U.S. Route 13

Infobox U.S. Route
article_route=13

---

length_mi=517.81
length_ref=
length_km=833.33
yrcom=1926
direction_a=South
direction_b=North
from=Jct|state=NC|I|95|I|295 near Fayetteville, NC
junction=Jct|state=NC|I|40 near Newton Grove, NC
Jct|state=VA|I|64 in Norfolk, VA
Jct|state=MD|US|50 near Salisbury, MD
Jct|state=DE|I|295 near Wilmington, DE
Jct|state=PA|I|76|US|30 in Philadelphia, PA
Jct|state=PA|I|276|PATP in Bristol, PA
to=Jct|state=PA|US|1|US-Bus|1|dab2=Penndel near Morrisville, PA
commons=category

U.S. Route 13 is a north-south U.S. highway established in 1926 that runs for convert|517|mi|km from the northeastern suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to just north of Fayetteville, North Carolina. One notable segment of the highway is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia.

As of 2004, the highway's northern terminus is Morrisville, Pennsylvania. Its southern terminus is I-95 just north of Fayetteville, North Carolina, where I-295 is under construction to extend the road west of I-95. I-295 has been planned as U.S. 13 among other numbers.

Route description

-
NC
185.52
298.57
-
VA
137.45
221.20
-
MD
42.01
67.60
-
DE
103.33 [ [http://www.deldot.gov/static/pubs_forms/traffic_counts/2006/rpt_pgs1_38_rev.pdf Delaware Department of Transportation, Traffic Summary (2006), AADT Tables, p.3] ]
166.29
-
PA
49.50
79.66
-
Total
517.81
833.33

North Carolina

US 13 runs southwest to northeast through the eastern part of North Carolina. It begins at Interstate 95 near Fayetteville as a continuation of the Fayetteville Outer Loop and heads northeast, intersecting U.S. Route 421 in Spivey's Corner and Interstate 40 and U.S. Route 701 in Newton Grove. It then passes through the city of Goldsboro, where it intersects U.S. Route 70 and U.S. Route 117. US 13 continues northeast and shares a brief concurrency with U.S. Route 264 before passing through the city of Greenville. US 13 then heads north from Greenville, following the limited-access U.S. Route 64 east between Bethel and Williamston and U.S. Route 17 north between Williamston and Windsor. US 13 then heads north from Windsor towards the Virginia border.

Virginia

US 13 crosses the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, a convert|17|mi|km|sing=on long combination facility that connects the South Hampton Roads subregion and the cities of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Chesapeake, Virginia, with Virginia's Eastern Shore, which is part of the Delmarva Peninsula. The facility opened in 1964 and was originally two lanes. At that time, the new bridge-tunnel replaced a cross-bay vehicle and passenger ferry service which had been operated by the Virginia Ferry Company.

A major improvement project in the 1990s expanded the approaches and non-tunnel sections to four lanes, retaining the two-lane capacity for each of the two tunnels. That construction has added separated trestle and bridge sections for the over-water-spans to create two lanes in each direction, with the spans merging and diverging at the tunnels. Total vehicle capacity is still limited by the two lane tunnel sections. However, adding the new sections facilitated a repair cycle for those portions subject to wind and weather factors, and reduced the likelihood that a collision with a ship would severe the traffic capacity completely, as did occur in 1970 when a section near the south end was struck by a U.S. Navy attack cargo ship, the USS "Yancey". During inclement weather, the Yancey had been anchored in the bay about a mile from the bridge-tunnel. She dragged her anchors in a snowy gale. Driven by the winds that gusted up to 50 miles an hour, the ship drifted inexorably toward the span. The collision between the attack cargo ship and the bridge put the later out of service "for at least three weeks." The Navy started up a free shuttle service for commuters that normally utilized the bridge-tunnel, using helicopters and LCUs. Fortunately, there were no vehicles on the bridge, and no one was injured.

Maryland

US 13 passes through the lower Eastern Shore region of Maryland. It runs through Pocomoke City in Worcester County, where it meets the southern terminus of U.S. Route 113. It continues north into Somerset County, where it passes through the town of Princess Anne. It then enters Wicomico County, where it bypasses the city of Salisbury and the town of Fruitland to the east on the limited-access Salisbury Bypass with the former alignment signed as U.S. Route 13 Business. On the northern part of the bypass, US 13 is concurrent with U.S. Route 50, which bypasses Salisbury to the north. North of Salisbury, US 13 continues to the state line town of Delmar.

Delaware

US 13 runs through the entire north-south length of Delaware. It enters the state in Delmar and runs through western Sussex County, intersecting U.S. Route 9 in Laurel and passing through the city of Seaford. It continues into Kent County and heads north towards the state capital of Dover. US 13 forms the commercial district of the city of Dover. Between Dover and Wilmington in New Castle County, US 13 is paralleled by the Delaware Route 1 turnpike. It crosses the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal on the St. Georges Bridge. US 13 continues towards Wilmington, sharing a concurrency with U.S. Route 40 in the New Castle area. It bypasses the heart of Wilmington to the east, with U.S. Route 13 Business passing through the downtown area. US 13 parallels Interstate 495 between Wilmington and the Pennsylvania border.

Pennsylvania

Upon entering the state of Pennsylvania from Delaware, US 13 runs along the banks of the Delaware River parallel to Interstate 95 through Delaware County. It then runs a southwest to northeast path through the city of Philadelphia. It traverses West Philadelphia on many one-way pairs and then passes by the Philadelphia Zoo. US 13 then runs through North Philadelphia and Northeast Philadelphia by following Hunting Park Avenue, the Roosevelt Boulevard (which is also U.S. Route 1), and Frankford Avenue, where it crosses the oldest bridge in the United States. US 13 then enters Bucks County, again closely following I-95 and the Delaware River. It ends at an interchange with US 1 in Falls Township, just west of Morrisville.

History

Another notable feature of US 13 in the Delmarva Peninsula is the Salisbury Bypass, first built in the 1970s to allow US 13 to bypass the downtown area of Salisbury, Maryland for a second time as the original bypass was built in the 1930s and eventually engulfed by commercial development. The bypass was expanded into a 3/4 beltway that additionally allowed US 50 to bypass Salisbury as well. The new portion opened in 2003. The original alignments of both routes are now signed as Business US 13 and Business US 50, respectively.

ee also

Related U.S. Routes

*U.S. Route 113
*U.S. Route 213

References

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