Delaware Route 7

Delaware Route 7 marker

Delaware Route 7
Route information
Maintained by DelDOT
Length: 16.87 mi[1] (27.15 km)
Existed: 1936[2] – present
Major junctions
South end: US 13 / DE 72 near Delaware City
  DE 71 near Red Lion
US 40 in Bear
DE 273 near Christiana
DE 1 in Christiana
I‑95 in Christiana
DE 58 in Churchmans Crossing
DE 4 in Churchmans Crossing and Stanton
DE 2 near Prices Corner
DE 72 in Pike Creek
North end: SR 3013 at Pennsylvania state line near Hockessin
Location
Counties: New Castle
Highway system
← DE 6DE 8 →

Delaware Route 7 (DE 7) is a two- to four-lane north–south highway in New Castle County, Delaware that connects U.S. Route 13 (US 13) and DE 72 near Delaware City to the Pennsylvania border near Hockessin, where the road continues into Pennsylvania as State Route 3013 (SR 3013), intersecting Pennsylvania Route 41 (PA 41) at an interchange. Between Delaware City and Christiana, DE 7 runs to the west of the DE 1 freeway through suburban areas, passing through Bear. By the Christiana Mall, DE 7 joins the DE 1 freeway and comes to an interchange with Interstate 95 (I-95) before the DE 1 freeway ends at the DE 58 interchange. After the freeway segment, DE 7 continues north as a surface road concurrent with DE 4 through Stanton. From Stanton to the Pennsylvania border, DE 7 heads northwest through suburban areas, passing through Pike Creek.

What is now DE 7 was built as a state highway during the 1920s and 1930s. By 1936, the route was designated to run along its present alignment between US 13 near Red Lion, Delaware and the Pennsylvania border. From the 1950s to the 1970s, DE 7 became a divided highway between Christiana and Milltown Road. With the construction of the DE 1 freeway in the 1990s, DE 7 was shifted to a portion of the freeway near the Christiana Mall. The route was also extended south to an intersection with US 13 and DE 72 as a result of the relocation of US 13 onto a portion of the freeway. The road also became a divided highway between Milltown Road and DE 72 in the 1990s. In 1999, an interchange was built at DE 58 as a result of a northward extension of DE 1 along DE 7. The interchange with I-95 was reconstructed to include flyover ramps in 2013.

Route description

DE 7 begins at an intersection with US 13 and DE 72 in the community of Wrangle Hill to the west of Delaware City, where the road continues south as part of US 13. From the southern terminus, the route heads north on four-lane divided South Dupont Highway. The road runs through farmland and crosses Norfolk Southern's Reybold Running Track railroad line before passing under the US 13/DE 1 freeway. After this, DE 7 narrows into a two-lane undivided road called Bear-Corbitt Road, with the former alignment of Dupont Highway branching off to the northeast. The route continues north through woodland and homes, reaching an intersection with DE 71 in Red Lion. The road crosses Norfolk Southern's New Castle Secondary railroad line and heads into Bear. Here, DE 7 widens into a four-lane divided highway as it enters commercial areas and intersects US 40.[3][4]

After this intersection, the route becomes Bear-Christiana Road and passes through suburban residential development with some farm fields. Farther north, DE 7 narrows into a two-lane undivided road. The highway comes to an intersection with DE 273, where it is briefly a four-lane divided highway. Following this, DE 7 becomes East Main Street and narrows into a two-lane undivided road, heading through woods and curving to the northwest as it crosses Christina River. The route enters Christiana and passes homes, intersecting Old Baltimore Pike. At this point, DE 7 turns north onto North Old Baltimore Pike, with the name changing to Stanton-Christiana Road. The route turns east onto a four-lane divided highway and comes to an interchange with the DE 1 freeway southwest of the Christiana Mall, a super-regional shopping mall that is the largest in Delaware.[3][4]

