Delaware Route 896 (DE 896) is a state highway located in
New Castle County
New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex). As of the 2020 census, the population was 570,719, making it the most populous county in Delaware, with nearly 60% of the ...
,
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
. The route runs from
U.S. Route 13 (US 13) in
Boyds Corner north to the
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
border northwest of
Newark
Newark most commonly refers to:
* Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States
* Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area
Newark may also refer to:
Places Canada
* Niagara-on-the ...
, where the road becomes unsigned
Maryland Route 896 (MD 896) briefly before heading into
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
as
Pennsylvania Route 896 (PA 896). The route heads west from US 13 before turning north along with
DE 71 in
Mount Pleasant, crossing the
Chesapeake & Delaware Canal on the
Summit Bridge. After the bridge, DE 71 splits off to the east and the road continues to
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, where it comes to an intersection with
US 40. DE 896 continues north and interchange with
Interstate 95 (I-95) before reaching Newark, where it bypasses the
University of Delaware
The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...
to the west by following
DE 4, Elkton Road, and South Main Street. DE 896 comes to downtown Newark and continues northwest to the Maryland border. DE 896 has a business route,
DE 896 Business (DE 896 Bus.), that passes through Glasgow, and had an alternate alignment south of Glasgow called
DE 896 Alternate (DE 896 Alt.).
DE 896 was originally built as a state highway during the 1920s and 1930s. By 1938, the route was designated between DE 71 in Summit Bridge and the Maryland border northwest of Newark. In the 1950s, the route was extended to US 13 south of
Townsend Townsend (pronounced tounʹ-zənd) or Townshend may refer to:
Places United States
*Camp Townsend, National Guard training base in Peekskill, New York
*Townsend, Delaware
*Townsend, Georgia
*Townsend, Massachusetts, a New England town
** Townsend ...
, following DE 71 to
Middletown and replacing a part of that route south of there. Between the 1950s and 1990s, various alignments of
US 301,
US 301N, and
US 301S followed DE 896. In the 1980s, DE 896 was realigned to head from Mount Pleasant to US 13 in Boyds Corner, with DE 71 later being extended down the former route past Middletown. Also around this time, DE 896 was rerouted to bypass the University of Delaware to the west. A bypass of Glasgow was completed in the 1990s. The concurrency with US 301 between Mount Pleasant and Glasgow was removed in 2019.
Route description
DE 896 begins at an intersection with
US 13 in
Boyds Corner, heading west on two-lane undivided Boyds Corner Road. East of US 13, the road becomes unnumbered Pole Bridge Road and reaches an interchange with the
DE 1 toll road. From the southern terminus, DE 896 runs through agricultural areas with some residential subdivisions and woods. The route passes under the
US 301 toll road, where it has ramps for emergency vehicles but no public access. The road crosses the
Delmarva Central Railroad
The Delmarva Central Railroad is an American short-line railroad owned by Carload Express that operates of track on the Delmarva Peninsula in the states of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. The railroad operates lines from Porter, Delaware to Ha ...
's Delmarva Subdivision line at-grade and comes to an intersection with
DE 71 in
Mount Pleasant.
Here, DE 896 turns north to form a
concurrency with DE 71 on Summit Bridge Road, a four-lane
divided highway
A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...
. The road runs between the
Summit Airport to the west and housing developments to the east. DE 71/DE 896 heads to the northwest through farm fields before turning to the west and passing a residential subdivision to the south. In the unincorporated community of
Summit Bridge, the road intersects the northern terminus of
DE 15. Past this intersection, DE 71/DE 896 turns north and crosses over the
Chesapeake & Delaware Canal and the Michael N. Castle Trail on the north bank of the canal on the
Summit Bridge, a
cantilever truss
A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end (called cantilevers). For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beams; however, large cantilever bridges designe ...
bridge.
