Delaware Route 9

Delaware Route 9 (DE 9) is a 58.18-mile (93.63 km) state highway that connects DE 1 at the Dover Air Force Base in Kent County to DE 2 in the city of Wilmington in New Castle County. DE 9 is a designated scenic highway known as the Route 9 Coastal Heritage Byway south of New Castle, running through mostly rural areas to the west of the Delaware Bay and the Delaware River as a two-lane undivided road. Between New Castle and Wilmington, DE 9 is a four-lane road that runs through urban and suburban areas. DE 9 passes through several cities and towns including Little Creek, Leipsic, Port Penn, Delaware City, and New Castle. DE 9 as an suffixed route, DE 9A, that provides access to the Port of Wilmington. In addition, it has a truck route, DE 9 Truck, located to the south of New Castle.

DE 9 was first designated by 1936 to run from US 113 (now DE 1) southeast of Dover north to US 13 in Smyrna, following its current alignment to Leipsic and Smyrna-Leipsic Road to Smyrna. In the 1950s, the road was extended to US 13 Alt. (now US 13) in Wilmington, in which it was rerouted at Leipsic to follow its current alignment to Wilmington. DE 9 was extended further north to DE 2 by the 1970s. The route was rerouted to bypass downtown New Castle in the 1980s. The intersection with DE 1 was reconstructed into an interchange in 2009.