Delaware Route 72

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

DE Route 72

Length:

17.45 mi^[1] (28.08 km)

South end:

DE 9 near Delaware City

Major
junctions:

US 13/DE 7 near Delaware City

DE 1 near Delaware City

DE 71 near Kirkwood

US 40 east of Glasgow

DE 2/DE 4 in Newark

DE 273 in Newark

DE 2 northeast of Newark

North end:

DE 7 in Pike Creek

Routes in Delaware
< DE 71		DE 82 >

Delaware Route 72 is a state highway located in New Castle County, Delaware. The route runs from Delaware Route 9 near Delaware City to Delaware Route 7 in Pike Creek.

[edit] Route description

Delaware Route 72 heads west from DE 9 on Wrangle Hill Road adjacent to the Valero Delaware City Refinery. It then heads through farmland and intersects U.S. Route 13 and the southern terminus of Delaware Route 7. US 13 heads west for a short concurrency with DE 72 to a diamond interchange with Delaware Route 1, where US 13 heads north on DE 1. This concurrency was created as a result of the construction of DE 1 in the area during the 1990's, which resulted in a relocation of US 13 to the new DE 1 alignment between Tybouts Corner and DE 72. The northern part of the former alignmnet was partly abandoned, being converted to a two-lane frontage road, and the southern part became a southern extension of DE 7.

Past DE 1, DE 72 starts continues west and intersects Delaware Route 71. It then angles to the northwest and passes through suburban development. It then turns north and intersects U.S. Route 40 near Glasgow and continues to the north on Sunset Lake Road. It heads north, closely following a Norfolk Southern rail line, and intersects Old Baltimore Pike, where the name changes to South Chapel Street. It continues north into a light industrial area and passes under Interstate 95 (Delaware Turnpike).

It continues north to an intersection with Delaware Route 2 and Delaware Route 4 (Chestnut Hill Road) in the southeastern corner of Newark. At this intersection, DE 2, which bypasses Newark to the south and east, makes a left turn from DE 4 onto DE 72 northbound. The two routes head north on South Chapel Street and the bear onto Library Road and pass over the Amtrak Northeast Corridor. It then heads north to an intersection with Delaware Route 273, which also marks the eastern terminus of Delaware Route 2 Business, which heads to the west along with DE 273 through downtown Newark. DE 2 and DE 72 then turn to the east on the Kirkwood Highway and DE 72 splits from DE 2 by heading north on Possum Park Road.

DE 72 heads north through suburban neighborhoods and, in Milford Crossroads, makes a right turn onto Paper Mill Road and heads to the northeast and then to the north. It enters the Pike Creek area, which consists of a mix of farmland and suburban neighborhoods, and heads toward its northern terminus at Delaware Route 7, the second time these two highways intersect.