U.S. Route 113

U.S. Route 113 (US 113) is a spur of US 13 in the U.S. states of Maryland and Delaware. The U.S. Highway runs 74.75 miles (120.30 km) from US 13 in Pocomoke City, Maryland north to Delaware Route 1 (DE 1) in Milford, Delaware. In conjunction with DE 1, US 113 is one of two major north–south highways on the Delmarva Peninsula (with US 13) that connect Dover with Pocomoke City and the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The U.S. Highway is the primary north–south highway in Worcester County, Maryland, where it connects Pocomoke City with Snow Hill and Berlin. US 113 is one of three major north–south highways in Sussex County, Delaware, where it connects Selbyville and Georgetown with Milford. While US 113 does not pass through Ocean City or the Delaware beaches, the U.S. Highway intersects several highways that serve the Atlantic Ocean resorts, including US 50, Maryland Route 90 (MD 90), US 9, and DE 1. US 113 is a four-lane divided highway for its whole length except for between Snow Hill and Berlin.

US 113 follows the corridor of a post road established in the late 18th century to connect the aforementioned towns on the Delmarva Peninsula with Wilmington and Philadelphia. The highway was improved as an all-weather road in the 1910s. In Maryland, the post road was designated one of the original state roads established by the Maryland State Roads Commission (MDSRC) in 1909. In Delaware, the highway was the Selbyville–Dover portion of the DuPont Highway, a roadway whose construction was a grand philanthropic measure of Thomas Coleman DuPont. The DuPont Highway, which was started by DuPont's company and finished by the Delaware State Highway Department (DSHD), spurred economic growth in the tourism and agriculture sectors in southern Delaware. The economic growth resulted in heavy traffic; US 113 was widened in both states in the early 1930s and again in the late 1940s. Bypasses of Dover and Pocomoke City were built in the mid-1930s; the bypassed section of highway in Dover became US 113 Alternate.

Expansion of US 113 to a divided highway began in the 1950s in Dover. Much of the remainder of the U.S. Highway in Delaware was expanded in the 1960s; the final section of two-lane US 113 in that state was expanded in the mid-1990s. The Berlin bypass became the first section of US 113 in Maryland to be expanded to a divided highway in the mid-1950s. In the early 1970s, US 113 between Pocomoke City and Snow Hill was expanded to a divided highway and the Snow Hill bypass was constructed, replacing what would become US 113 Business. The U.S. Highway between Berlin and the Delaware state line was expanded to a divided highway around 2000. The Maryland State Highway Administration (MDSHA) is upgrading the last remaining two-lane portions of US 113 between Snow Hill and Berlin to a four-lane divided highway. US 113's northern terminus was moved to Milford in 2004 after the U.S. Highway was superseded by DE 1 from Milford to Dover. The Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) plans to upgrade US 113 to a freeway from Selbyville to Ellendale; a freeway bypass of Milford was cancelled in 2008 because of community opposition.

Read more about U.S. Route 113:  Route Description, History, Junction List

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