Delaware Route 7

Delaware Route 7
Route information
Maintained by DelDOT
Length:	16.94 mi[1] (27.26 km)
Existed:	1938 – 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 / Del. Tpk. 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 in Avondale
Highway system
Routes in Delaware ← DE 6 DE 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 and Delaware Route 72 near Delaware City, Delaware to the Pennsylvania border near Hockessin, where it continues into Pennsylvania as an unnumbered road that intersects Pennsylvania Route 41 at an interchange. 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 and the Pennsylvania border. From the 1950s to the 1970s, DE 7 between Christiana and Milltown Road became a divided highway. 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 and was 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 the 2000s, an interchange was built as DE 58 as a result of a northward extension of DE 1 along DE 7.

Route description

Delaware Route 7 heads north from US 13 and DE 72 on the former four-lane, divided alignment of US 13, which had followed this route until 1995 when Delaware Route 1 (Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway) was constructed in this area. The construction of DE 1 resulted in US 13 being moved to the new highway between Tybouts Corner and the DE 72 interchange, with the northern part of the former alignment being converted into a two-lane frontage road and the southern part becoming a southward extension of DE 7, which had ended at US 13 a short distance to the north of the DE 72 intersection.^[1][2]

At the grade crossing for the Norfolk Southern Railway's Delaware City Secondary branch, DE 7 narrows to a two-lane undivided road with a speed limit of 35 mph (60 km/h) and passes under DE 1. Then it leaves the old US 13 alignment at the location of its (DE 7) original southern terminus and heads to the north on Bear-Corbitt Road, paralleling DE 1 a short distance to the west. It passes through suburban development and intersects Delaware Route 71 in Red Lion. It then continues north into Bear.^[1][2]

In Bear, DE 7 widens to a four-lane, divided highway. The section of DE 7 between here and the Delaware Route 273 intersection was recently widened by the Delaware Department of Transportation from a two-lane road with an average speed limit of 35 mph (60 km/h) to a four-lane, divided highway. It intersects with U.S. Route 40 and continues north through suburban areas on Bear Christiana Road to the intersection with DE 273.^[1][2]

Past that intersection DE 7 narrows back to a two-lane road and becomes Main Street toward the center of Christiana, where it makes a right turn onto Stanton Christiana Road, also known as Old Baltimore Pike. It then heads north toward the Christiana Mall, where it then becomes part of DE Rt. 1 between the Christiana Mall and the junction with Interstate 95 (Delaware Turnpike). North of I-95, Delaware Rt. 7 becomes the sole route number of the 51-mile (82 km) road, with the expressway ending at the Churchmans Crossing exit with Delaware Route 58 (Exit-166) and reverting back to a four-lane surface access highway called Stanton Christiana Road.^[1][2]

Past Churchmans Crossing, the road then becomes concurrent with Delaware Route 4 at the vicinity of the Delaware Park racino, passing over the Amtrak Northeast Corridor and the White Clay Creek and then entering Stanton on the one-way pair of Mitch Road eastbound and Main Street westbound. Just after splitting into one-way streets, DE 7 departs DE 4 by making a left turn and heading north on the four-lane, divided Limestone Road.^[1][2]

North of Stanton, DE Rt. 7 heads through suburban areas and crosses over Delaware Route 2 (Kirkwood Highway). Past DE 2, it briefly becomes a four-lane, undivided road, before reverting back to a divided highway. It heads to the northwest into the suburban Pike Creek area and goes past Goldey Beacom College. It then intersects the northern terminus of Delaware Route 72 (the second time these two highways have met) and continues to the north. The road becomes an undivided highway past the Little Baltimore Road/Brackenville Road intersection, with a center median at the Valley Road intersection. Past that intersection, DE 7 heads north as a two-lane undivided road to the PA/DE state line, and the road continues as Limestone Road into Chester County, Pennsylvania with access to PA 41, via a grade-separated interchange (not expressway-standard), coming only a mile past the line.^[1][2]

History

What would become DE 7 originally existed as a county road by 1920.^[3] 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.^[4] A year, 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.^[5] By 1931, these sections of state highway had been completed.^[5] When Delaware assigned state highway numbers by 1936, DE 7 was designated to run from US 13 south of Red Lion north to the Pennsylvania border, following its present alignment.^[6] By 1959, DE 7 was widened into a divided highway between Stanton and DE 2.^[7] The divided highway was extended north to Milltown Road by 1966.^[8] By 1985, DE 273 was realigned to bypass Christiana, removing it from a portion of DE 7 through the town. Also at this time, DE 7 was widened into a divided highway from the Christiana Mall north to Stanton.^[9]