![DE 896 NB past US 40](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/DE_896_NB_past_US_40.jpg)
Past the Summit Bridge, the road runs through woods and crosses under Chesapeake City Road before passing east of the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery. DE 71 splits from DE 896 by turning to the southeast on Red Lion Road. DE 896 continues north through residential neighborhoods and fields and passes to the west of
Lums Pond State Park
Lums Pond State Park is a Delaware state park near Bear, New Castle County, Delaware in the United States. The park surrounds Lums Pond, an impoundment built by the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal on St. Georges Creek. The C&D built the pond as ...
. The road reaches
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, where it curves northeast to bypass the community to the east with
DE 896 Bus. heading north into Glasgow. DE 896 heads to the east of
Hodgson Vo-Tech High School
Paul M. Hodgson Vocational Technical High School is a public high school in Glasgow, Delaware and is one of four vocational-technical school high schools within the New Castle County Vocational-Technical School District.
Brief History
The scho ...
and curves northwest to intersect
US 40.
Following this intersection, DE 896 continues northwest as South College Avenue to the west of Glasgow Park, crossing
Muddy Run and coming to a southbound ramp that provides access to DE 896 Bus. at the north end of Glasgow. The road passes through industrial and business areas with a few homes, heading to the west of
Glasgow High School before intersecting
Old Baltimore Pike
Old Baltimore Pike is a road in the U.S. state of Delaware. The road, known as New Castle County Road 26, runs from Maryland Route 281 (MD 281) at the Maryland state line south of Newark, Delaware and continues east to Christi ...
. The route heads through wooded areas to the east of
Iron Hill Park before reaching a
partial cloverleaf interchange
A partial cloverleaf interchange or parclo is a modification of a cloverleaf interchange.
The design has been well received, and has since become one of the most popular freeway-to-arterial interchange designs in North America. It has also bee ...
with
I-95
Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...
(Delaware Turnpike). Past this interchange, DE 896 crosses the
Christina River
The Christina River is a tributary of the Delaware River, approximately 35 miles (56 km) long, in northern Delaware in the United States, also flowing through small areas of southeastern Pennsylvania and northeastern Maryland. Near i ...
and enters the city of
Newark
Newark most commonly refers to:
* Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States
* Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area
Newark may also refer to:
Places Canada
* Niagara-on-the ...
, running northwest past businesses. The route curves north and crosses West Chestnut Hill Road/Old Chestnut Hill Road, with a reverse
jughandle
A jughandle is a type of ramp or slip road that changes the way traffic turns left at an at-grade intersection (in a country where traffic drives on the right). Instead of a standard left turn being made from the left lane, left-turning traffic ...
controlling movements between northbound DE 896 and westbound West Chestnut Hill Road, before it reaches an intersection with
DE 4. A
park and ride
A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuting, commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail t ...
lot is located at the southeast corner of this intersection.
![DE 4 WB-DE 896 NB past College Avenue](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/DE_4_WB-DE_896_NB_past_College_Avenue.jpg)
At this point, DE 896 turns west to join DE 4 on the four-lane divided Christiana Parkway, passing to the south of the
University of Delaware
The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...
's Science, Technology, and Advanced Research campus. The road narrows into a three-lane undivided road with two eastbound lanes and one westbound lane, curving to the northwest and coming to bridges over
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
's
Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, a ...
railroad line and the Christina River. Christiana Parkway reaches an intersection with the northern terminus of
DE 279, where DE 4 ends and DE 896 continues northeast on Elkton Road. DE 896 becomes a four-lane divided highway that crosses the Christina River again and heads into residential areas. The road changes names to South Main Street and becomes undivided as it passes businesses before reaching downtown Newark.
Here, DE 896 intersects
DE 273, with the road splitting into a
one-way pair
A one-way pair, one-way couple, or couplet refers to that portion of a bi-directional traffic facilitysuch as a road, bus, streetcar, or light rail linewhere its opposing flows exist as two independent and roughly parallel facilities.
Descriptio ...
