Delaware Route 1

Delaware Route 1
DE 1 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by DelDOT and USACE
Length:	103.02 mi[1] (165.79 km)
Existed:	1978 – present
History:	Completed in 2003
Major junctions
South end:	MD 528 in Ocean City, MD
	US 9 near Lewes US 113 in Milford DE 9 near Dover AFB US 13 (multiple locations) DE 896 near Odessa DE 72 near Delaware City US 40 in Bear DE 273 near Christiana DE 7 in Christiana I-95 / Del. Tpk. in Christiana
North end:	DE 7 / DE 58 in Christiana
Highway system
Routes in Delaware ← DE 896 DE 1A →

Delaware Route 1 (DE 1) is a 103.02-mile-long (165.79 km), four- to six-lane highway going from the Maryland–Delaware line on the eastern Atlantic shoreline to the Delaware Turnpike (Interstate 95) outside of Wilmington.

The highway, which came into existence in the late 1970s, was originally a two-lane road and signed as part of DE 14, but DE 14 was truncated to Milford when the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) adopted a U.S. Highway-style system for its state routes. From the early 1970s to 1995, the highway ended at is what is now U.S. Route 113 (US 113), but in the mid-1970s, the DOT studied a "Dover Extension" of the Delaware Turnpike, which evolved into today's Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway.

Route description

Delaware–Maryland state line to Lewes

DE 1 southbound in Rehoboth Beach, approaching DE 1A

DE 1 starts at the Maryland–Delaware state line a block south of the intersection with DE 54 in Fenwick Island, Delaware, as an extension of Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) at the border with Ocean City, Maryland. The road, mostly four lanes with six-lane sections in the resort areas, follows the Atlantic shore line as Coastal Highway, containing nearly 50 miles of traffic signals and crossroads, traveling through Fenwick Island State Park, South Bethany and Bethany Beach before reaching Delaware Seashore State Park. Upon entering the park, DE 1 crosses over the Indian River Inlet, a connection between the Rehoboth and Indian River Bays and the Atlantic Ocean itself, on the Indian River Inlet Bridge. On January 20, 2012, the twin span box-beam bridges, constructed in the mid-1970s during a major widening project, were replaced with a cable-stayed bridge similar in design to the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Bridge.^[2] The new bridge structure will allow both the State of Delaware and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to eventually dredge and widen the inlet.^[3]

Past the inlet, DE 1 continues north through the state park, passing lookout towers used by the U.S. Army's Coastal Artillery forces during World War II, until the road enters Dewey Beach. It is here in Dewey Beach that DE 1A branches off and heads towards Rehoboth Beach, while DE 1 curves towards the west and then crosses over the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal on a high-level, twin span crossing (completed in the mid-1980s) before reabsorbing DE 1A. Between the northern junction of DE 1A and Lewes, DE 1, now a six-lane road, passes through commercial areas which inclues the Tanger Outlets Rehoboth Beach outlet mall complex, before intersecting with US 9 and DE 404 near Lewes. US 9 allows direct access to the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey shore via the Cape May-Lewes Ferry, while DE 404 allows access to Central Maryland via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on US 50.

Lewes to Dover Air Force Base

Southbound DE 1 between Milford and Milton

Past the US 9 / DE 404 intersection, and crossing over the Delaware Coast Line Railway's Lewes Branch, DE 1 starts a 20-mile (32.19 km) run through a rural stretch of Sussex County, going past the Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge near Milton, while at the same time, intersecting both DE 5 and DE 16 in the process. At the former intersection of DE 1 and DE 30, which now follows a different alignment in the area, DE 1 Business (DE 1 Bus.), a former two-lane stretch of DE 1, breaks off, and the roadway continues east of Milford, Delaware on the Milford Bypass, where it meets DE 36 at a diamond interchange. Unlike a true bypass, which has grade-separated interchanges, the Milford Bypass has both grade-separated interchanges and at-grade intersections, of which one of them intersects with DE 14, an east–west state highway that originally went from Fenwick Island to Harrington, but was truncated to Milford in 1978 when DelDOT renumbered its state highway system to be consistent with the numbering used for the U.S. Highway System.

Southbound DE 1 at Frederica Road south of Frederica

North of DE 14, the Milford Bypass portion of DE 1 ends with the junction of DE 1 with US 113. Prior to 2004, both DE 1 and US 113 continued north together to Dover Air Force Base on a two-route concurrency; after numerous petitions by DelDOT, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, which governs the regulation of designating Interstate and U.S. Highways, allowed DelDOT to truncate US 113 at this interchange. Prior to 1992, the DE 1/US 113 interchange served as the northern terminus for DE 1, but with the construction of the Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway, DelDOT extended the DE 1 designation north of this interchange to prevent a "gap" between the Fenwick Island – Milford section and the toll highway.

