Delaware Route 279
{{short description|State highway in Newark, Delaware, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Good article}}
{{Infobox road
|state=DE
|type=DE
|route=279
|map={{maplink-road}}
|map_custom=yes
|alternate_name=Elkton Road
|length_mi=1.05
|length_round=2
|length_ref={{cite web |author= Staff |title= Traffic Count and Mileage Report: Interstate, Delaware, and US Routes |publisher= Delaware Department of Transportation |year= 2018 |url= https://deldot.gov/Publications/manuals/traffic_counts/pdfs/2018/2018Interstate_USRoutes_DelawareRoutes.pdf?cache=1585496964656 |format= PDF |access-date= March 29, 2020}}
|maint=DelDOT
|direction_a=South
|direction_b=North
|terminus_a={{jct|state=MD|MD|279}} in Newark
|junction=
|terminus_b={{jct|state=DE|DE|4|DE|896}} in Newark
|counties=New Castle
|previous_type=DE
|previous_route=273
|next_type=DE
|next_route=286}}
Delaware Route 279 (DE 279) is a {{convert|1.05|mi|km|adj=on}} long state highway located in northern New Castle County, Delaware. It is signed north-south and runs from the Maryland state line southwest of Newark, where the road continues as Maryland Route 279 (MD 279), northeast to DE 4 and DE 896 in Newark. DE 279 follows a four-lane divided highway called Elkton Road and serves as part of the route connecting Elkton, Maryland with Newark. The roadway is maintained by the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT). DE 279 was originally the westernmost portion of DE 2, designated in the 1930s. This portion of road was widened into a divided highway in 1972. In 2013, DE 2 was truncated from the Maryland state line to east of Newark to simplify the route designations through Newark, resulting in DE 279 being designated to its current alignment.
Route description
File:DE 279 NB shield past Maryland border.jpeg
DE 279 begins at the Maryland state line southwest of the city of Newark. The road continues southwest into that state as MD 279, which heads toward the town of Elkton. From the state line, the route heads northeast on Elkton Road, a four-lane divided highway. DE 279 heads through commercial areas of Newark, where it passes north of the Newark Charter School and crosses the West Branch Christina River before it comes to an intersection with Otts Chapel Road. The road continues past more commercial development and reaches an intersection with the western terminus of DE 4 and DE 896 (Christiana Parkway). Here, DE 279 ends and Elkton Road continues northeast as part of DE 896 toward downtown Newark. The entire length of the route is located in New Castle County.{{google maps |url=https://www.google.com/maps?saddr=DE-2&daddr=Elkton+Rd&hl=en&sll=39.664716,-75.773692&sspn=0.009564,0.021136&geocode=FfQRXQIdfY17-w;Fd0-XQIdOMB7-w&t=h&mra=ls&z=15|title=overview of Delaware Route 279|access-date=May 1, 2014}}{{Cite map |publisher=United States Geological Survey |title=Newark West Quadrangle: Delaware–Maryland–Pennsylvania |year=2011 |scale=1:24,000 |series=7.5 Minute Series |type= Topographic map | OCLC = 794112185 |isbn= }} The route passes through flat to gently rolling terrain at an elevation of about {{convert|100|ft|m}}.