. Northbound DE 896 becomes concurrent with eastbound DE 273 on West Delaware Avenue, heading to the east, while southbound DE 896 remains along South Main Street, also concurrent with eastbound DE 273. The one-way pair carries two lanes in each direction. Northbound DE 896 soon turns north onto two-way South College Avenue, which carries two northbound lanes and one southbound lane as it passes through the University of Delaware campus. The northbound direction of the route turns west (along westbound DE 273 on West Main Street), reaching the end of South Main Street, which it left earlier due to one-way streets. Here, northbound DE 896 continues northwest onto one-way New London Road, carrying one lane, while southbound DE 896 follows DE 273 on two-way, two-lane West Main Street.
Soon after, both directions of the route cross
CSX
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
's
Philadelphia Subdivision
The Philadelphia Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. The line runs from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, southwest to Baltimore, Maryland, along a forme ...
railroad line at-grade as it leaves the downtown area and enters residential neighborhoods. New London Road becomes two-way carrying both directions of DE 896, with southbound DE 896 running southwest on two-way North Hillside Road to get to DE 273 and continue east. The two-lane undivided DE 896 heads northwest and crosses
Bogy Run, heading between the Newark Country Club to the west and the University of Delaware to the east before running through wooded areas of residential development. The route becomes undivided again as it leaves Newark, passing to the west of
White Clay Creek State Park and heading through the community of
Mechanicsville. DE 896 continues to its northern terminus at the
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
border, where the road briefly traverses the northeast corner of that state as
MD 896 before heading north into
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
as
PA 896.
DE 896 has an
annual average daily traffic
Annual average daily traffic, abbreviated AADT, is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a y ...
count ranging from a high of 48,492 vehicles at the I-95 interchange to a low of 3,783 vehicles at the intersection with Cleveland Avenue in Newark.
[ The portion of DE 896 south of DE 273 is part of the National Highway System.]
History
What is now DE 896 originally existed as a county road by 1920, with the portion between Boyds Corner and Mount Pleasant proposed as a state highway at that time. Four years later, the state highway between Boyds Corner and Mount Pleasant was completed while the rest of the route was paved. A year later, the road was upgraded to a state highway between Mount Pleasant and Summit Bridge. In 1936, the road became a state highway between Summit Bridge and Glasgow; at this time none of present-day DE 896 was assigned a route number. On December 21, 1936, the grade crossing with the Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
(now Amtrak's Northeast Corridor) along College Avenue in Newark was replaced with a bridge over the tracks. In 1938, the state highway between Glasgow and Newark was built on a new alignment, bypassing a narrow winding alignment that ran further to the east along what is now Old Cooch's Bridge Road. This road was built to give Newark a better road connection to places further south.
DE 896 was designated by 1938 to run from DE 71 in Summit Bridge north to the Maryland border northwest of Newark, passing through Newark on College Avenue and New London Road. At the state line, the road briefly became MD 278 before becoming PA 896 in Pennsylvania. MD 278 became MD 896 in 1942 to match DE 896 and PA 896.
DE 896 was extended south to US 13 south of Townsend Townsend (pronounced tounʹ-zənd) or Townshend may refer to:
Places United States
*Camp Townsend, National Guard training base in Peekskill, New York
*Townsend, Delaware
*Townsend, Georgia
*Townsend, Massachusetts, a New England town
** Townsend ...
by 1957, following DE 71 between Summit Bridge and Middletown and replacing DE 71 between Middletown and US 13. Two years later, US 301S was designated along DE 71/DE 896 between Summit Bridge and Middletown. The route was realigned to a new Summit Bridge a short distance to the west in 1960, with a part of the former DE 896 north of the bridge becoming a part of a realigned US 301S/DE 71. The US 301S designation along DE 71/DE 896 between Middletown and Summit Bridge became US 301 in 1971, with US 301N being designated along DE 896 between Summit Bridge and US 40 in Glasgow. The Christiana Parkway around the southern edge of Newark was completed in September 1983.