Past US 113, the highway continues north towards Dover, passing Frederica (on a high-speed bypass), where it intersects DE 12. In November 2009, construction began for a grade-separated interchange between these two routes; the interchange was completed in June 2011.^[4][5] After this, the route passes through Little Heaven before crossing over the St. Jones River on a high-level crossing that was built in the mid-1980s as part of a US 113 widening project between Dover and Milford. Past the St. Jones River crossing, DE 1 meets DE 9 at a grade-separated interchange (completed in October 2009). DE 9 is a two-lane rural road that, prior to the completion of the Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway, served as a "bypass" of the usually congested US 13.

Dover Air Force Base to Wilmington

Southbound DE 1 between Smyrna and Dover

After passing DE 9, DE 1 becomes the 51-mile (82.08 km) tolled "Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway" (originally called the "Relief Route", the current name being given after the dedication of the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., in 1995). After passing another exit, for access to both the base itself and its housing complex, DE 1 then splits off from the former US 113 highway at DE 10 and then follows a high-speed four-lane highway east of Dover. This section opened in 1992 and built (like all of its sections) to Interstate Highway standards (containing no traffic signals, crossroads, or businesses), was the first highway on the East Coast to be marked with metric measurements. The metric measurements are due to anticipation during the administration of then-President Bill Clinton that the standard U.S. measurement would be dropped and the metric system be adopted. Although the route is now marked with standard milepost markers, the experimental signs with metric measurements are still in place today—the exit numbers on the highway are still in metric as opposed to the standard U.S. milepost exit system used on the majority of Interstate Highways in the U.S.

After passing through the toll plaza in Dover, which has, since 2004, both cash and high-speed E-ZPass lanes, DE 1 meets US 13 for the first time, north of both the toll plaza and Dover International Speedway. Between Dover and Wilmington, DE 1 will pass over US 13 a total of five times, with direct access to the highway a total of three times. Other connections between the routes are via Delaware State Highway routes or with US 40.

Route 1 (Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway) approaching the Senator William V. Roth, Jr. Bridge that crosses Chesapeake and Delaware Canal near St. Georges

North of the first DE 1/US 13 interchange, the highway roughly parallels US 13 through the northern fringes of Dover, interchanges with US 13 in the southern part of Smyrna, and enters New Castle County to the east of Smyrna. At the third interchange with US 13, which served as a temporary northern terminus between 1992 and 2003, the highway crosses over US 13 and then travels for the next 8 miles (13 km) past the small rural community of Townsend, before crossing over the Appoquinimink River and meeting DE 299 on the way to Odessa and Middletown. Past DE 299, DE 1 then crosses over US 13 and the Drawyer Creek, interchanging with DE 896 in Boyds Corner.

DE 1/DE 7 southbound at I-95 northbound ramp in Christiana

After DE 896, the road then crosses over US 13 before reaching the Biddles Corner Toll Plaza, the first toll plaza on the East Coast to have both high-speed E-ZPass and cash lanes, and, with some design changes, has served as a model for dual-speed mainline toll barriers on both the Pennsylvania Turnpike, New Jersey Turnpike, as well as the Garden State Parkway and Atlantic City Expressway. Passing through the toll barrier, the highway then crosses the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal on the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Bridge, a cable-stayed bridge which was originally opened in 1995 as a replacement for the aging St. Georges Bridge and now serving as an integral part of the DE 1/US 13 corridor between Dover and Wilmington. DE 1 widens to six lanes after the toll plaza, and passes through the interchange with DE 72, where US 13 joins the DE 1 freeway. The two highways separate shortly after in Tybouts Corner.

North of the DE 1/US 13 split, the highway, now back to four lanes, starts a short trip north towards I-95 (Delaware Turnpike), passing US 40 and DE 273 before merging with DE 7 near the Christiana Mall in Christiana. After merging with DE 7, the route continues north until it meets I-95 at a full cloverleaf interchange, and then immediately after interchanges with DE 58 near Churchmans Crossing. After the DE 58 interchange, the DE 1 designation is dropped, and the now at-grade highway becomes just DE 7.