DE 7 northbound approaching DE 4

At this point, DE 7 heads north concurrent with DE 1 on a four-lane freeway. The freeway comes to a southbound exit and northbound entrance that serves the Christiana Mall to the east. DE 1/DE 7 continues to a modified cloverleaf interchange with I-95 (Delaware Turnpike). The road continues through more commercial areas and interchanges with DE 58, at which point the freeway segment and DE 1 ends. Past DE 58, DE 7 continues north at-grade as six-lane divided Stanton-Christiana Road, heading to the west of the Stanton Campus of Delaware Technical Community College before intersecting DE 4. At this point DE 4 turns north for a concurrency with DE 7, running through wooded areas with nearby development, including the Hale-Byrnes House, and passing over Amtrak's Northeast Corridor railroad line and White Clay Creek. The road heads to the east of Delaware Park Racetrack, a thoroughbred horse racetrack and casino, and curves northeast to enter Stanton. At this point the two routes continue into a commercial area and split into the one-way pair of Mitch Road eastbound and Main Street westbound.[3][4]

DE 7 splits from DE 4 by heading northwest on four-lane divided Limestone Road. The road runs through suburban residential neighborhoods, coming to a bridge over CSX's Philadelphia Subdivision railroad line. The route continues into business areas and comes to an intersection with DE 2. Past this intersection, DE 7 heads into residential and commercial areas and becomes a four-lane undivided road. The route becomes a divided highway again as it comes to the Milltown Road intersection and enters the Pike Creek area. The road curves west, passing to the north of Carousel Park, before turning northwest again and running to the southwest of Goldey-Beacom College, a private non-profit college. DE 7 turns to the north and comes to an intersection with the northern terminus of DE 72.[3][4]

Following this, the road continues through suburban development. At the intersection with Little Baltimore Road/Brackenville Road, the route curves to the northwest and narrows to a three-lane undivided road with one northbound lane and two southbound lanes, heading into the Hockessin area. DE 7 becomes a two-lane divided highway as it intersects Valley Road. Past this, the route becomes a two-lane undivided road that runs through fields and residential areas. DE 7 reaches its northern terminus at the Pennsylvania border, where Limestone Road continues north into that state as SR 3013, heading to an interchange with PA 41.[3][4]

DE 7 has an annual average daily traffic count ranging from a high of 65,874 vehicles at the south end of the DE 4 concurrency to a low of 3,777 vehicles at the Old Baltimore Pike intersection.[1] The portion of DE 7 from the south end of the DE 1 concurrency to the Pennsylvania border is part of the National Highway System.[5]

History

What would become DE 7 originally existed as a county road by 1920.[6] By 1924, the road was paved between Christiana and Stanton and was upgraded to a state highway between Capitol Trail and New Linden Hill Road.[7] A year later, the road was upgraded to a state highway between Bear and Christiana and between Paper Mill Road and Brackenville Road, with all the sections south of Bear, between New Linden Hill Road and Paper Mill Road and Brackenville Road and the Pennsylvania border proposed as a state highway.[8] By 1931, these sections of state highway had been completed.[9] DE 7 was designated to run from US 13 south of Red Lion north to the Pennsylvania border by 1936, following its present alignment.[2] In 1937, the narrow swing bridge over the Christina River in Christiana was replaced with a stone bridge.[10] A concrete tied arch bridge was built over the White Clay Creek in Stanton in 1941.[11] By 1959, DE 7 was widened into a divided highway between Stanton and DE 2.[12] The divided highway was extended north to Milltown Road by 1966.[13] By 1985, DE 273 was realigned to bypass Christiana, removing it from a portion of DE 7 through the town. Also at this time, the route was widened into a divided highway from the Christiana Mall north to Stanton. The route was shifted west to a new alignment passing over the Amtrak tracks and the White Clay Creek.[14]

In the 1980s, a freeway relief route for DE 7 was proposed to run between US 13 in Tybouts Corner and I-95 in Christiana in order to reduce congestion along DE 7.[15] In 1988, this relief route would become part of DE 1, a freeway connecting the Wilmington area to Dover.[16] The first section of the DE 1 freeway opened in August 1991 between US 13 in Tybouts Corner and US 40 in Bear. Three months later, the freeway opened north to DE 273 in Christiana. The section of DE 1 between DE 273 and I-95 in Christiana opened in April 1993.[17] As a result, DE 7 was relocated onto the DE 1 freeway for a short distance near the Christiana Mall.[18] The DE 1 freeway was extended from US 13 in Tybouts Corner to St. Georges in December 1995, in which it incorporated a portion of the existing US 13 near Red Lion.[17][19] US 13 was moved to the new freeway between DE 72 and Tybouts Corner, and DE 7 was extended south along the former alignment of US 13 to end at US 13 and DE 72 to the west of Delaware City.[20][19] The divided highway portion of DE 7 was extended north from Milltown Road to DE 72 by 1999.[21] DE 7 from I-95 to north of DE 58 became an extension of the DE 1 freeway in 1999 with an interchange built at DE 58.[22]

The Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) reconstructed the cloverleaf interchange at I-95 to include flyover ramps between southbound I-95 and southbound DE 1/DE 7 and northbound DE 1/DE 7 and northbound I-95, aiming to reduce merging and congestion at the interchange.[23][24] Construction began in 2011 with work to replace the bridge over DE 1/DE 7 leading to the Christiana Mall in order to allow room for the flyover ramps; this bridge was completed in March 2012.[24] The ramp from southbound I-95 to southbound DE 1/DE 7 opened on August 27, 2013 and the ramp from northbound DE 1/DE 7 to northbound I-95 opened on October 17, 2013, with a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by Governor Jack Markell and DelDOT secretary Shailen Bhatt.[25][26] A project widening DE 7 to four lanes between Newtown Drive and DE 273 in Bear was completed in early 2014.[27]

Future

DelDOT is planning to widen DE 1 and part of this involves reconstructing its interchange with DE 273. One version of the plan involves moving DE 7 onto DE 1 from DE 273 northward and disconnecting East Main Street from the DE 273 interchange. New ramps would connect the southbound lanes of DE 1 directly to DE 7 where East Main Street once did, and the park and ride lot north of DE 273 would be removed. Local opposition to this project is strong as the nearby Christina River frequently floods and some local residents would not be able to evacuate. Also the Christiana Fire House is located in the center of Christiana and would not be able to continue directly onto DE 7 south, thus adding about 1 mile and sending trucks onto a frequently congested DE 273 east to reach DE 7 south.[28] This was later revised to have the ramps to and from the southbound lanes of DE 1 merge with DE 7 using a roundabout located at the present entrance to the park and ride lot.[29] This project has been placed on hold indefinitely by DelDOT due to budget shortfalls.[30]

Major intersections

The entire route is in New Castle County.

