Delaware Route 14

Delaware Route 14
Route information
Maintained by DelDOT
Length:	19.12 mi[1] (30.77 km)
Major junctions
West end:	MD 317 near Burrsville
	US 13 / DE 14 Truck in Harrington DE 15 in Milford US 113 in Milford DE 1 Bus. in Milford
East end:	DE 1 near Milford
Highway system
Routes in Delaware ← US 13 DE 15 →

Delaware Route 14 (DE 14) is a state highway in the southern part of Kent County, Delaware. The route runs from the Maryland border in Burrsville, where it continues as Maryland Route 317, east to DE 1 in Milford. The route passes through Harrington, where it intersects US 13, and passes to the north of Houston before coming to Milford.

DE 14 was first designated by 1936 to run from the Maryland border in Burrsville east to DE 26 in Bethany Beach. By 1939, the road was extended south to Fenwick Island. In the 1940s, the road was realigned to bypass Rehoboth Beach. The route between Nassau and Rehoboth Beach was widened into a divided highway in the 1950s, with all of DE 14 southeast of Milford being upgraded to a divided highway by the 1970s. By 1981, most of DE 14 east of Milford was replaced with DE 1, with the eastern terminus being realigned to its current location.

Route description

Delaware Route 14 begins at the Delaware/Maryland State Line and travels in a roughly east–west direction on Vernon Road. A major route from its inception, the road continues to the small town of Harrington, where the annual Delaware State Fair is held in July. DE 14 heads through Harrington by heading to the northeast on Commerce Street and then east on Clark Street. It intersects U.S. Route 13 in the eastern part of Harrington, where it becomes the Milford Harrington Highway. It heads east, passing to the north of the small town of Houston, and finally reaches Milford, a former 18th and 19th Century shipbuilding town that straddles the Kent County/Sussex County line. Upon reaching Milford, the route intersects the southern terminus of Delaware Route 15 and then continues east to an intersection with U.S. Route 113.^[1][2]

After crossing over US 113, the road becomes Front Street and enters the historical district of the town, passing by houses built in the mid-to-late Victorian Era. After crossing Delaware Route 1 Business, the road heads to the northeast and ends at the junction with Delaware Route 1 on the Milford Bypass.^[1][2]

History

What would become DE 14 originally existed as a county road between the Maryland border in Burrsville and Rehoboth Beach by 1920.^[3] By 1924, the road had been completed as a state highway between Burrsville and Milford and was proposed as one between Nassau and Rehoboth Beach.^[4] A year later, the state highway was completed between Milford and Cedar Creek and from Nassau to just west of Rehoboth Beach, with the sections between Cedar Creek and Nassau and into Rehoboth Beach under proposal.^[5] By 1931, the state highway between Milford and Rehoboth Beach was completed, with a section north of Bethany Beach completed as a gravel road. In addition, the road between Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach was paved.^[6] When Delaware designated its state highway system by 1936, DE 14 was designated to run from the Maryland border in Burrsville east to DE 26 in Bethany Beach, following a newly-completed road along the Atlantic Ocean between Dewey Beach and Bethany Beach.^[7] By 1939, a southern extension of DE 14 was built between Bethany Beach and the Maryland border in Fenwick Island as a gravel road, this was paved by 1942.^[8][9] Also by 1942, DE 14 was realigned to bypass Rehoboth Beach to the southwest.^[9]

The route was widened into a divided highway between Nassau and Rehoboth Beach by 1954, with the route being moved to a new alignment to bypass Wescoats Corner, removing a concurrency with DE 18 (now US 9 Business).^[10] By 1966, DE 14A was designated onto the former alignment of DE 14 through Rehoboth Beach.^[11] The divided highway portion of DE 14 was extended north to DE 16 and between the Indian River Inlet and South Bethany by 1967.^[12] The route was widened into a divided highway between Dewey Beach and the Indian River Inlet by 1969.^[13] By 1971, a divided highway was completed linking DE 14 southeast of Milford to US 113 north of Milford, bypassing Milford.^[14] By 1973, construction was underway to make DE 14 a divided highway from the Milford bypass to DE 16, which included a bypass of Argos Corner; this was completed in 1974.^[15] By 1981, DE 14 was truncated to Milford, with DE 1 replacing the route between Fenwick Island and the south end of the Milford Bypass and DE 1 Business replacing the route between the Milford Bypass and NE Front Street; DE 14 was realigned to follow NE Front Street to end at DE 1 on the Milford Bypass. As a result of this, DE 14A was renumbered to DE 1A.^[16]

Major intersections

The entire route is in Kent County.

Location	Mile[1]	Road	Notes
	0.00	MD 317 west (Burrsville Road)	Maryland state line, western terminus
Harrington	8.59	DE 14 Truck east (Farmington Road)
	9.64	US 13 / DE 14 Truck west (Dupont Highway)
Milford	15.78	DE 15 north (Canterbury Road)
	17.06	US 113 (Dupont Boulevard)
	18.51	DE 1 Bus. (Rehoboth Boulevard)
	19.12	DE 1 (Bay Road)	Eastern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Bannered routes

Delaware Route 14 Truck
Location:	Harrington
Existed:	2008–present

Delaware Route 14 Truck is a truck bypass of DE 14 in Harrington. The route bypasses Harrington to the south, running along Farmington Road, Tower Hill Road, and U.S. Route 13. It was designated in 2008 following an $8.5 million, year-long project that improved the roads the truck route follows.^[17]

See also

• U.S. Roads portal
• Delaware portal

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} 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} Google, Inc. Google Maps – overview of Delaware Route 14 (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=DE+14+and+MD+317&daddr=DE+1+and+DE+14&geocode=FZh_UQIdZnt8-ympQnAuiGK4iTGMFaS8ES2N3A%3BFfj1UQId5UmB-ylPwTuUl5m4iTF9pmxTXhvzLQ&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=39.228965,-75.606215&sspn=0.970182,2.705383&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=12. Retrieved February 8, 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. ^ 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) (1931 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_005.pdf. Retrieved 2010-08-19. 
7. ^ 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. 
8. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1939 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_012.pdf. Retrieved February 6, 2011. 
9. ^ ^{a b} Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1942 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_014.pdf. Retrieved February 6, 2011. 
10. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1954/55 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_028.pdf. Retrieved February 6, 2011. 
11. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1966 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_040.pdf. Retrieved August 19, 2010. 
12. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1967 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_042.pdf. Retrieved February 6, 2011. 
13. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1969 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_046.pdf. Retrieved April 20, 2010. 
14. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1971 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_050.pdf. Retrieved April 15, 2010. 
15. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1973 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_052.pdf. Retrieved February 8, 2011. 
16. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1981 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_058.pdf. Retrieved February 6, 2011. 
17. ^ "City of Harrington Truck Route By-Pass Opens Today". Delaware Department of Transportation. August 20, 2008. http://www.deldot.gov/public.ejs?command=PublicNewsDisplay&id=3128&month=8&year=2008. Retrieved 2009-02-01.