By 1988, a limited-access highway paralleling DE 7 south of I-95 was under construction, which was to become part of the DE 1 freeway connecting the Wilmington area to Dover.^[10] By 1990, this freeway was completed between US 13 in Tybouts Corner and DE 273 in Christiana, at which point it became part of DE 1.^[11] By 1994, the freeway was extended north to I-95, with DE 7 being relocated onto this freeway along with DE 1 for a short distance near the Christiana Mall.^[12] The DE 1 freeway was extended from US 13 in Tybouts Corner to St. Georges by 1996, in which it incorporated a portion of the existing US 13 near Red Lion. As a result, 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.^[13] The divided highway portion of DE 7 was extended north from Milltown Road to DE 72 by 1999.^[14] DE 7 from I-95 to north of DE 58 became an extension of the DE 1 freeway by 2006, with an interchange built at DE 58.^[15]

Major intersections

The entire route is in New Castle County.

Location	Mile[1]	Road	Notes
Delaware City	0.00	US 13 / DE 72 (Dupont Highway/Wrangle Hill Road) to DE 1	Southern terminus
Red Lion	2.05	DE 71 (Red Lion Road)
Bear	3.75	US 40 (Pulaski Highway)
Christiana	5.67	DE 273 (Christiana Bypass)
	7.19	DE 1 south (Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway) – Dover, Beaches	Interchange, south end of DE 1 overlap, DE 1 exit 164
	South end of freeway section
	7.93	I-95 to I-295 / I-495 – Wilmington, Philadelphia, Newark, Baltimore	DE 1 exit 165A-B
Churchmans Crossing	8.32	DE 58 (Churchmans Road) – Churchmans Crossing	DE 1 exit 166, northern terminus of DE 1
	North end of freeway section
	8.85	DE 4 west – Ogletown, Newark	South end of DE 4 overlap
Stanton	10.01	DE 4 east (Main Street)	North end of DE 4 overlap
Marshallton	10.98	DE 2 (Kirkwood Highway)
Pike Creek	14.16	DE 72 south (Paper Mill Road)
	16.94	SR 3013 north (Limestone Road) to PA 41	Pennsylvania state line, northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

• U.S. Roads portal
• Delaware portal

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} http://www.deldot.gov/information/pubs_forms/manuals/traffic_counts/2006/pdf/rpt_pgs1_38_rev.pdf DelDOT 2006 Traffic Count and Mileage Report
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Google, Inc. Google Maps – overview of Delaware Route 7 (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=US+13+and+DE+7&daddr=39.641565,-75.65801+to:39.66903,-75.65886+to:limestone+road+and+southwood+road&geocode=FQfvWwIdIo59-ynBORk8KAbHiTFKZdr1v9rGYw%3BFd3hXAId5ox9-ym3qPRz3QbHiTFLOVeapQslFA%3BFSZNXQIdlIl9-ymhwZN2LwHHiTFYpoDRuPGBTQ%3BFW8YXwId5IV8-ymDDwDVeVXGiTH4yH3-KZvQSQ&hl=en&mra=ls&via=1,2&sll=39.701244,-75.6213&sspn=0.060226,0.169086&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=11. Retrieved February 7, 2011. 
3. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1920 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_002.pdf. Retrieved April 15, 2010. 
4. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1924 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_003.pdf. Retrieved August 1, 2010. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1925 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_004.pdf. Retrieved August 19, 2010. 
6. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1936/37 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_008.pdf. Retrieved April 15, 2010. 
7. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1959/60 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_032.pdf. Retrieved April 15, 2010. 
8. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1966 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_038.pdf. Retrieved February 7, 2011. 
9. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1985 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_060.pdf. Retrieved April 15, 2010. 
10. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1988 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_066.pdf. Retrieved February 6, 2011. 
11. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1990 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_070.pdf. Retrieved February 6, 2011. 
12. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1994 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_068.pdf. Retrieved April 29, 2010. 
13. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1996 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_072.pdf. Retrieved February 6, 2011. 
14. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1999 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_074.pdf. Retrieved February 7, 2011. 
15. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (2006 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_081.pdf. Retrieved August 19, 2010.