Delaware Route30 (DE30) is a state highway in Sussex County, Delaware. The route runs from an intersection with DE 24 in Millsboro north to DE 1 Business (DE1 Bus.) in Milford near the area of Lincoln and Cedar Creek. Along the way, DE30 intersects U.S. Route 9 (US9)/DE 404 in Gravel Hill, DE 16 west of Milton, and DE 1 at an interchange in Milford.

What is now DE30 south of Gravel Hill was built as a state highway in various stages during the 1920s and 1930s. A short-lived DE30 in the 1930s ran from DE 20 in Seaford north and east to DE 404 northwest of Bridgeville. The current DE30 was first designated by 1938 to connect DE24 in Millsboro to DE 5 in Milton. The route was rerouted to end at DE 14 (now DE1) south of Milford by 1971. DE30 was extended southwest from Millsboro to Bi-State Boulevard between Laurel and Delmar in 1994, heading south concurrent with DE24, DE 26, and DE 54 between Millsboro and Gumboro before turning to the west. The route's northern terminus was moved to DE1 Bus. by way of a new road by 2003. An interchange with DE1 was completed in 2014. DE30 formerly had an alternate route, DE 30 Alternate (DE30 Alt.), that was created by 1999 to connect the route with DE 1 by way of Johnson Road and was removed by 2017. In 2022, the southern terminus was cut back to its current location.

Route description

DE30 begins at an intersection with DE 24 on the northern edge of the town of Millsboro. From this intersection, the route heads north on two-lane undivided Gravel Hill Road, passing to the east of Millsboro Pond. The road runs through a mix of farmland and woodland with some homes, coming to a junction with Morris Mill Road/Mt. Joy Road. In the community of Zoar, the route intersects DE 24 Alt. Farther north, DE30 has a junction with Springfield Road/Johnson Road before it reaches the community of Gravel Hill. In Gravel Hill, the road crosses the Delmarva Central Railroad's Lewes Industrial Track line at-grade and comes to an intersection with US 9/DE 404. From this point, the route curves northwest, reaching a junction with Shingle Point Road, before bending north again. DE30 intersects DE 5 Alt., which serves as a western bypass of the town of Milton for DE 5. Here, DE5 Alt. turns north to form a concurrency with DE30, with the road crossing an abandoned railroad grade just east of the terminus of the Delmarva Central Railroad's Milton Industrial Track line. At an intersection with DE 16, DE5 Alt. heads east along with that route and DE30 continues north on Isaacs Road.

The route heads away from Milton and crosses Sowbridge Branch as it passes to the east of Reynolds Pond. DE30 intersects Cedar Creek Road and turns northwest onto that road, curving north. The route turns back to the northwest at the Jefferson Road/Sylvan Acres Road intersection at Jefferson Crossroads. The road heads through the Cedar Creek area and crosses Cedar Creek to the east of Swiggets Pond before it intersects Johnson Road. DE30 continues north-northwest and runs along the eastern edge of the city of Milford, coming to ramps providing access to and from the southbound lanes of DE 1. At this point, the route gains a center left-turn lane and passes east of Bayhealth Hospital, Sussex Campus before it reaches an intersection with Wilkins Road, which provides access to and from the northbound lanes of DE1 at an interchange. Past this intersection, DE30 fully enters Milford and turns northwest, passing between residential subdivisions to the southwest and DE1 to the northeast as a two-lane road and coming to its northern terminus at an intersection with DE 1 Bus. at the point that route merges into DE1 at an interchange. DE30 has access to northbound DE1 Bus. and access from southbound DE1 Bus.

The section of DE30 between DE24 and DE1 serves as part of a primary hurricane evacuation route from areas along the inland bays in eastern Sussex County to points inland. The section of the route between DE16 near Milton and DE1 Bus. in Milford is designated as part of the Delaware Bayshore Byway, a Delaware Byway and National Scenic Byway. DE30 has an annual average daily traffic count ranging from a high of 6,703vehicles at the Fleatown Road intersection to a low of 3,455vehicles at the Pettyjohn Road intersection.

History

By 1920, what would become DE30 existed as a state highway between Mission and Phillips Hill and was proposed as one between Phillips Hill and Millsboro, with the remainder of the route existing as a county road. The state highway between Phillips Hill and Millsboro was completed by 1924. The state highway portion was extended from Mission to Gumboro a year later, with a section in the Gumboro area under proposal as a state highway. By 1931, the road was completed as a state highway between US 13 and Jones Branch and from James Branch to Gumboro. In addition, the state highway was completed from Millsboro to north of Gravel Hill as an unpaved road, with a portion north of Gravel Hill becoming a paved county road. The state highway between US13 and Gumboro was fully complete the following year. By 1936, the road between Millsboro and Gravel Hill was paved.

DE30 was first designated in 1936 to run from DE20 in Seaford north and east to DE404 northwest of Bridgeville, heading north and crossing DE 18 in Atlanta before turning east to reach DE404. This was eliminated by 1938, and is now Atlanta Road and Dublin Hill Road. By 1938, DE30 was designated to run from DE24 in Millsboro north to DE5 in Milton, following its current alignment to north of Gravel Hill and then running along Shingle Point Road north into Milton. A portion of current DE30 south of the DE16 intersection was paved a year later. By 1952, the current route of DE30 north of Gravel Hill was paved. DE30 was rerouted to follow its present alignment north to DE 14 (now DE1) south of Milford by 1971.

By 1994, DE30 was extended west from Millsboro to Bi-State Boulevard between Laurel and Delmar. The route ran concurrent with DE24 through Millsboro along Main Street and Washington Street before following Millsboro Highway to Mission, where DE24 split to the west. DE30 continued south to Shaft Ox Corner, where it joined DE 26 in a concurrency. In Gumboro, DE 54 joined DE26/DE30 on Millsboro Highway before DE30 split west along Whitesville Road. The route continued west and crossed US13 before becoming Dorothy Road and ending at Bi-State Boulevard. The northern terminus of DE30 was moved to its current location at DE1 Bus. by 2003 when a road connecting DE30 to DE1 Bus. was completed. In November 2012, construction began on an interchange at DE1 southeast of Milford. The interchange between DE1 and DE30 was completed in July 2014. On February 29, 2016, construction began on a superstreet intersection at US13; this project was completed on May 19 of that year.

In 2021, the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) proposed eliminating the portion of DE30 west of Millsboro. The elimination of this portion of the route was proposed to remove the concurrencies DE30 had with other numbered routes along Millsboro Highway, reducing sign clutter and motorist confusion. In addition, the section of DE30 west of Millsboro Highway had no shoulders, low traffic volumes, and ended at a minor intersection with Bi-State Boulevard; the removal of this section of DE30 may redirect long-distance and truck traffic to use DE24, DE26, and DE54 instead, which have higher traffic volumes and full-width shoulders. The decommissioning was completed in September 2022.

There are plans to construct a roundabout at the DE16 intersection near Milton in order to reduce crashes at the intersection. Construction of the roundabout is planned for 2025.

Major intersections

Delaware Route 30 Alternate

Delaware Route30 Alternate (DE30 Alt.) was a alternate route of DE30 south of the city of Milford in the Cedar Creek area. It ran from DE30 northeast to DE1 along two-lane undivided Johnson Road, passing through a mix of farmland, woodland, and residential development. The route was created by 1999. DE30 Alt. originally had full access to and from DE1, but the median crossover was modified in 2011 to only allow access from DE30 Alt. to southbound DE1 while retaining access to DE30 Alt. from both directions of DE1. The DE30 Alt. designation was removed from the road by 2017.

See also

References

External links

• DE

• Delaware Roads - DE