History
By 1920, what would become the Delaware portion of US 40 was a county road, with the portion along US 13 under contract to become a state highway. The Pulaski Highway and Dupont Highway portions of the road were completed as state highways by 1924. When the US Highway System was created in 1926, US 40 was designated to pass through Delaware along Elkton Road (Pulaski Highway) between the Maryland border and State Road, US 13 from State Road to Wilmington, and Christiana Avenue from US 13 to a ferry across the Delaware River which carried the route to Penns Grove, New Jersey. By 1931, US 40 was rerouted at Hares Corner to head east through New Castle and cross the Delaware River on a ferry to Pennsville, New Jersey. All of the route was a state highway by this time except the portion from Hares Corner to Basin Road. By 1936, US 40 was widened to a divided highway along Elkton Road and US 13, with the portion between Hares Corner and Basin Road being upgraded to a state highway. Construction on the Delaware Memorial Bridge and its approach to US 13 began by 1949.
By 1952, US 40 was rerouted to use the new Delaware Memorial Bridge to cross the Delaware River, being rerouted to follow US 13 north from Hares Corner to the bridge approach road. The ferry connecting New Castle to Pennsville was discontinued and DE 273 was extended along the former alignment of US 40 into New Castle. The US 40 approach to the bridge was a limited-access road with a cloverleaf interchange at DE 9 and a directional-T interchange at US 13. By 1959, the limited-access Delaware Memorial Bridge approach became a part of I-295. The interchange between I-295/US 40 and US 13/US 202 was reconstructed by 1964 to allow the westward extension of I-295 to I-95 (Delaware Turnpike). By 1966, US 301 was designated along the US 13/US 40 concurrency. US 301N was designated to follow US 40 between DE 896 and US 13 by 1971. US 301N was removed from US 40 by 1985. By 1994, US 301 was removed from the US 13/US 40 concurrency, having been rerouted to follow DE 896 to end at US 40 in Glasgow.
Read more about this topic: U.S. Route 40 In Delaware
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“It is remarkable how closely the history of the apple tree is connected with that of man.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The history of the Victorian Age will never be written: we know too much about it.”
—Lytton Strachey (1880–1932)
“Every library should try to be complete on something, if it were only the history of pinheads.”
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894)