Interstate 95 in Delaware - History

History

The Delaware Turnpike portion of Interstate 95 was first planned in the 1950s following the completion of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, Delaware Memorial Bridge, and New Jersey Turnpike. The state of Delaware originally wanted to build a toll road that would follow U.S. Route 13/U.S. Route 40 and connect to a proposed tolled Maryland Expressway that would follow the present-day U.S. Route 301 corridor to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. However, the plan was changed for Maryland and Delaware to construct a toll road that would provide a more direct connection to Baltimore and Washington, D.C. that would be part of Interstate 95. Unlike other toll roads, such as the Pennsylvania Turnpike and New Jersey Turnpike, it would be built to present day Interstate standards. DelDOT built the Delaware Turnpike between 1960 and 1963 with a dedication by President John F. Kennedy on November 15, 1963, just one week before his assassination in the Dallas motorcade. As a result, both the Delaware Turnpike and connecting Northeast Toll Road in Maryland were named the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway.

The Wilmington Expressway section of Interstate 95 was first planned in 1955 along with what would become Interstate 495. Construction on this segment began in 1963, around the time the Delaware Turnpike was completed. The road was completed between the Delaware Turnpike and U.S. Route 202 (Concord Pike) in 1967 and from the Concord Pike to the Pennsylvania border in 1968.

Since the completion of Interstate 95 in Delaware, many changes have occurred to the highway. The original four-lane Delaware Turnpike was widened to six lanes in 1972 and to eight lanes in the early 1980s. In 1976, tolls at interchanges along the Delaware Turnpike were removed.

The Wilmington Expressway section has undergone two major reconstruction projects in its history. The first one was between 1978 and 1982, in which the Wilmington Viaduct was reduced to two lanes for reconstruction. During this time, I-95 was moved to a newly constructed bypass to the east of Wilmington running between Newport and Claymont and the segment of I-95 between these two points became Interstate 895. Following the completion of construction in 1982, I-95 returned to its original alignment, replacing I-895, and the eastern bypass of Wilmington became Interstate 495. Another reconstruction project took place between 2000 and 2003. The first stage called for reconstruction of the highway between US 202 and the Pennsylvania border. The southbound lanes were closed from April to July 2000 and the northbound lanes were closed from July to October 2000, with traffic detoured to I-495. Construction on the section through Wilmington took place between 2001 and 2003.

Since 2000, DelDOT officials have proposed rerouting I-95 back onto I-495 in the same arrangement used between 1978 and 1982, and renaming the current I-95 through Wilmington as Interstate 95 Business, like that on Interstate 83 in York, Pennsylvania. The mayor of Wilmington staunchly rejected the proposal.

In 2007, the Delaware Department of Transportation announced that they would be widening a part of I-95 to five lanes in each direction for a total of ten lanes. Northbound, the new fifth lane will run from the SR-1 interchange at exit 4 to the I-495 split just south of the city of Wilmington. Southbound, the new fifth lane will run from the SR-141 interchange at exit 5 to just south of the Churchman's Road bridge where I-95 crosses SR-58. Construction began in May 2007 and was completed in November 2008.

The Delaware House service plaza closed for a ten-month reconstruction in September 2009.

DelDOT is reconstructing the cloverleaf interchange with DE 1/DE 7 (exit 4) to include flyover ramps, intended to reduce merging and congestion at the interchange. Completion is expected in the later part of 2013.