Delaware Route 18

Delaware Route 18
Route information
Maintained by DelDOT
Length:	19.49 mi[1] (31.37 km)
Major junctions
West end:	MD 318 east of Federalsburg, MD
	US 13 near Cannon DE 404 southeast of Bridgeville US 113 in Georgetown
East end:	US 9 / DE 404 in Georgetown
Highway system
Routes in Delaware ← DE 17 DE 20 →

Delaware Route 18 (DE 18) is a state highway located in Sussex County, Delaware. It runs from Maryland Route 318 at the Maryland border east of Federalsburg, Maryland to U.S. Route 9 in Georgetown, Delaware. Delaware Route 18 overlaps Delaware Route 404 from its intersection with that highway southeast of Bridgeville to the eastern termiuns in Georgetown, where Route 404 continues eastward to Five Points on US 9. What would become DE 18 was built as a state highway in stages during the 1920s and 1930s. By 1936, DE 18 was designated to run from the Maryland border east through Georgetown to Lewes. By 1976, the route east of Georgetown was replaced by US 9 and US 9 Business. DE 404 was designated along the eastern portion of DE 18 by 1987.

Route description

Delaware Route 18 heads east from the Maryland border on Federalsburg Road. In Clarksons Crossroads, it makes a right turn onto Bowdens Garage Road while Federalsburg Road continues northeast toward Bridgeville. DE 18 heads east through Cannon and then crosses U.S. Route 13. It then merges with Delaware Route 404, the main road between the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and the Delaware beaches. The two routes continue east together on Seashore Highway through countryside toward Georgetown. Upon reaching Georgetown, the road crosses U.S. Route 113 and then Routes 18 and 404 merge onto Bedford Street and head south toward the center of Georgetown. Delaware Route 18 ends at The Circle in the center of Georgetown, where it meets U.S. Route 9 (Market Street) and where DE 404 heads east for a long concurrency with US 9.^[1][2]

History

By 1920, what would eventually become DE 18 was under contract as a state highway from southeast of Bridgeville to Georgetown and from Georgetown to Harbeson; the remainder existed as an unimproved county road.^[3] The state highway was completed between Cannon and present-day US 13 and from southeast of Bridgeville east to Lewes by 1924, with the exception of a portion within Georgetown. The part of present day DE 18 west of Clarksons Crossroads was under proposal as a state highway by this time also.^[4] By 1925, the portions of the route west of Clarksons Crossroads and within Georgetown were upgraded to state highway status.^[5] By 1931, the state highway was finished between Clarksons Crossroads and Cannon.^[6] The portion of road from US 13 east to the current west end of the DE 404 concurrency was completed as a state highway by 1932.^[7]

When Delaware created its state highway system by 1936, DE 18 was designated to run from the Maryland border west of Cannon east to Lewes Beach, following its current alignment east to Georgetown and continuing east through Gravel Hill, Harbeson, and Lewes.^[8] By 1976, the eastern terminus of DE 18 was cut back to its current location in Georgetown, with an extended US 9 replacing the route between Georgetown and Five Points and US 9 Business replacing DE 18 from Five Points to Lewes.^[9] DE 404 was extended to run concurrent with DE 18 from east of Bridgevillle to Georgetown by 1987.^[10]

Major intersections

The entire route is in Sussex County.

Location	Mile[1]	Road	Notes
	0.00	MD 318 west (Bridgeville Road)	Maryland state line, western terminus
Cannon	7.61	US 13 (Sussex Highway)
	9.11	DE 404 west (Seashore Highway)	West end of DE 404 overlap
Georgetown	18.44	US 113 (Dupont Boulevard)
	19.49	US 9 / DE 404 east (Market Street)	Traffic circle, eastern 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} 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. ^ Google, Inc. Google Maps – overview of Delaware Route 18 (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=delaware+18+and+maryland+318&daddr=The+Circle,+Georgetown,+DE&geocode=FZ6ZTgIdZ7Z8-ylvUbqb9fW4iTGGVVH4mzY-gw%3BFQNdTgIdCraB-ynNGsmu_-q4iTHl3-3GVHNgcQ&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=38.689798,-75.433502&sspn=0.230461,0.676346&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=12. Retrieved 2010-09-02. 
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 2010-04-15. 
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 2010-08-01. 
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 2010-08-19. 
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) (1932 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_006.pdf. Retrieved 2010-08-20. 
8. ^ 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 2010-04-15. 
9. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1976 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_054.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-15. 
10. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1987 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_064.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-29.