Locationmi[1]kmExitDestinationsNotes
Wrangle Hill0.000.00 US 13 / DE 72 (Dupont Highway/Wrangle Hill Road) to DE 1 – St. Georges, Delaware City, NewarkSouthern terminus
Red Lion2.053.30 DE 71 (Red Lion Road) to US 13
Bear3.756.04 US 40 (Pulaski Highway) – Newark, Elkton, Baltimore
Christiana5.679.12 DE 273 (Christiana Road) – Newark, New Castle, Dover
7.1411.49 DE 1 south / Mall Road – Dover, BeachesInterchange, south end of DE 1 overlap, DE 1 exit 164
South end of freeway section
7.8812.68165
I‑95 south (Delaware Turnpike) – Newark, Baltimore
I‑95 north to I‑295 / I‑495 – Wilmington, Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York		Signed as exits 165A (south), 165B (north), and 165C (flyover ramp), I-95 exit 4
Churchmans Crossing8.2713.31166 DE 58 (Churchmans Road) – Churchmans Crossing
DE 1 ends		Northern terminus of DE 1, access to Christiana Hospital
North end of freeway section
8.8114.18 DE 4 west (Ogletown Stanton Road) – Ogletown, NewarkSouth end of DE 4 overlap, access to Christiana Hospital
Stanton10.0116.11 DE 4 east (Main Street/Mitch Road) – Stanton, WilmingtonNorth end of DE 4 overlap
Marshallton10.9417.61 DE 2 (Kirkwood Highway) – Newark, Elsmere, Wilmington
Pike Creek14.1222.72 DE 72 south (Paper Mill Road) – Corner Ketch, Milford Crossroads, Newark
Hockessin16.8727.15 SR 3013 north (Limestone Road) to PA 41 – Avondale, WilmingtonPennsylvania state line, northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Staff (2011). "Traffic Count and Mileage Report: Interstate, Delaware, and US Routes" (PDF). Delaware Department of Transportation. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  2. 1 2 Delaware State Highway Department; The National Survey Co. (1936). Official Road Map of the State of Delaware (PDF) (Map) (1936–37 ed.). Dover: Delaware State Highway Department. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Delaware Department of Transportation (2008). Delaware Official Transportation Map (PDF) (Map). Dover: Delaware Department of Transportation. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Google (February 7, 2011). "overview of Delaware Route 7" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
  5. ↑ National Highway System: Delaware (PDF) (Map). Federal Highway Administration. 2010. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  6. ↑ Delaware State Highway Department (1920). Official Road Map (PDF) (Map). Dover: Delaware State Highway Department. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  7. ↑ Delaware State Highway Department (1924). Official Road Map (PDF) (Map). Dover: Delaware State Highway Department. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  8. ↑ Delaware State Highway Department (1925). Official Road Map (PDF) (Map). Dover: Delaware State Highway Department. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  9. ↑ Delaware State Highway Department (1931). Official Road Map of the State of Delaware (PDF) (Map). Dover: Delaware State Highway Department. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Annual Report of the State Highway Department" (PDF) (1937 ed.). Dover, Delaware: Delaware State Highway Department. January 1, 1938: 25. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Annual Report of the State Highway Department" (PDF) (1941-42 ed.). Dover, Delaware: Delaware State Highway Department. July 1, 1942: 33. Retrieved November 21, 2014.
  12. ↑ Delaware State Highway Department (1959). Official Highway Map of Delaware (PDF) (Map) (1959–60 ed.). Dover: Delaware State Highway Department. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  13. ↑ Delaware State Highway Department (1966). Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Dover: Delaware State Highway Department. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  14. ↑ Delaware Department of Transportation (1985). Official State Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Dover: Delaware Department of Transportation. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  15. ↑ "State Route 1 Tybouts Corner to I-95 / Christiana Mall Overview". Internet Archives WayBack Machine. Delaware Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on October 24, 2003. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
  16. ↑ Delaware Department of Transportation (1988). Official State Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Dover: Delaware Department of Transportation. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  17. 1 2 "State Route 1 Project Timeline". Internet Archives WayBack Machine. Delaware Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on June 24, 2003. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
  18. ↑ Delaware Department of Transportation; Division of Planning Cartographic Information Section (1994). Delaware Official State Map (PDF) (Map). Dover: Delaware Department of Transportation. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  19. 1 2 Delaware Department of Transportation; Division of Planning Cartographic Information Section (1996). Delaware Official State Map (PDF) (Map). Dover: Delaware Department of Transportation. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  20. ↑ Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering (April 21, 1996). "Report of the Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering to the Standing Committee on Highways" (PDF) (Report). San Antonio, TX: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  21. ↑ Delaware Department of Transportation (1999). Delaware Official Transportation Map (PDF) (Map). Dover: Delaware Department of Transportation. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  22. ↑ "I-95 Corridor Projects". Delaware Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on July 11, 2012. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Pain now, gain later near mall". The News Journal. Wilmington, Delaware: Gannett Company. July 5, 2012. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
  24. 1 2 "New Christiana Mall Road Bridge Open". Delaware Department of Transportation. March 8, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
  25. ↑ Chang, David (August 27, 2013). "New Flyover Ramp Provides Easier Commute for Del. Drivers". Philadelphia, PA: WCAU-TV. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  26. ↑ "Major Improvements Completed on I-95/SR-1 Interchange". Delaware Department of Transportation. October 17, 2013. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
  27. ↑ "SR 7, Newtown Road to SR 273". Delaware Department of Transportation. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  28. ↑ "SR 273 Listening Tour" (PDF). Delaware Department of Transportation. March 12, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  29. ↑ "Route 273 Interchange Interim Roundabout Concept" (PDF). Delaware Department of Transportation. November 2013. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  30. ↑ "SR 1 Widening RT 273-Roth Bridge". Delaware Department of Transportation. Retrieved May 17, 2016.

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