History
By 1920, what would become DE 141 existed as an unimproved county road. The road between Prices Corner and Greenville was paved by 1924. A year later, the road between New Castle and Newport was upgraded to a state highway. When Delaware first designated its state highways by 1936, what is now DE 141 between New Castle and Newport was designated as part of DE 41, which continued northwest from Newport toward Hockessin and the Pennsylvania border. Also by this time, Powder Mill Road was paved. DE 141 was designated to run from DE 273 in New Castle to US 202 north of Wilmington by 1952, following DE 41 on Basin Road and James Street from New Castle and Newport, Centerville Road between Newport and Prices Corner, and Centre Road, Barley Mill Road, and Powder Mill Road between Prices Corner and US 202. By 1957, an interchange was built at US 13/US 40 and the route was widened into a divided highway between Faulkland Road and DE 48. DE 41 was removed from its concurrency with DE 141 by 1971.
In 1965, a $20 million ($150 million today) freeway was proposed along the DE 141 corridor between Newport and US 202 north of Wilmington, providing a bypass to the west of Wilmington. By 1971, the DE 141 freeway from Newport to Prices Corner was under design and the reconstruction of the route north of DE 48 began. The same year, a contract was awarded for construction of a grade separation of the Reading Railroad in Greenville. In 1973, work started to upgrade DE 141 between the Christina River in Newport and the Brandywine Creek near Greenville. A contract was awarded to construct the DE 141 freeway through Newport in 1974. The construction of interchanges in Prices Corner and at DE 52 were included in the Bond Bill in 1976. The DE 141 freeway from Newport to Prices Corner and in Greenville was completed by 1981. By 1985, US 202 was rerouted to follow DE 141 between US 13/US 40 and I-95. DE 100 was rerouted to follow DE 141 between DE 48 and Montchanin Road by 1990.
In 1992, an environmental assessment was approved for improving DE 141 between DE 2 and US 202. Among the improvements called for were a six-lane bridge over the Brandywine Creek replacing the existing two-lane bridge, a new bridge over Rockland Road, and a new interchange with US 202 and DE 261. Later in the year, the proposed bridge over the Brandywine Creek was scaled back to four lanes. In 1994, plans for the bridge over the Brandywine Creek and the US 202 interchange were placed on hold. Meanwhile, the bridge over Rockland Road was completed in 1997, with DE 141 being realigned between Rockland Road and US 202 and the intersection with Children's Drive improved. In the 2000s, the Blue Ball Construction Project relocated the northern terminus of DE 141 to an interchange with US 202 and DE 261 a short distance to the south of where Powder Mill Road intersects US 202. The project took place between 2002 and 2007 and cost $123 million. In 2007, construction began to upgrade the portion of DE 141 between DE 2 and DE 34 from a four-lane undivided road into a four-lane divided highway. Completion of the project was scheduled for 2010.
Read more about this topic: Delaware Route 141
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