Delaware Route141 (DE141) is a state highway that serves as a western bypass of Wilmington, Delaware. Its southern terminus is at DE 9 and DE 273 in New Castle and its northern terminus is an interchange with U.S. Route 202 (US202) and DE 261 near Fairfax. The route heads north from DE9 and DE273 on four-lane divided Basin Road, becoming concurrent with US202 at an interchange with US 13/US 40 in Wilmington Manor, and passes to the east of Wilmington Airport. The highway becomes a freeway and reaches an interchange with Interstate 95 (I-95), at which point US202 splits from DE141. The DE141 freeway continues north through Newport to Prices Corner. Here, the freeway segment ends and DE141 continues northeast as a surface road, with another brief freeway segment in Greenville. The route heads east across the Brandywine Creek on the Tyler-McConnell Bridge and continues to US202 and DE261.

What is now DE141 between New Castle and Newport was originally designated as part of DE 41 in the 1930s. DE141 was designated as a surface bypass of Wilmington between New Castle and US202 north of Wilmington in the 1950s, running concurrent with DE41 south of Newport. DE41 was removed from DE141 by 1971. In the 1960s, DE141 was proposed to be upgraded to a freeway. Construction on the freeway segments between Newport and Prices Corner and in Greenville began in the 1970s and was completed around 1980. In the 1990s, several improvements were planned for DE141 north of Prices Corner, including grade separation at Rockland Road completed in 1997 and relocation of the northern terminus to its current location at an interchange with US202 and DE261 finished in 2007.

Route description

DE141 begins at an intersection with DE 9 and the eastern terminus of DE 273 west of the city of New Castle, where the road continues south as part of DE9. From the southern terminus, DE141 heads northwest on Basin Road, a four-lane divided highway. The road passes to the east of William Penn High School and continues past suburban homes and businesses. The route reaches a partial cloverleaf interchange with US 13/US 40 east of the Wilmington Airport, at which point US 202 begins.

From here, US202 runs concurrently with DE141, with the two routes heading between Wilmington Airport to the west and residential neighborhoods in Wilmington Manor to the east. The road passes between the Delaware Air National Guard's New Castle Air National Guard Base to the west and commercial establishments to the east, coming to a junction with the northern terminus of DE 37. Past this junction, the median of US202/DE141 widens as the road intersects Airport Road.

After intersecting Airport Road, US202/DE141 becomes a freeway. The road comes to an interchange with I-95 (Delaware Turnpike) and the southern terminus of I-295, at which point US202 splits from DE141 by continuing north along I-95. Past this interchange, DE141 widens to six lanes and has a southbound exit and entrance for South James Street and Old Airport Road before the median narrows. The freeway comes to a viaduct that crosses the Christina River into the town of Newport, where it heads near industrial areas and passes over Amtrak's Northeast Corridor railroad line.

In Newport, the route has an interchange with DE 4, at which point it narrows to four lanes and curves northwest with North James Street serving as a frontage road on both sides. The freeway widens back to six lanes and heads into a below-grade alignment that cuts through residential neighborhoods, leaving Newport. At this point, the frontage roads on both sides of the highway become Newport Gap Pike. DE141 reaches an interchange with DE 62 in the community of Belvedere, where the Newport Gap Pike frontage road ends and the freeway narrows to four lanes. Following this interchange, the six-lane freeway rises to ground level and passes to the west of commercial development before coming to a bridge over CSX's Philadelphia Subdivision railroad line. The road runs near business areas and has a partial cloverleaf interchange with DE 2 in Prices Corner.

After the DE2 interchange, the freeway section of DE141 ends and the route continues northeast on at-grade Centre Road, a four-lane divided highway. The road passes through suburban residential neighborhoods, crossing Little Mill Creek, and reaches an intersection with Faulkland Road. Following this intersection, the route heads north between the Ferris School to the west and DuPont's Chestnut Run Plaza research facility to the east. DE141 curves to the northeast and comes to a junction with DE 48/DE 100. Here, DE100 joins DE141 and the road runs to the west of commercial areas, curving north past the Barley Mill Road intersection. The roadway curves northeast and passes under an East Penn Railroad line before coming to a partial cloverleaf interchange with DE 52 in Greenville. This interchange has no access from DE100/DE141 southbound to DE52 southbound or from DE52 to DE100/DE141 northbound. Past this interchange, the road curves east, with DE100 splitting from DE141 at an at-grade intersection by heading north on Montchanin Road. Montchanin Road heads south from this intersection to provide access to DE52.

Past this intersection, DE141 continues east as four-lane divided Barley Mill Road, heading into wooded areas. The route becomes a two-lane undivided road as it passes to the south of the Hagley Museum and Library before crossing over the Brandywine Creek valley on the Tyler-McConnell Bridge. Past the bridge, DE141 turns northeast onto four-lane undivided Powder Mill Road, forming the northwestern boundary of the DuPont Experimental Station. The road widens into a divided highway and runs between the Nemours Mansion and Gardens to the east and the DuPont Country Club to the northwest. The route passes to the west of Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware before coming to a bridge over Rockland Road. DE141 makes a sharp curve to the southeast and comes to an intersection where Powder Mill Road splits to the east and Childrens Drive heads southwest to provide access to Rockland Road and the children's hospital. The route continues southeast as it runs to the south of a JPMorgan Chase office complex. DE141 curves east, heading to the north of Alapocas Run State Park, and comes to its northern terminus at an interchange with US202 south of Fairfax in Blue Ball, where the road continues northeast as DE 261.