Tolls

The Biddles Corner mainline toll plaza, with high speed E-ZPass lanes

As of October 1, 2007, DelDOT charges a total of $2 on weekdays ($4 on weekends) for the entire 51-mile (82 km) length of highway, with mainline toll plazas at Dover and Biddles Corner which each charge $1 on weekdays ($2 on weekends). In addition, it charges a $0.50 toll at US 13 in North Dover (southbound off, northbound on), DE 896 in Boyds Corner (northbound off, southbound on) and a $0.25 toll on US 13 in South Smyrna (southbound off, northbound on).^[6]

History

There were talks of extending the highway portion of the road down into the Delmarva Peninsula. It would go down into Maryland and Virginia. Then it would cross the 17 mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel and into Norfolk, Virginia mainly following U.S. 13. Then it would have gone into Raleigh, North Carolina and end there. It would bring relief towards exiting the Hurricane Zone but there is no main highway connecting, and the Tunnels in the CBBT are two lanes. It would cost somewhere between $500 million towards $1 billion in today's money. The highway would have been called Interstate 101.

Interchange numbering

Unlike I-95, I-495, DE 141, and the New Jersey Turnpike, which use a sequential exit system, or the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Atlantic City Expressway, and Garden State Parkway, which use a mileage-based system, the Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway segment of DE 1, along with the DE 9 and DE 12 interchanges, utilizes a kilometer-based system, in anticipation of a mid-1990s conversion of all measurements in the U.S. from the standard US measurement system to the metric system. All distance markers were in kilometers, as well as all exit numbers. Since then, the distance markers were replaced with standard mile markers, but the exit numbers are still in metric. In addition, the exits north of US 13 in Tybouts Corner were in standard miles, reflecting DE 1 mileage from Ocean City, Maryland, but were converted in 1995 with the opening of the C&D Canal Bridge.^{[citation needed]}

Future

As the main north–south state highway in Delaware, as well as the primary route to the Atlantic Seashore, DE 1 is currently seeing major problems with its existing infrastructure, most of which dates back to its 1978 inception. In addition to the building of a new cable-stayed bridge over the Indian River Inlet to replace aging twin box-beam bridges built in the 1970s, DelDOT has been rebuilding DE 1 between Dewey Beach and the Rehoboth Outlets, primarily to give DE 1 a "Main Street" feel, but at the same time, making improvements on underground utilities. At the US 9/DE 404 junction near Lewes, DelDOT is currently undertaking a widening project that will have DE 1 widened to a total of six lanes between the junction and DE 1A, relieving congestion to both beachgoers and those wishing to shop at the numerous outlet stores that dot the area.

Even on the toll road between Dover and Wilmington, there are plans to widen the highway between Tybouts Corner and I-95/Delaware Turnpike to six lanes, as a need to reduce congestion, as well as rebuilding the DE 1/I-95 cloverleaf interchange to one with high-speed ramps, allowing southbound and northbound traffic to access I-95 without having to "mix" in with merging traffic (the new DE 58 bridge over I-95, completed in 2006, being long enough to accompany the additional lanes). In addition to the expansion projects, plans are underway to build an "extension" of the highway, which will carry the US 301 designation, that will bypass Middletown and allow an alternative route to Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, without having to travel on the heavily congested I-95/John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway on Maryland's Western Shore.

DelDOT improved the interchange with DE 1 and I-95 in Christiana. Traffic volumes have increased at the interchange, which is located near the Christiana Mall. The project includes adding "fly-over" connecting ramps from northbound and southbound DE 1 to northbound and southbound I-95 which will allow for easier merging patterns and the elimination of lengthy backups on the current ramp design.^[7][8] Construction of a new "ring access road" around Christiana Mall began in February 2011^[9] and was completed in March 2012, with a newly built bridge over DE 1, just south of the I-95 interchange.^[10] The ramp from southbound I-95 to southbound DE 1/DE 7 opened on August 27, 2013 and the ramp from northbound DE 1/DE 7 to northbound I-95 opened on October 17, 2013, with a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by Governor Jack Markell and DelDOT secretary Shailen Bhatt.^[11][12]

Other plans, including rebuilding DE 1 to a "semi-freeway" (similar in nature to US 301 in Maryland) have also been floated, but the future currently lies in the possible privatization of both DE 1 and the Delaware Turnpike, as well as the possible upgrading of the highway to an Interstate Highway route.^{[citation needed]}

There are plans to replace several at-grade intersections with grade separated intersections along the route. They include DE 1/Frederica Road in Frederica,^[13] DE 1/Bowers Beach Road in Little Heaven,^[14] DE 1/DE 30 in Milford,^[15] and DE 1/Thompsonville Road in Milford.^[16]

