Delaware Route 58

Delaware Route58 (DE58), also known as Churchmans Road, is a state highway in New Castle County, Delaware. The route, which is signed east-west, runs from DE4 adjacent to the Christiana Hospital in Christiana southeast to DE273 near Hares Corner. The road passes through suburban areas between Wilmington and Newark, intersecting DE7 and Interstate95 (I-95) in Christiana and DE37 near the Wilmington Airport. Churchmans Road was originally a county road that was paved in the 1930s and realigned twice in the 1950s. DE58 was designated onto it in the 1980s.

Route description

DE58 begins at an intersection with DE4 in Christiana. Past this intersection, the road continues northwest as Delaware Park Boulevard to provide access to Delaware Park – which consists of a Thoroughbred horse racetrack, casino, and golf course – and the Churchmans Crossing station on SEPTA's Wilmington/Newark Line that runs along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor railroad line. From DE4, DE58 heads east on Churchmans Road, a four-lane divided highway. The route passes to the north of Christiana Hospital and runs through commercial development before coming to a partial cloverleaf interchange with the DE7 freeway a short distance north of the northern terminus of DE1 at the I-95 (Delaware Turnpike) interchange. Just east of that interchange, DE58 forms the southern border of the Stanton Campus of Delaware Technical Community College. The route crosses over I-95 (Delaware Turnpike), where there is a ramp from I-95 southbound to DE58. This is the only direct ramp between DE58 and I-95, as all other access between the two routes must be made via DE7.

Past I-95, DE58 becomes a two-lane undivided road and heads to the southeast through residential areas, crossing the Christina River. The route curves south through commercial development, widening back into a four-lane divided highway and intersecting DE37. Past the intersection with DE37, DE58 continues southeast as a two-lane undivided road and skirts the southwestern edge of Wilmington Airport. The route passes through light industrial development and reaches its terminus at DE273 near Hares Corner.

DE58 has an annual average daily traffic count ranging from a high of 26,430vehicles at the DE1/DE7 interchange to a low of 10,203vehicles at the DE37 intersection.

History

Churchmans Road existed as a county road by 1920. The entire road was paved by 1936. Churchmans Road originally ran from DE4 near Christiana to U.S. Route13 north of Hares Corner. By 1952, the current alignment of Churchmans Road was constructed around the west side of Wilmington Airport from north of Airport Road to DE273 near Hares Corner, with a portion of the original road southeast of Airport Road being removed; the two pieces of the former alignment that remained are now Old Churchmans Road. The current alignment of Churchmans Road west of DE7 was built two years later, with the former alignment now Old Churchmans Road. DE58 was designated onto its current alignment in 1985. In 1999, the intersection at DE7 was converted into an interchange in a $25 million construction project. In 2003, construction began on a new bridge carrying DE58 over I-95 to replace the previous bridge, which was over 40 years old and experienced deterioration. Construction of the new bridge, which cost $17 million, was originally planned to be finished in fall 2005 but completion was delayed to fall 2006. The new bridge carrying DE58 over I-95 was built to accommodate future widening of I-95. Between May2005 and June2006, the portion of DE58 at the intersection with DE37 was reconstructed and widened into a divided highway as part of a $8.6 million project that also reconstructed and widened DE37 along Airport Road between DE58 and Commons Boulevard.

Major intersections

Mileposts run from east to west. The entire route is in New Castle County.

See also

• U.S. Roadsportal

External links