In 2016, DE141 had an annual average daily traffic count ranging from a high of 68,105vehicles at the DE4 interchange to a low of 15,466vehicles at the University Avenue intersection between DE9/DE273 and US13/US40. The entire length of DE141 is part of the National Highway System.

History

By 1920, what would become DE141 existed as an unimproved county road. The road between Prices Corner and Greenville was paved by 1924. A year later, the road between New Castle and Newport was upgraded to a state highway. Plans were underway in 1927 to replace the outdated swing bridge over the Christina River in Newport. Contracts for this project were awarded the following year. The replacement bridge over the Christina River, a bascule bridge, opened on December 1, 1929. In 1927, plans were made to replace the grade crossing at the Pennsylvania Railroad line (now Amtrak's Northeast Corridor) in Newport with an underpass under the tracks. Work on this underpass began in 1929. The crossing under the Pennsylvania Railroad was finished and opened to traffic in June 1930. What is now DE141 between New Castle and Newport was designated as part of DE 41 by 1936, which continued northwest from Newport toward Hockessin and the Pennsylvania state line. Also by this time, Powder Mill Road was paved.

DE141 was designated to run from DE273 in New Castle to US202 north of Wilmington by 1952, following DE41 on Basin Road and James Street between New Castle and Newport, Centerville Road between Newport and Prices Corner, and Centre Road, Barley Mill Road, and Powder Mill Road between Prices Corner and US202. In 1954, plans were made to replace the intersection with US13/US40/US202 in Basin Corner with a modified cloverleaf interchange in an effort to reduce traffic congestion. Construction on the interchange began in September of that year. The interchange between US13/US40/US202 and DE41/DE141 was completed in 1956. Work was underway in 1954 to widen DE141 to four lanes along Centerville and Centre roads from Boxwood Road near Prices Corner north to DE48; this project was completed in 1955. The new northbound lanes of DE41/DE141 through the I-95 interchange opened in November 1962, at which point construction on the southbound lanes began. The southbound lanes of DE41/DE141 opened in June 1964, enabling directional flow of DE41/DE141 through the interchange. DE41 was removed from its concurrency with DE141 by 1971.

In 1965, a $20 million ($ million today) freeway was proposed along the DE141 corridor between Newport and US202 north of Wilmington, providing a bypass to the west of Wilmington. By 1971, the DE141 freeway from Newport to Prices Corner was under design and the reconstruction of the route north of DE48 began. The same year, a contract was awarded for construction of a grade separation of the Reading Railroad (now the East Penn Railroad) crossing in Greenville. In 1973, work started to upgrade DE141 between the Christina River in Newport and the Brandywine Creek near Greenville. A contract was awarded to construct the DE141 freeway through Newport in 1974. The construction of interchanges in Prices Corner and at DE52 were included in the Bond Bill in 1976. The DE141 freeway from Newport to Prices Corner and in Greenville was completed by 1981. In 1984, US202 was rerouted to follow DE141 between US13/US40 and I-95. DE100 was rerouted to follow DE141 between DE48 and Montchanin Road by 1990.

In 1992, an environmental assessment was approved for improving DE141 between DE2 and US202. Among the improvements called for were a six-lane bridge over the Brandywine Creek replacing the existing two-lane bridge, a new bridge over Rockland Road, and a new interchange with US202 and DE261. Later in the year, the proposed bridge over the Brandywine Creek was scaled back to four lanes. In 1994, plans for the bridge over the Brandywine Creek and the US202 interchange were placed on hold. Meanwhile, the bridge over Rockland Road was completed in 1997, with DE141 being realigned between Rockland Road and US202 and the intersection with Children's Drive improved. In the 2000s, the Blue Ball Construction Project relocated the northern terminus of DE141 to an interchange with US202 and DE261 a short distance to the south of where Powder Mill Road intersects US202. This interchange was constructed as part of the Blue Ball Properties project, a project undertaken to improve roads in this area as part of AstraZeneca locating their North American headquarters to the area. The project took place between 2002 and 2007 and cost $123 million. In 2007, construction began to upgrade the portion of DE141 between DE2 and DE 34 (Faulkland Road) from a four-lane undivided road into a four-lane divided highway. Completion of the project was scheduled for 2010.

In 2016, a project began to improve the interchange with I-95. The project reconstructed the bridges that carry DE141 over I-95 and added safety improvements to the interchange ramps. In June 2016, the ramp from northbound I-95 to northbound DE141 closed until June 2017 to allow for reconstruction of the bridge along northbound DE141. Construction on improving the interchange with I-95 along with work on improving the section of DE141 from US13/US40 north to DE4 was completed in December 2021.

Major intersections

See also

References

External links

• DE

• Delaware Roads - DE

• The Roads of Metro Philadelphia: Newport Freeway (DE