Delaware Route 896

Delaware Route 896 (DE 896) is a state highway located in New Castle County, Delaware. The route runs from U.S. Route 13 (US 13) in Boyds Corner, Delaware north to the Maryland border northwest of Newark, where it becomes the unsigned Maryland Route 896 (MD 896) briefly before heading into Pennsylvania as Pennsylvania Route 896 (PA 896). The route heads west from US 13 before turning north along with US 301/DE 71 in Mount Pleasant, crossing the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal on the Summit Bridge. After the bridge, DE 71 splits off to the east and the road continues to Glasgow, where US 301 ends at an intersection with US 40. DE 896 continues north and interchange with Interstate 95 (I-95) before reaching Newark, where it bypasses the University of Delaware to the west by following DE 2/DE 4 and DE 2 Business (DE 2 Bus.). DE 896 comes to downtown Newark and continues northwest to the Maryland border. DE 896 has an alternate alignment south of Glasgow called DE 896 Alternate (DE 896 Alt.) and a business route, DE 896 Bus., that passes through Glasgow.

DE 896 was originally built as a state highway during the 1920s and 1930s. By 1938, the route was designated between DE 71 in Summit Bridge and the Maryland border northwest of Newark. In the 1950s, the route was extended to US 13 south of Townsend, following DE 71 to Middletown and replacing a part of that route south of there. Between the 1950s and 1990s, various alignments of US 301, US 301N, and US 301S followed DE 896. In the 1980s, DE 896 was realigned to head from Mt. Pleasant to US 13 in Boyds Corner, with DE 71 later being extended down the former route past Middletown. Also around this time, DE 896 was rerouted to bypass the University of Delaware to the west. A bypass of Glasgow was completed in the 1990s and the route was extended slightly to the DE 1 toll road.