U.S. Route 202 in Delaware - Route Description

Route Description

US 202 begins at a cloverleaf interchange with US 13/US 40 east of the New Castle Airport, with the road continuing south toward New Castle as DE 141. From the southern terminus, US 202 heads north-northwest concurrent with DE 141 on four-lane divided Basin Road, passing between New Castle Airport to the west and residential neighborhoods to the east. The road passes between a Delaware Air National Guard station to the west and homes and commercial establishments to the east, coming to an intersection with the northern terminus of DE 37. Past this intersection, the median of US 202/DE 141 widens as the road intersects Airport Road and becomes a freeway. The road comes to an interchange with I-95 and the southern terminus of I-295.

Here, US 202 splits from DE 141 and heads to the east along I-95, an eight-lane freeway with a wide median. I-295 splits off to the east before the freeway curves northeast and interchanges with the southern terminus of I-495. Following this, I-95/US 202 becomes a six-lane freeway and heads through marshland, crossing the Christina River. The freeway comes to a bridge over Norfolk Southern's Shellpot Branch and continues through more wetlands, with Amtrak's Northeast Corridor running a short distance to the northwest. The road heads into Wilmington and curves to the north, passing to the west of Frawley Stadium, which is home of the Wilmington Blue Rocks baseball team. I-95/US 202 heads towards downtown Wilmington and crosses onto a viaduct, passing over the Northeast Corridor and coming to an interchange that provides access to the downtown area by way of DE 4 and DE 48. At this point, the four-lane freeway continues northeast, with one-way northbound North Adams Street to the east and one-way southbound North Jackson Street to the west serving as frontage roads. I-95/US 202 continues through residential areas to the west of downtown Wilmington, passing over DE 9. Farther northeast, the freeway heads into an alignment below street level and comes to an interchange with DE 52. Past this interchange, the road heads to the north and crosses Brandywine Creek, heading through Brandywine Park, which is a part of the Wilmington State Parks complex. The freeway curves northeast again and passes under CSX's Philadelphia Subdivision before reaching an interchange with the northern terminus of DE 202 at the northern edge of Wilmington, at which point US 202 splits from I-95.

Upon splitting from I-95, US 202 heads north on the six-lane divided Concord Pike into the Brandywine Hundred area, coming to an interchange with the northern terminus of DE 141 and the southern terminus of DE 261. Past this interchange, the road heads into Fairfax and passes between AstraZeneca's North American headquarters to the west and suburban homes and businesses to the east. The route continues through commercial areas, heading into Talleyville. At this point, the median of the road widens at the intersection with Garden of Eden Road/Silverside Road. The median narrows again as the road runs past more shopping centers, curving to the north-northeast. US 202 passes to the west of the Concord Mall before it reaches an intersection with DE 92. Past this intersection, the route runs between business parks to the west and the Brandywine Town Center shopping center to the east. The road narrows to four lanes as it passes between farm fields to the west and residential development to the east. US 202 reaches the Pennsylvania border, where it continues into that state as Wilmington West Chester Pike.

US 202 in Delaware has an annual average daily traffic count ranging from a high of 102,035 vehicles at the south end of Wilmington along the I-95 concurrency to a low of 30,807 vehicles at the intersection with Augustine Cut-Off between I-95 and DE 141/DE 261. The portion of US 202 in Delaware from the south end of the I-95 concurrency to the Pennsylvania border is part of the National Highway System.