U.S. Route 202 in Delaware - History

History

The Wilmington and Great Valley Turnpike Company was chartered on January 23, 1811 to build a turnpike running north from Wilmington along the Concord road, continuing to West Chester and Great Valley in Pennsylvania. Construction on the turnpike progressed throughout the 1810s. The Wilmington and Great Valley Turnpike was known in Delaware as the Concord Pike. The Concord Pike was taken over by New Castle County in 1911, at which point the tolls were removed. By 1920, a portion of the Concord Pike near Talleyville was incorporated into the state highway system, with the remainder of the road proposed to become a state highway. By 1924, the Concord Pike between Blue Ball and Talleyville was a state highway, with the remainder remaining a county road. A year later, what is now US 202 along Basin Road was completed as a state highway. When the US Highway System was established in 1926, US 122 was designated to follow the Concord Pike between US 13 (Philadelphia Pike) in Wilmington and the Pennsylvania border, heading north into that state and continuing to US 22 at Whitehouse, New Jersey. By 1936, US 122 was redesignated US 202 and the entire Concord Pike became state-maintained. Also at this time, US 202 was realigned in Wilmington to head southwest from Concord Avenue onto Washington Boulevard, splitting into a one-way pair following Washington Street southbound and West Street northbound as it passed through downtown Wilmington. In this area, US 202 turned east onto Front Street to end at US 13. By 1954, the portion of US 202 between the Wilmington border and Talleyville was widened into a divided highway. The divided highway was extended north from Talleyville to the Pennsylvania border by 1957.

By 1959, US 202 was moved onto a new one-way pair through downtown Wilmington, with the southbound direction splitting from Concord Avenue to follow Baynard Boulevard to Washington Street and the northbound direction following US 13 on Market Street before heading north onto Concord Avenue. Also at this time, US 202 was extended south along US 13 from downtown Wilmington to an interchange with I-295/US 40 in Farnhurst. By 1966, the portion of I-95 that currently carries US 202 was completed between DE 141 and downtown Wilmington. I-95 was completed between downtown Wilmington and the Concord Pike in 1969. In 1971, US 202 was aligned to head south on Concord Avenue to end at US 13 Bus., which replaced the US 13 designation on Market Street. By 1981, the southern terminus of US 202 was truncated to the interchange with I-95 north of Wilmington, with DE 202 being designated along Concord Avenue between US 13 Bus. and I-95. US 202 was extended south to its current terminus at US 13/US 40 near the New Castle Airport in 1985, following I-95 through Wilmington before heading south along DE 141. In 1992, plans were made to build an interchange with DE 141 and DE 261 north of I-95; however, plans for the proposed interchange were placed on hold in 1994. In 2000, the portion of US 202 between I-95 and DE 141 (Powder Mill Road) was improved, with the alignment shifted to eliminate a few curves, the intersections at DE 261 and DE 141 improved, and a southbound transit lane added. In the 2000s, the Blue Ball Construction Project built an interchange at DE 261 that also relocated the northern terminus of DE 141 from the Powder Mill Road intersection further north. The project took place between 2002 and 2007 and cost $123 million.