Delaware Route 72

Delaware Route 72
Route information
Maintained by DelDOT
Length:	17.45 mi[1] (28.08 km)
Major junctions
South end:	DE 9 near Delaware City
	US 13 / DE 7 near Delaware City DE 1 near Delaware City DE 71 near Kirkwood US 40 east of Glasgow DE 2 / DE 4 in Newark DE 273 in Newark DE 2 northeast of Newark
North end:	DE 7 in Pike Creek
Highway system
Routes in Delaware ← DE 71 DE 82 →

Delaware Route 72 (DE 72) is a state highway located in New Castle County, Delaware. The route runs from Delaware Route 9 near Delaware City to Delaware Route 7 in Pike Creek. Parts of DE 72 were built as a state highway during the 1940s. By the 1940s, the route was designated between DE 2 and DE 7 along Paper Mill Road. The route was extended south to DE 9 in the 1960s. In 1980, the alignment was shifted to the east through Newark to bypass a railroad crossing on Chapel Street.

Route description

Delaware Route 72 heads west from DE 9 on Wrangle Hill Road adjacent to the Valero Delaware City Refinery. It then heads through farmland and intersects U.S. Route 13 and the southern terminus of Delaware Route 7. US 13 heads west for a short concurrency with DE 72 to a diamond interchange with Delaware Route 1, where US 13 heads north on DE 1. This concurrency was created as a result of the construction of DE 1 in the area during the 1990s, which resulted in a relocation of US 13 to the new DE 1 alignment between Tybouts Corner and DE 72. (The northern part of the former US 13 alignment was partly abandoned, being converted to a two-lane frontage road, and the southern part became a southern extension of DE 7.)^[1][2]

From DE 1 to US 40, DE 72 curves from west to north. It intersects Delaware Route 71, then passes through suburban development, then intersects U.S. Route 40 near Glasgow. DE 72 continues to the north on Sunset Lake Road, closely following a Norfolk Southern rail line which crosses it in that stretch, and intersects Old Baltimore Pike, where the name changes to South Chapel Street. It continues north into a light industrial area and passes under Interstate 95 (Delaware Turnpike).^[1][2]

It continues north to an intersection with Delaware Route 2 and Delaware Route 4 (Chestnut Hill Road) in the southeastern corner of Newark. At this intersection, DE 2, which bypasses Newark to the south and east, makes a left turn from DE 4 onto DE 72 northbound. The two routes head north on South Chapel Street, which then becomes Library Avenue as S. Chapel Street heads toward the now-blocked railroad grade crossing. The road passes over the Amtrak Northeast Corridor and continues north to an intersection with Delaware Route 273, which also marks the eastern terminus of Delaware Route 2 Business that heads to the west along with DE 273 through downtown Newark. After a one-block concurrency with eastbound DE 273, DE 2 and DE 72 then turn to the east on the Kirkwood Highway (Capitol Trail), and DE 72 splits from DE 2 by heading north on Possum Park Road.^[1][2]

DE 72 heads north through suburban neighborhoods and, in Milford Crossroads, makes a right turn onto Paper Mill Road and heads to the northeast and then to the north. It enters the Pike Creek area, which consists of a mix of farmland and suburban neighborhoods, and heads toward its northern terminus at Delaware Route 7, the second time these two highways intersect.^[1][2]

History

What is now DE 72 originally existed as a county road by 1920.^[3] By 1931, the road was proposed as a state highway between present-day DE 9 and US 13 while what would become DE 72 north of Milford Crossroads was completed as a state highway.^[4] The road from present-day DE 9 and US 13 became a state highway by 1932.^[5] When Delaware first assigned state route numbers by 1936, the state highway was built between US 13 and US 40 was finished. At this time, the road was not assigned a route number.^[6] By 1938, the road between Newark and Milford Crossroads became a state highway.^[7] DE 72 was designated by 1942 to run from DE 2 in Newark north to DE 7, following Chapel Street and Paper Mill Road.^[8] The route was extended to its present southern terminus at DE 9 by 1967, following Chapel Street, Sunset Lake Road, and Wrangle Hill Road.^[9] In 1980, the Chapel Street crossing of the Northeast Corridor rail line in Newark was permanently blocked, and DE 72 was realigned farther to the east to follow Library Avenue across the railroad tracks before continuing north on DE 2 and Possum Park Road to Paper Mill Road in Milford Crossroads.^[10] DE 2 was realigned to follow DE 72 around the eastern part of Newark on Library Avenue by 1990.^[11]

Major intersections

The entire route is in New Castle County.

Location	Mile[1]	Road	Notes
Delaware City	0.00	DE 9 (5th Street/River Road)	Southern terminus
	1.50	US 13 south / DE 7 north (Dupont Highway)	South end of US 13 overlap
		US 13 north / DE 1	Interchange, north end of US 13 overlap
Wrangle Hill	2.98	DE 71 (Red Lion Road)
Glasgow	5.35	US 40 (Pulaski Highway)
Newark	9.22	DE 2 west / DE 4 (Chestnut Hill Road)	South end of DE 2 overlap
	10.65	DE 2 Bus. / DE 273 (Delaware Avenue)	Eastern terminus of DE 2 Bus., south end of DE 273 eastbound overlap
	10.85	DE 2 Bus. west / DE 273 (Main Street/Ogletown Road)	North end of DE 273 eastbound overlap
	12.08	DE 2 east (Capitol Trail)
Pike Creek	17.45	DE 7 (Limestone Road)	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} 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} Google, Inc. Google Maps – overview of Delaware Route 72 (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=DE+9+and+DE+72&daddr=39.6430333,-75.7302581+to:DE+7+and+DE+72&geocode=FQvzWwId8Px9-yk_mSl8BAbHiTERbHAMU8cCXg%3BFZnnXAIdrnJ8-ykBfXcSxKnHiTHRjYVtf4XA9g%3BFYGMXgIdR958-ynxjemo_P_GiTFgqdndNpRFww&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=39.783275,-75.59132&sspn=0.120308,0.338173&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=11&via=1. Retrieved February 6, 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) (1931 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_005.pdf. Retrieved August 19, 2010. 
5. ^ 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 February 6, 2011. 
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) (1938 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_010.pdf. Retrieved February 6, 2011. 
8. ^ 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. 
9. ^ 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. 
10. ^ 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. 
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.