Delaware Route 26

Delaware Route 26
Route information
Maintained by DelDOT
Length:	23.15 mi[1] (37.26 km)
Major junctions
West end:	DE/MD 54/MD 353 south of Gumboro
	DE 30 south of Gumboro DE 54 in Gumboro DE 30 in Shaft Ox Corner US 113 in Dagsboro DE 20 in Dagsboro DE 17 west of Millville DE 1 in Bethany Beach
East end:	Dead end on Atlantic Ocean in Bethany Beach
Highway system
Routes in Delaware ← DE 24 DE 28 →

Delaware Route 26 is a state highway in Sussex County, Delaware. The route's western terminus is at an intersection with Maryland Route 353 and Delaware/Maryland Route 54 at the Maryland border south of Gumboro and its eastern terminus is at a dead end on the Atlantic Ocean in Bethany Beach, even though signage ends at the Delaware Route 1 intersection. The road was built as a state highway in various stages during the 1920s and 1930s. By 1926, DE 26 was assigned onto its current alignment.

Route description

Delaware Route 26's western termiuns is at an intersection with Maryland Route 353 and Delaware/Maryland Route 54 on the Maryland border. At this intersection, Maryland Route 353 continues south to Pittsville, Maryland, Route 54 continues west along the Delaware/Maryland border to Delmar, and Delaware Routes 26 & 54 head north on the Millsboro Highway. Delaware Route 30 joins with Routes 26 & 54 between Gumboro and the Maryland border, and Delaware Route 54 turns east at Gumboro, heading for Selbyville. Delaware Route 26 splits from Route 30 at Shaft Ox Corner and heads east towards Dagsboro on Nine Foot Road.^[1][2]

It intersects U.S. Route 113 just west of Dagsboro and it becomes Clayton Street past this intersection and continues into Dagsboro. In Dagsboro, it intersects Delaware Route 20 (Main Street), and DE 26 makes a right turn to form a concurrency. The two routes then make a left turn onto Vines Creek Road and then split, with DE 20 heading to the southeast on Armory Road.^[1][2]

DE 26 continues east on Vines Creek Road, passing through farmland. In Clarksville, the route makes a left turn to continue east on Atlantic Avenue. Just west of the town of Millville, it meets the northern terminus of Delaware Route 17. It then passes through the towns of Millville and Ocean View on Atlantic Avenue. It then crosses the Assawoman Canal into Bethany Beach, where it becomes the Garfield Parkway. Delaware Route 26 then heads east to Delaware Route 1, where DE 26 signage ends. The route officially continues east on the Garfield Parkway through the center of Bethany Beach toward the Atlantic Ocean.^[1][2]

History

By 1920, what is now DE 26 existed as an unimproved county road.^[3] The route was upgraded to a state highway between present-day US 113 and Dagsboro and from Millville to just west of the Assawoman Canal by 1924.^[4] By 1925, the road was completed as a state highway between Gumboro and Mission and between Dagsboro and Vines Creek, with the route between the Maryland border and Gumboro and the incomplete sections between Dagsboro and Bethany Beach proposed as a state highway.^[5] The proposed segments were completed by 1931.^[6] By 1932, the road between Mission and Dagsboro was under construction.^[7] When Delaware created its state highway system by 1936, DE 26 was assigned to its current alignment between the Maryland border south of Gumboro and Bethany Beach, where it intersected the southern terminus of DE 14 (now part of DE 1).^[8] The route has not changed since its inception.^[9]

Major intersections

The entire route is in Sussex County.

Location	Mile[1]	Road	Notes
Gumboro	0.00	DE/MD 54 west (Line Road) / MD 353 south (Gumboro Road)	Western terminus, west end of DE 54 concurrency
	0.83	DE 30 west (Whitesville Road)	West end of DE 30 overlap
	2.37	DE 54 east (Cypress Road)	East end of DE 54 concurrency
Mission	5.68	DE 30 north (Millsboro Highway)	East end of DE 30 concurrency
Dagsboro	11.28	US 113 (Dupont Boulevard)
	12.09	DE 20 west (Main Street)	West end of DE 20 concurrency
	12.31	DE 20 east (Armory Road)	East end of DE 20 concurrency
Millville	18.83	DE 17 south (Roxana Road)
Bethany Beach		DE 54 Alt. west (Kent Avenue)
	22.91	DE 1 (Coastal Highway)	Eastern terminus of DE 26 signage
	23.15	Dead end at Atlantic Ocean	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 d e} 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} Google, Inc. Google Maps – overview of Delaware Route 26 (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=delaware+26+and+maryland+353&daddr=9+Foot+Rd%2FDE-26+E+to:garfield+parkway+and+atlantic+avenue+bethany+beach&geocode=Fam7SgIdFZWB-ynNVMepBOG4iTGFeCrh78tTfg%3BFSX5SwIdsTKD-w%3BFWMMTAIdiL-G-yk_M7iy5s24iTH3vuFMpl4UTA&hl=en&mra=ls&via=1&sll=38.527219,-75.223732&sspn=0.115492,0.338173&ie=UTF8&ll=38.504654,-75.224419&spn=0.115528,0.338173&t=h&z=12. Retrieved 2010-08-25. 
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) (2008 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_083.pdf. Retrieved 2010-08-02.