Delaware Route 7
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| DE Route 7 |
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| Length: | 26 mi (42 km) | ||||||||
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| Formed: | 1978 | ||||||||
| South end: |   US 13 and DE 72 near Delaware City |
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| Major junctions: |
 DE 71 near Red Lion US 40 in Bear DE 273 near Christiana DE 1 in Christiana I-95/DE Tpk in Christiana DE 58 in Churchmans Crossing DE 4 in Churchmans Crossing and Stanton DE 2 near Prices Corner DE 72 near Yorklin |
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| North end: | Pennsylvania State Line near  PA Route 41 in Avondale |
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Delaware Route 7 is a two-to-four lane north-south highway that connects U.S. Route 13 near Delaware City, Delaware with Pennsylvania Rt. 41 near Avondale, Pennsylvania on the Pennsylvania/Delaware State Line. The route primarily parallels Delaware Route 1 (Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway) between Delaware City and Christiana, then becomes part of DE Rt. 1 between the Christiana Mall and the junction with the Delaware Turnpike. North of I-95, Delaware Rt. 7 becomes the sole route number of the 51-mile toll facility, with the the toll road ending at the Churchmans Crossing exit (Exit-166) and reverting back to a four-lane surface access highway.
Past Chruchmans Crossing, the road then becomes multiplexed with Delaware Rt. 4 at the vicinity of Delaware Park racetrack and slot machine parlor, with the road splitting off to the left prior to entering Stanton. North of Stanton, DE Rt. 7 crosses over Delaware Rt. 2 (Kirwood Highway) and goes past Goldey Beacom College before becoming a two-lane road again. The road reverts back to two lanes north of Goldey Beacom College and the Delaware Rt. 7 designation is dropped at the PA/DE state line, with access, via a grade-separated interchange (not expressway-standard), with PA Rt. 41 coming only a mile past the line.
Although most of the road is four lanes, between the grade crossing for the Norfolk Southern railroad's Delaware City Secondary branch and the Delaware Rt. 1 interchange at the Christiana Mall, the road is a two-lane road with an average speed limit of 35 mph (60 km/h). As of 2006, the Delaware Department of Transportation is slowly rebuilding the roadway to that of a four-lane road between the railroad crossing and Delaware Rt. 273, with further plans of shifting DE Rt. 7 onto the Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway at Exit-162 (it currently exits off at Exit-164). This will also require DelDOT to expand the highway (which is in the planning stages) from the current four-lane configuration to an eight-lane configuration, allowing the future reconstruction of the DE Rt. 1/Delaware Turnpike exit from the present cloverleaf exit to one with high-speed flyover ramps.
Before the coming of the Del. 1 expressway, Delaware route 7's southern end was at the DuPont Highway (US 13). But because US 13 in that immediate area is now on the Del. 1 expressway, Delaware route 7 was extended south (along a road stretch which was no longer US 13) to meet Del. 72 a second time (Del. 7 already intersected the north end of Del. 72).