By 1984, DE 896 was realigned to run from Mount Pleasant to US 13 in Boyds Corner along its current alignment. The former alignment south of Middletown became unnumbered at the time but would become part of DE 71 again by 1990. A year later, US 301 was rerouted to follow DE 896 between Mount Pleasant and Boyds Corner, with US 301N being removed from the route between Summit Bridge and Glasgow and US 301 removed from the route between Mount Pleasant and Summit Bridge. In 1988, DE 896 was routed to bypass the University of Delaware campus by heading west along the Christiana Parkway with DE 4 and then northeast on DE 2 before continuing along New London Road. By 1990, DE 2 was routed to follow DE 4 and DE 896 on the Christiana Parkway and DE 2 Bus. was designated along with DE 896 on Elkton Road.
In 1992, US 301 was realigned to follow DE 896 between Mount Pleasant and Glasgow. By 1996, DE 896 was rerouted to bypass Glasgow to the east, with the former alignment becoming DE 896 Bus. In 2012, the Newark city council voted in favor of renaming the portion of Elkton Road carrying DE 2 Bus./DE 896 between West Park Place and West Main Street to South Main Street in order to promote businesses along this stretch of road. The change went into effect January 1, 2013. In 2013, the DE 2 and DE 2 Bus. concurrencies were removed from DE 896 in order to simplify the route designations through Newark. The concurrency with US 301 between Mount Pleasant and Glasgow was removed when the US 301 toll road opened on January 10, 2019.
There are plans to reconstruct the interchange with I-95 by adding two flyovers and realigning ramps in order to improve safety and congestion at the interchange. The reconstruction project, which is projected to cost $143 million, is planned to begin in 2022. The project received a $57 million grant from the United States Department of Transportation
The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...
which allowed construction to begin two years earlier than originally planned.
Major intersections
Special routes
DE 896 Business
Delaware Route 896 Business (DE 896 Bus.) is a long business route
A business route (or business loop, business spur, or city route) in the United States is a short special route connected to a ''parent'' numbered highway at its beginning, then routed through the central business district of a nearby city or ...
of DE 896 that passes through Glasgow. The route begins at an intersection with DE 896 south of Glasgow, heading north on two-lane undivided Glasgow Avenue into residential areas. The road runs immediately to the west of DE 896 before that road curves to the northeast. The business route passes to the west of Hodgson Vo-Tech High School before it heads into commercial areas, passing east of the Peoples Plaza shopping center and intersecting US 40. Past this, DE 896 Bus. heads into rural areas of homes and comes to a dead end at which point there is a ramp from southbound DE 896 to DE 896 Bus. that crosses Muddy Run. It uses the old alignment of DE 896, and was created by 1996 following the completion of the current DE 896 bypass to the east of town.
Major intersections
Former DE 896 Alternate
Delaware Route 896 Alternate (DE 896 Alt.) was an alternate route
An official alternate route is a special route in the United States that provides an alternate alignment for a highway. They are loop roads and found in many road systems in the United States including the U.S. Highway system and various state an ...
of DE 896 from near its southern terminus in Boyds Corner north to Glasgow. The route headed north from Boyds Corner concurrent with US 13 on the four-lane divided Dupont Parkway, passing through rural areas with some development. In Biddles Corner, the alternate route split from US 13 and headed north along DE 1, a four-lane freeway that crosses the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal on the Senator William V. Roth Jr. Bridge
The Senator William V. Roth Jr. Bridge (originally the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Bridge and also referred to as the Roth Bridge) is a concrete and steel cable-stayed bridge that spans the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal near St. Georges, Delaware. ...
. DE 896 Alt. followed DE 1 to the interchange with DE 72, where it continued west along with DE 72 on two-lane undivided Wrangle Hill Road. The road headed through suburban areas and intersected DE 71, curving northwest and north before reaching an intersection with US 40. At this point, the alternate route headed west concurrent with US 40 on the four-lane divided Pulaski Highway, passing through developed areas to the south of Glasgow Park. DE 896 Alt. ended at an intersection with US 301/DE 896 on the eastern edge of Glasgow.
Major intersections
See also
*
References
External links
{{commons category
DE 896 at AARoads.com
Delaware Roads - DE 896
896
__NOTOC__
Year 896 ( DCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Europe
* February – King Arnulf of Carinthia invades Italy at the head of an East ...
Transportation in New Castle County, Delaware
U.S. Route 301