Delaware Route 273

Delaware Route273 (DE273) is a state highway in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The route runs from Maryland Route 273 (MD273) at the Maryland border near Newark east to DE9 and DE141 in New Castle. The route heads through suburban areas between Newark and New Castle as a multilane road, passing through Ogletown and Christiana. DE273 intersects DE896 in downtown Newark; DE2/DE72 on the eastern edge of Newark; DE4 in Ogletown; Interstate95 (I-95), DE7, and DE1 in Christiana; DE37 in Pleasantville; and DE58 and U.S. Route13 (US13)/US40 in Hares Corner.

What is now DE273 was originally built as a state highway in the 1920s and 1930s, with the portion east of Hares Corner becoming a part of US40, which had crossed the Delaware River on a ferry between New Castle and Pennsville, New Jersey. DE273 was designated by 1936 to run from the Maryland border near Newark east to Hares Corner. In the 1950s, the route was extended east to New Castle when US40 was realigned to the Delaware Memorial Bridge. DE273 was moved onto new alignments around Christiana in the 1980s and through Ogletown in the 1990s.

Route description

DE273 begins at the Maryland border west of the city of Newark, where the road continues west into that state as MD273. From the state line, the route heads southeast on two-lane undivided Nottingham Road, running through wooded suburban neighborhoods as it enters Newark, crossing the Christina River and passing to the south of the Newark Country Club. DE273 becomes West Main Street as it approaches the downtown area, intersecting the southbound direction of DE896, at which point DE273 forms a concurrency with southbound DE896. The road crosses CSX's Philadelphia Subdivision railroad line at-grade and comes to an intersection with New London Road, which runs northwest as northbound DE896, and South Main Street, which heads southwest as DE896.

At this point, DE273 splits into the one-way pair of West Delaware Avenue eastbound and West Main Street westbound, with eastbound DE273 briefly following one-way South Main Street southwest to get from West Main Street to West Delaware Avenue. The one-way pair, which carries two lanes in each direction, becomes concurrent with northbound DE896 in both directions until the South College Avenue intersection. DE273 runs through the University of Delaware campus and continues through the downtown as East Delaware Avenue eastbound and East Main Street westbound. Farther east, the one-way pair crosses the Pomeroy and Newark Rail Trail and passes the Newark Transit Hub serving DART First State buses, which is located between East Main Street and East Delaware Avenue. East Delaware Avenue shifts farther to the south of East Main Street, with the one-way streets running between a residential neighborhood and East Delaware Avenue heading to the north of Newark High School. Past here, the route comes to an intersection with DE2/DE72. At this point, eastbound DE273 turns north to join DE72 on four-lane divided Library Avenue to rejoin westbound DE273.

Past DE2/DE72, DE273 leaves Newark and heads east on Ogletown Road, a five-lane road with a center left-turn lane that passes through commercial areas, soon becoming a four-lane divided highway. The route continues east and has an intersection with Ruthar Drive, with an eastbound jughandle for U-turns at the intersection. Past here, the road comes to a bridge over Amtrak's Northeast Corridor railroad line. The route turns southeast and reaches an interchange with DE4 and Salem Church Road in the community of Ogletown. Past this interchange, DE273 becomes Christiana Road and heads east through suburban residential neighborhoods with some businesses. The road bends southeast again as it comes to a modified cloverleaf interchange with I-95 (Delaware Turnpike). Following this, the route heads into commercial areas, bypassing the community of Christiana to the southwest. DE273 runs south through wooded areas and intersects Old Baltimore Pike before crossing the Christina River and curving east, coming to a junction with DE7. A park and ride lot is located at the northeast corner of this intersection. A short distance later, the road reaches a diamond interchange with the DE1 freeway.

Following this interchange, DE273 heads through woods before entering areas of suburban homes and businesses, coming to a junction with the southern terminus of DE37 in Pleasantville. The route continues east and intersects the eastern terminus of DE58 near the Wilmington Airport. A short distance later, the road comes to a junction with US13/US40 in Hares Corner.

Past this intersection, DE273 becomes concurrent with DE9 Truck and turns into two-lane undivided Frenchtown Road, with a multi-use trail parallel to the north. The road enters the city of New Castle and heads east between business parks and warehouses to the south and farm fields to the north. DE273 comes to an intersection with DE9 and the southern terminus of DE141 to the west of the center of New Castle, where the route, along with DE9 Truck, ends. Past the eastern terminus, the road continues east as part of DE9. Some signage for DE273, including an end sign at East 6th Street, does still exist east of its formal terminus.

The section of DE273 between Chapman Road and Browns Lane in Christiana is part of the Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route, a National Historic Trail. DE273 has an annual average daily traffic count ranging from a high of 49,421vehicles at the I-95 interchange to a low of 6,924vehicles at the Hillside Road intersection in Newark. The portion of DE273 east of DE896 is part of the National Highway System.

History

What is now DE273 originally existed as a county road by 1920. Four years later, the portion of road through Newark was upgraded to a state highway while the road was paved between Hares Corner and New Castle. A year later, the section between Ogletown and Christiana was planned as a state highway while the section east of Basin Road was upgraded to a state highway. In 1930, the road between the Maryland border and Newark was built as a state highway, providing a shorter route to the Conowingo Dam in Maryland. The following year, US40 was designated to run on the portion of road between Hares Corner and New Castle, where it connected to a ferry across the Delaware River to Pennsville, New Jersey. Also by this time, all of present-day DE273 was upgraded to a state highway except the portion of US40 between Hares Corner and the Basin Road intersection in New Castle. In 1934, recommendations were made to upgrade US40 to a state highway between Hares Corner and New Castle. The portion of US40 between Hares Corner and New Castle was taken over by the state on July1,1935. Construction on upgrading this section began in 1936, with the project completed later that year. The same year, a bridge was constructed over a Pennsylvania Railroad line (now the Jack A. Markell Trail) in New Castle.

DE273 was designated to run from the Maryland border west of Newark east to US13 and US40 in Hares Corner by 1936, roughly following its current alignment. In Newark, the route ran concurrent with DE2. By 1952, US40 was realigned to use the Delaware Memorial Bridge to cross the Delaware River, and DE273 was extended east along the former alignment of US40 on Frenchtown Road, Delaware Street, and Ferry Cut Off Street to end at present-day DE9 at 6th Street in New Castle. In 1956, DE2 and DE273 were routed onto the one-way pair of Delaware Avenue eastbound and Main Street westbound in downtown Newark following an eastward extension of Delaware Avenue to the intersection between DE2 and DE273 east of the city.

By 1984, DE9 was realigned to follow DE273 east of the DE141 intersection. DE273 was realigned to bypass Christiana a year later, having previously followed Main Street through the community. DE2 was routed to bypass Newark and DE2 Bus. became concurrent with DE273 through Newark by 1990. In 1997, DE273 was moved to its current alignment in the Ogletown area, eliminating a short concurrency with DE4 and involving the construction of an interchange with that route. The former alignment of DE273 through Ogletown is known as Ogletown Road. The concurrent DE2 Bus. designation was eliminated in 2013 as part of simplifying the route numbers in Newark. By 2015, DE273 signage was cut back to its current eastern terminus, removing the concurrency with DE9.

On March 15, 2021, a construction project began that will improve the interchange between DE273 and I-95 by realigning ramps and widening DE273 through the interchange. Construction on this interchange improvement is planned to be completed in 2023.

Major intersections

The entire route is in New Castle County.

See also

• U.S. Roadsportal

External links