Major intersections

County	Location	Mile[1]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Sussex	Fenwick Island	0.00	0.00		MD 528 south (Coastal Highway)	Maryland state line, southern terminus
		0.10	0.16		DE 54 west (Lighthouse Road)
	Bethany Beach	6.08	9.78		DE 26 west (Garfield Parkway)
	Indian River Inlet			Indian River Inlet Bridge
	Dewey Beach	17.17	27.63		DE 1A north (King Charles Avenue) – Rehoboth Beach
	Rehoboth Beach				DE 1B (State Road) – Rehoboth Beach	Interchange
					Oyster House Road	Interchange; no southbound entrance
		18.93	30.46		DE 1A south (Rehoboth Avenue) – Rehoboth Beach, Henlopen Acres
	Midway	21.13	34.01		DE 24 west / DE 1D north (John J. Williams Highway) – Oak Orchard, Millsboro
	Carpenters Corner	22.55	36.29		US 9 east (Dartmouth Drive) – Cape May-Lewes Ferry	South end of US 9 overlap
	Five Points	23.67	38.09		US 9 west / DE 404 west (Lewes Georgetown Highway) to DE 23 / DE 1D – Georgetown, Bay Bridge US 9 Bus. east (Savannah Road) – Lewes	North end of US 9 overlap
	Milton	30.46	49.02		DE 16 (Broadkill Road) – Milton, Greenwood, Bay Bridge, Broadkill Beach
		32.68	52.59		DE 5 south (Union Street Extended) – Milton
	Milford				DE 30 Alt south (Johnson Road) – Lincoln
					To DE 30 south (Wilkins Road)
		39.91	64.23		DE 1 Bus. north – Milford	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		41.42	66.66		DE 36 – Milford, Slaughter Beach	Interchange
Kent					DE 14 west (Northeast Front Street)
					Northeast 10th Street – North Milford
		43.96	70.75		US 113 south / DE 1 Bus. south – Milford, Georgetown	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
					Thompsonville Road – Thompsonville, South Bowers
	Frederica	49.89	80.29	86	DE 12 west (Frederica Road) – North Frederica	Interchange
		51.66	83.14		Bowers Beach Road – Bowers Beach
	Little Heaven	52.12	83.88		Clapham Road – Magnolia, Rising Sun, Moores Lake	Former US 113 Alt. north
					Trap Shooters Road – Magnolia	Interchange
	Dover AFB	56.22	90.48	91	DE 9 north – Kitts Hummock, Little Creek	Interchange
				South end of freeway
				92	Dover AFB Commercial Gate	Northbound exit and entrance
		57.88	93.15	93	Dover AFB Main Gate, Visitors
		59.71	96.09	95	DE 10 – Dover, Camden, Dover AFB North Gate	Former U.S. 113 north
				97	To US 13 (via Puncheon Run Connector) – Salisbury, Norfolk	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Dover	61.37	98.77	98	DE 8 – Downtown Dover, Little Creek	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
				Dover Toll Plaza
		65.24	104.99	104	US 13 to DE 8 / Scarborough Road – North Dover	Toll on southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Smyrna	71.47	115.02	114	US 13 to DE 6 / DE 300 – South Smyrna	Toll on southbound exit and northbound entrance
New Castle		76.17	122.58	119	US 13 to DE 6 / DE 300 – Smyrna, Townsend	Signed as exits 119A (south) and 119B (north) southbound
	Odessa	85.20	137.12	136	DE 299 to US 13 – Odessa, Middletown, Townsend
	Boyds Corner	89.12	143.42	142	US 13 / DE 896 to US 301 – Mt. Pleasant, St. Georges, Boyds Corner	Toll on northbound exit and southbound entrance
	Biddles Corner			Biddles Corner Toll Plaza
	St. Georges			148	To US 13 – South St. Georges	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Chesapeake and Delaware Canal			Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Bridge
	Wrangle Hill	94.89	152.71	152	US 13 south / DE 72 to DE 7 – Delaware City, Newark, St. Georges	South end of US 13 overlap
	Tybouts Corner	97.08	156.24	156	US 13 north / DE 71 south to I-295 – New Castle, Wilmington, Red Lion, New Jersey, New York	North end of US 13 overlap; signed as exits 156A (DE 71) and 156B (US 13) southbound
	Bear	99.28	159.78	160	US 40 – Elkton, State Road
	Christiana	101.01	162.56	162	DE 273 – Newark, New Castle
				164	DE 7 south / Mall Road – Christiana	South end of DE 7 overlap; signed as exits 164A (Mall Road) and 164B (DE 7) southbound
		102.63	165.17	165	I-95 / Del. Tpk. south – Newark, Baltimore I-95 north to I-295 / I-495 – Wilmington, Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York	Signed as exits 165A (south), 165B (north), and 165C (flyover ramp)
	Churchmans Crossing	103.02	165.79	166	DE 58 (Churchmans Road) – Churchmans Crossing DE 7 north (Stanton Christiana Road)	End DE 1; roadway continues beyond DE 58 as DE 7
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Bannered and suffixed routes

