| Revision as of 17:42, 1 August 2005 edit64.93.1.67 (talk) →Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway← Previous edit | Revision as of 00:07, 13 August 2005 edit undo63.164.145.85 (talk) →The Coastal HighwayNext edit → | ||
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| Past US 9, Delaware Rt. 1 passes through Midway, and the Rehoboth Outlets before a spur road (Delaware Route 1A) branches off to ]. After crossing the Lewes & Rehoboth Canal, a small canal connecting the Roosevelt Inlet in Lewes with the Rehoboth Bay, the road continues through ], finally reaching the Delaware coast. The road then continues along the beach through several Delaware resort areas (], ], and ]), before reaching the ] state line, becoming ] upon entering ]. | Past US 9, Delaware Rt. 1 passes through Midway, and the Rehoboth Outlets before a spur road (Delaware Route 1A) branches off to ]. After crossing the Lewes & Rehoboth Canal, a small canal connecting the Roosevelt Inlet in Lewes with the Rehoboth Bay, the road continues through ], finally reaching the Delaware coast. The road then continues along the beach through several Delaware resort areas (], ], and ]), before reaching the ] state line, becoming ] upon entering ]. | ||
| Delaware Route 1 has two business loops |
Delaware Route 1 has two business loops: Business Route 1, serving Milford on a two-lane stretch of road that was once part of Delaware Route 1, and before, Delaware Route 14; Delaware Route 1A, serving Rehoboth Beach and nearby Dewey Beach. A spur route, the unsigned Delaware Route 1B, provides a direct, and alternate connection between Delaware Route 1 at the Rehoboth & Lewes Canal and Delaware Route 1A, as Delaware Route 1A crosses the canal on a drawbridge, and Delaware Route 1 itself uses a high-level crossing. | ||
| Although the highway south of Milford is a four-lane highway, it was at one time a two-lane road, but was gradually converted into four lanes in the 1970's, with the last section, the Rehoboth & Lewes Canal Bridge, was rebuilt into a four-lane road by 1985. Another two-to-four lane conversion, at the Indian River Inlet between Dewey Beach and Bethany Beach, was completed in the mid-1970's, but due to premature wear by the saltwater of the Atlantic Ocean and Rehoboth Bay, DelDOT is currently in the process of replacing the bridge with a new cable-stayed structure similar in nature to the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Bridge. | |||
Revision as of 00:07, 13 August 2005
Delaware Route 1 is a 110 mile long, four-to-six lane highway going from the Maryland-Delaware State line on the eastern Atlantic shoreline to the Delaware Turnpike just outside of Wilmington. The highway, which first came into existence in the late 1970's, was originally a two-lane road signed as Delaware Route 14, but 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 1970's to 1995, the highway truncated at is what is now U.S. Highway 113, but in the mid-1970's, DelDOT looked into a "Dover Extension" of the Delaware Turnpike which later evolved into the tolled Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway.
Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway
The Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway, or simply known as the "Route 1 Turnpike" or "Relief Route" is a 51 mile (82 km) long, four lane tolled controlled access highway that connects the Delaware Turnpike (Interstate 95) in Christiana to the Dover Air Force Base Complex in Southern Dover. The roadway was built in several stages, starting in 1989, and was completed in 2003 with the Odessa-Tybouts Corner section being opened to traffic. The highway was dedicated in 1995 shortly after the dedication of the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The highway, built to Interstate Highway standards, has a total of four travel lanes, except for a portion between Biddles Corner and Tybouts Corner, where the highway has six lanes. Construction was funded in the similar 60/40 federal-to-state ratio, but allowed the State of Delaware to recoup costs of building the highway through the use of tolls collected a two mainline barriers in Biddles Corner and Dover (near the NASCAR Dover Downs International Speedway), and at several exits between the two ends. The Federal Highway Administration stipulated that the tolls must be removed by 2020, or the roadway is paid off, whichever comes first (although future expansion projects may keep the tolls on longer).
