern terminus | |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||
[edit] Bannered routes
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| Location: | Newark |
| Length: | 2.91 mi[1] (4.68 km) |
Delaware Route 2 Business is a 2.91-mile (4.68 km)[1] long business route of Delaware Route 2 that runs through Newark. The route runs east on Elkton Road, concurrent with Delaware Route 896. It then passes through the eastern part of Newark on a pair of one-way streets, Delaware Avenue eastbound and Main Street westbound. It overlaps Delaware Route 273 along these one-way streets. Its eastern terminus is in eastern Newark where it meets Routes 2 and 72.[1][14] The route was created by 1990 when DE 2 was routed to bypass Newark.[13]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i http://www.deldot.gov/information/pubs_forms/manuals/traffic_counts/2006/pdf/rpt_pgs1_38_rev.pdf DelDOT 2006 Traffic Count and Mileage Report
- ^ a b c d Google, Inc. Google Maps – overview of Delaware Route 2 (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc. http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=DE+2+and+MD+279&daddr=39.6742,-75.736725+to:DE+2+and+DE+52&hl=en&sll=39.70035,-75.67195&sspn=0.128113,0.338173&geocode=FTURXQIdo4x7-ylHXDfTOKnHiTFJoKyzZlK0QQ%3BFVhhXQIda1l8-yltZpouIKrHiTEGtAUoUFCd5w%3BFbOfXgId-u9--ymN6rrBDv3GiTHAQTDiKbGFtg&vpsrc=0&mra=dpe&mrsp=1&sz=12&via=1&t=h&z=12. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
- ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1920 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_002.pdf. Retrieved April 15, 2010.
- ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1924 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_003.pdf. Retrieved August 1, 2010.
- ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1931 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_005.pdf. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
- ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1936/37 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_008.pdf. Retrieved April 15, 2010.
- ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1939 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_012.pdf. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1942 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_014.pdf. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1957/58 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_030.pdf. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
- ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1959/60 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_032.pdf. Retrieved April 15, 2010.
- ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1964 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_036.pdf. Retrieved April 15, 2010.
- ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1984 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_062.pdf. Retrieved February 5, 2011.
- ^ a b Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1990 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_070.pdf. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ^ Google, Inc. Google Maps – overview of Delaware Route 2 Business (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc. http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=elkton+road+and+christiana+parkway&daddr=delaware+avenue+and+library+avenue&hl=en&ll=39.673899,-75.755968&spn=0.032041,0.084543&sll=39.679844,-75.732193&sspn=0.032038,0.084543&geocode=FTw_XQId0sB7-yl943uXZanHiTFl4BjqyGKlqA%3BFUp-XQIdd1t8-yllnk_OF6rHiTHwRqkZG831Eg&vpsrc=0&mra=ls&t=h&z=14. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
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