DE 1A

Delaware Route 1A (DE 1A) is a state highway in Sussex County, Delaware. The route runs 2.92 mi (4.70 km) from DE 1 in Dewey Beach to another intersection with DE 1 west of Rehoboth Beach. The route provides access to Rehoboth Beach from DE 1, heading north before turning to the west. DE 1A follows King Charles Avenue, Bayard Avenue, 2nd Street (southbound), Christian Street (northbound), and Rehoboth Avenue.^[17][18]

What is now DE 1A was originally a part of DE 14 between 1936 and 1942.^[19][20] The road was designated DE 14A by 1966.^[21] In the 1970s, DE 1A was designated along DE 14A for a few years before DE 14A was decommissioned in favor of DE 1A.^[22][23] Between 2002 and 2006, a streetscape project revitalized the Rehoboth Avenue portion of the route and a roundabout was added at the entrance to Rehoboth Beach.^[24][25]

DE 1B

Delaware Route 1B (DE 1B) is a state highway spur that allows access to and from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Formed in 1978, the route was originally DE 14B, but was renumbered when DE 14 was truncated to Milford, Delaware and DE 1 took its place.

DE 1B heading into Rehoboth Beach

A two-lane, residential-like road, DE 1B starts at the southern approach to the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal on DE 1 just 2 miles (3.2 km) south of the northern terminus of DE 1A. After crossing underneath of the high-level canal crossing, DE 1B then travels east for approximately one mile until it joins with DE 1A in the city's northern limits. Unlike the heavily traveled DE 1A, which is subject to the periodical opening of a double-leaf bascule drawbridge, DE 1B is lightly traveled, but yet serves as an alternate route because the road begins south of a high-level canal crossing.

Major intersections
The entire route is in Rehoboth Beach, Sussex County.

Mile[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
0.00	0.00	DE 1 (Coastal Highway) – Dewey Beach, Dover	Interchange, southern terminus
1.11	1.79	DE 1A (Rehoboth Avenue)	Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

DE 1D

Delaware Route 1D (DE 1D) is an auxiliary route of DE 1 in Sussex County, Delaware. It begins in Five Points at DE 23 south of an intersection with US 9 and DE 404. From here, it heads southeast on Plantation Road along with DE 24 Alternate. It then turns east for a brief concurrency with DE 24 before returning to DE 1 in Midway. This route serves as a partial by-pass of the outlet mall area of DE 1 southbound (beach-bound) traffic. The route is not marked from the northbound lanes of DE 1, and due to the left turn and jughandle accessing DE 1 north, it is not a practical alternate route for northbound traffic.^[26]

Major intersections
The entire route is in Sussex County.

Location	Mile[26]	km	Destinations	Notes
Midway	0.0	0.0	DE 1 (Coastal Highway)	Southern terminus, south end of DE 24 overlap
	0.7	1.1	DE 24 west (John J. Williams Highway)	North end of DE 24 overlap, south end of DE 24 Alt. overlap
Five Points	3.3	5.3	DE 23 / DE 24 Alt west (Beaver Dam Road)	Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

DE 1 Business

Delaware Route 1 Business
Location:	Milford
Length:	3.90 mi[1] (6.28 km)

Delaware Route 1 Business (DE 1 Bus.) is a business route of DE 1 that runs through Milford, Delaware. DE 1 Bus. starts at a partial interchange with DE 1 south of Milford. The route passes through the heart of Milford on Rehoboth Boulevard, where it intersects DE 36 first and then DE 14. The route then merges into U.S. Route 113 (US 113) at the north end of Milford before ending, along with US 113, at an interchange with DE 1.

Major intersections
The entire route is in Milford.

County	Mile[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Sussex	0.00	0.00	DE 1 south (Coastal Highway)	Interchange, southern terminus
			DE 30 south (Cedar Creek Road)
	1.79	2.88	DE 36 (SE Front Street/Cedar Beach Road) to DE 1
Kent			DE 14 (NE Front Street)
	3.57	5.75	US 113 south (Dupont Boulevard)	South end of US 113 overlap
	3.90	6.28	DE 1 north (Bay Road) – Dover, Wilmington	Interchange, northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

• U.S. Roads portal
• Delaware portal

References

External links

• Media related to Delaware Route 1 at Wikimedia Commons