U.S. Route 13 in Delaware - History

History

Plans for the Dupont Highway spanning the north–south length of Delaware existed as early as 1908 when Thomas Coleman du Pont envisoned a divided highway with trolley lines and separate paths for horse-drawn vehicles. However, only a two-lane road was completed in 1924. In 1933, the Dupont Highway was widened into a divided highway between Wilmington and Dover, and it became the first such highway in the world. U.S. Route 13 would utilize this highway between Wilmington and Dover with U.S. Route 113 following the Dupont Highway between Dover and the Maryland border.

U.S. Route 13 was designated in Delaware in 1926 with the creation of the U.S. Highway System. The original routing ran from the Maryland border in Delmar north to Dover. It then continued north, following the Dupont Highway between Dover and Wilmington, Market Street through Wilmington, and the Philadelphia Pike between Wilmington and the Pennsylvania border.

Throughout the 20th century, several changes have been made to US 13. The St George's Bridge, which carries US 13 across the C&D Canal, opened in 1942. In the 1950s, dualized bypasses of Dover and the corridor from north of Seaford to the Maryland border in Delmar were created. By the 1960s, the remainder of US 13 between Dover and the Maryland border was dualized. In the 1970s, US 13 was rerouted to bypass Wilmington, replacing a U.S. Route 13 Alternate that was created in 1940. The original alignment of US 13 through Wilmington became U.S. Route 13 Business.

Toward the second half of the 20th century, traffic volumes on US 13 between Wilmington and Dover became a headache from beach traffic in the summer months as well as from through traffic in general. In the 1950s, plans were made for a bypass from Dover to Frederica, and in the 1960s, plans were made for a westerly bypass of Dover. Nothing came from these plans. In the 1970s, plans were made for a turnpike between Wilmington and Dover. This road would be built between 1991 and 2003 as the Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway (Delaware Route 1). A connector between DE 1 and US 13, the Puncheon Run Connector, was built in 2001 to provide a connection between the DE 1 turnpike and US 13 mainly used by through traffic following US 13 to points south of Dover.

The construction of Delaware Route 1 resulted in a few changes to US 13. The construction of the Smyrna-Odessa segment resulted in a realignment of US 13 south of Odessa. The route was moved a bit to the east of its original alignment in order to make room for DE 1. The southbound lanes would become a two-lane frontage road called Harris Road from just south of the Appoquinimink River to Noxontown Road with a new two-lane road being built between Noxontown Road and Pine Tree Corner Road. Another segment of US 13 was displaced near Red Lion with the construction of a segment of Delaware Route 1 that was completed in 1995. The segment of highway north of the Delaware Route 7 intersection was cut off by the new highway. The northbound lanes were abandoned, and the southbound lanes became a two-lane road. US 13 was realigned to follow DE 1 between the Delaware Route 72 interchange and Tybouts Corner and DE 7 was extended south on the former alignment of US 13 between the partly abandoned segment and DE 72. The construction of this segment of Delaware Route 1, which included the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Bridge, prompted for a planned demolition of the 50-year-old St. Georges Bridge, which carries US 13 across the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. However, residents of St. Georges opposed the demolition because it would cut their town in half. Instead, the bridge was rehabilitated. Between 1995 and 1998, a temporary Bypass US 13 followed DE 1 across the new Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Bridge.