The main feature of the highway is the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Bridge, a concrete cable-stayed structure located in St. Georges and crossing the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal with a 750-foot center span. The new bridge, which has a total of six lanes, allows thru traffic and heavy trucks to bypass the nearby St. Georges Bridge, which was built during World War II, as a high-clearence crossing, and was showing major signs of deterioration. The new bridge was also the first major project to use prefabricated concrete segments, which were produced in a factory setting and transported, by barge, to the project site.
Another feature is the use of regular mileposts, but the exit numbers use metric measurements--a byproduct of a failed experiment proposed by President Bill Clinton, in which the U.S. would convert all use of measurements from the standard "English" system to the universal metric system.
Although owned and operated, along with the Delaware Turnpike by the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT), Governor Ruth Ann Minner proposed that the road would be privatized, with DelDOT being contracted by the new company to provide routine maintenance to the roadway. The road costs $2.00, with E-Z Pass users paying less, especially those who commute between Dover and Wilmington on a regular basis.
Toll Route Interchanges
- - Dover A.F.B. South Gate--UNSIGNED
- 93 Dover A.F.B. Main Gate-Visitors
- 95 S. Dover-Camden
- 97 Salisbury, Maryland-Norfolk, Virginia (Southbound to US 13 only)
- 98 Downtown Dover-Little Creek (southbound only)
- DOVER TOLL PLAZA
- 104 N. Dover-Scarborough Road
- 114 S. Smyrna
- 119 N. Smryna-Townsend
- - PROPOSED INTERCHANGE WITH TOWNSEND
- 136 Odessa-Middletown
- 142 Mt. Pleasant-Boyds Corner-St. Georges
- BIDDLES CORNER TOLL PLAZA
- 148 S. St. Georges (southbound only)
- 152 US 13 South-Delaware City-St. Georges-Newark
- 156 US 13 North-New Castle-Red Lion
- 160 Elkton-State Road
- 162 New Castle-Newark
- 164 Christiana-Mall Road (To Christiana Mall)
- 165 Delaware Turnpike-Wilmington-Baltimore
- 166 Churchmans Road-Churchmans Crossing (To Christiana Mall)
The Coastal Highway
South of the toll road, Delaware Route 1 continues south to first, Frederica, then Milford, where it bypasses the city on a five-mile bypass. Prior to 2004, this stretch of highway between the toll road and the Milford Bypass was co-signed as U.S. Highway 113, but the road was truncated at the northern junction with the bypass. Past Milford, the road continues past the small towns of Milton, and Red Mill, before reaching Nassau, Delaware, where it intersects with U.S. Highway 9 to Lewes, and the Cape May-Lewes Ferry.
Past US 9, Delaware Rt. 1 passes through Midway, and the Rehoboth Outlets before a spur road (Delaware Route 1A) branches off to Rehoboth Beach. After crossing the Lewes & Rehoboth Canal, a small canal connecting the Roosevelt Inlet in Lewes with the Rehoboth Bay, the road continues through Dewey Beach, finally reaching the Delaware coast. The road then continues along the beach through several Delaware resort areas (Bethany Beach, South Benthany, and Fenwick Island), before reaching the Maryland state line, becoming Maryland State Highway 528 upon entering Ocean City, Maryland.
Delaware Route 1 has two business loops: Business Route 1, serving Milford on a two-lane stretch of road that was once part of Delaware Route 1, and before, Delaware Route 14; Delaware Route 1A, serving Rehoboth Beach and nearby Dewey Beach. A spur route, the unsigned Delaware Route 1B, provides a direct, and alternate connection between Delaware Route 1 at the Rehoboth & Lewes Canal and Delaware Route 1A, as Delaware Route 1A crosses the canal on a drawbridge, and Delaware Route 1 itself uses a high-level crossing.
Although the highway south of Milford is a four-lane highway, it was at one time a two-lane road, but was gradually converted into four lanes in the 1970's, with the last section, the Rehoboth & Lewes Canal Bridge, was rebuilt into a four-lane road by 1985. Another two-to-four lane conversion, at the Indian River Inlet between Dewey Beach and Bethany Beach, was completed in the mid-1970's, but due to premature wear by the saltwater of the Atlantic Ocean and Rehoboth Bay, DelDOT is currently in the process of replacing the bridge with a new cable-stayed structure similar in nature to the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Bridge.
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