DE 279 has an annual average daily traffic count of 30,155 vehicles west of Otts Chapel Road and 14,214 vehicles east of Otts Chapel Road. The entire length of DE 279 is part of the National Highway System.{{cite map|publisher=Federal Highway Administration|title=National Highway System: Delaware|url=https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/national_highway_system/nhs_maps/delaware/de_delaware.pdf|year=2010|format=PDF|access-date=February 10, 2012}}
History
What is now DE 279 was originally an unimproved county road.{{Delaware road map|year=1920|access-date=November 24, 2015}} From the 1910s to the 1938, it was part of a branch of the Lincoln Highway,{{Cite web |title=Lincoln Highway Map |url=https://www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org/map/ |access-date=July 7, 2022|website=Lincoln Highway Association}} and part of the Capitol Trail,{{Cite web |title=Rand McNally official 1920 auto trails map, New York City and vicinity. |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3804n.ct006577/ |access-date=July 7, 2022|website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}} which ran from Atlanta through Washington, D.C., passing through Delaware by way of Newark, Wilmington, and Claymont, before terminating in Philadelphia.{{cite book|last=Francis|first=William|title=Along the Kirkwood Highway|series=Images of America|location=Charleston, SC|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|pages=8–9|year=2014|isbn=9781439645444|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FBaaAwAAQBAJ&dq=kirkwood+highway+delaware&pg=PA2|access-date=December 23, 2016}}{{Cite web |title=Named highways of the United States. |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=ien.35556038808739 |access-date=July 7, 2022|website=HathiTrust |language=en}} By 1924, the road was paved.{{Delaware road map|year=1924|access-date=November 24, 2015}} In 1925, suggestions were made for the state to take over maintenance of the highway connecting the Maryland state line to Newark.{{cite journal|title=Annual Report of the State Highway Department|edition=1925|page=21|publisher=Delaware State Highway Department|location=Dover, Delaware|date=December 31, 1925|url=http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/annual_reports/pdf/1925/annual_1925.pdf|access-date=November 11, 2014|journal=|archive-date=September 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923213414/http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/annual_reports/pdf/1925/annual_1925.pdf|url-status=dead}}{{cite journal|title=Delaware State Highway Department Report|edition=1926|page=35|publisher=Delaware State Highway Department|location=Dover, Delaware|date=December 31, 1926|url=http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/annual_reports/pdf/1926/annual_1926_chief.pdf|access-date=November 11, 2014|journal=|archive-date=February 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170209131436/http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/annual_reports/pdf/1926/annual_1926_chief.pdf|url-status=dead}} In 1927, the state took over maintenance of the highway between the Maryland state line and Newark.{{cite journal|title=Annual Report of the State Highway Department|edition=1927|page=28|publisher=Delaware State Highway Department|location=Dover, Delaware|date=December 31, 1927|url=http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/annual_reports/pdf/1927/annual_1927_chief.pdf|access-date=November 11, 2014|journal=|archive-date=September 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923213419/http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/annual_reports/pdf/1927/annual_1927_chief.pdf|url-status=dead}} When Delaware designated its state highways by 1936, the current alignment of DE 279 was designated as the westernmost part of DE 2, which ran from the Maryland state line through Newark and continued east to Wilmington.{{Delaware road map|year=1936|access-date=November 24, 2015}} The portion of DE 2 along Elkton Road between the Maryland state line and Newark was widened into a divided highway in 1972.{{Maryland road map|year=1972}} In 2013, DelDOT proposed the renumbering of routes in and around Newark, which involved truncating DE 2 from the Maryland state line to the eastern edge of Newark and the removal of DE 2 Bus. through downtown Newark. As a result of these changes, the portion of Elkton Road between the Maryland state line and DE 4/DE 896 (Christiana Parkway) was to be designated as DE 279, matching the route number across the Maryland state line. The goal of the project was to "simplify the route designations in Newark, reduce sign clutter, and reduce sign maintenance costs." The changes were completed in the middle part of 2013.{{cite web|last=Shannon|first=Josh|title=A route to less clutter: DelDOT to consolidate Newark route numbers|url=http://www.newarkpostonline.com/news/article_081d2586-e14b-11e2-94de-001a4bcf887a.html|work=Newark Post|date=July 1, 2013|access-date=August 15, 2013}}
Major intersections
{{Jcttop|length_ref=|dest_ref=|state=DE|county=New Castle|location=Newark}}
{{DEint
|mile=0.00
|road={{Jct|state=MD|MD|279|dir1=south|name1=Elkton Road}}
|notes=Maryland state line; southern terminus
}}
{{DEint
|mile=1.05
|road={{jct|state=DE|DE|4|dir1=east|DE|896|name2=Christiana Parkway/Elkton Road|location1=University of Delaware}}
|notes=Northern terminus; western terminus of DE 4
}}
{{jctbtm}}
See also
- {{Portal-inline|U.S. Roads}}
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
{{AttachedKML|display=title,inline}}
{{commons category}}
- [https://www.aaroads.com/guides/de-279/ DE 279 at AARoads.com]