Delaware Route 20

Route description

DE 20 begins at the Maryland border in Reliance, where the road continues west into that state as MD 392. From the state line, the route heads east on two-lane undivided Stein Highway through farmland with some woods and homes. The road crosses the Maryland and Delaware Railroad's Seaford Line and continues into Seaford, where it heads into industrial areas. DE 20 widens into a five-lane road with a center left-turn lane and passes through residential and commercial areas of the city. The road becomes a four-lane divided highway and comes to a bridge over Norfolk Southern's Delmarva Secondary railroad line, turning back into a five-lane road. The route becomes a divided highway again as it intersects with Front Street/Bridgeville Highway. Past this intersection, DE 20 becomes Norman A. Eskridge Highway and bends northeast, reaching an intersection with US 13.

At this point, DE 20 turns south for a concurrency with US 13 on the four-lane divided Sussex Highway. The road crosses Williams Pond before passing through commercial areas and coming to a bridge over the Nanticoke River. Near Blades, DE 20 splits from US 13 by turning east on two-lane undivided Concord Road. The road passes through wooded residential neighborhoods, reaching the community of Concord. The route continues southeast through a mix of farmland and woodland with some homes, curving to the east. DE 20 reaches the community of Hardscrabble and intersects US 9, at which point it is briefly a divided highway. Past this intersection, the name changes to Hardscrabble Road and the road becomes undivided again. The road heads southeast before it makes a turn to the east. The route comes to an intersection with US 113 northwest of Millsboro.

DE 20 turns southeast to form a concurrency with US 113 on four-lane divided Dupont Boulevard, entering Millsboro. The road passes through commercial areas, intersecting DE 24/DE 30. The two routes run past more businesses and a few homes before leaving Millsboro. DE 20 splits from US 113 by turning southeast on two-lane undivided Dagsboro Road. The road continues through wooded areas with some homes before heading into farmland and crossing Norfolk Southern's Indian River Secondary railroad line. The route enters Dagsboro and becomes Main Street, passing homes and a few businesses. DE 20 comes to an intersection with DE 26, at which point that route becomes concurrent with DE 20. The two routes cross Pepper Creek, curving east and leaving town on Vines Creek Road.

Upon leaving Dagsboro, the road passes to the south of Prince George's Chapel and DE 20 splits from DE 26 by heading southeast on Armory Road. The road heads to the north of Indian River High School and runs through agricultural areas with some woods and homes, reaching Omar. In Omar, the route crosses Omar Road and becomes Pyle Center Road. DE 20 continues to an intersection with DE 17 in Roxana. Following, the route becomes Zion Church Road and runs through more rural land, crossing DE 54 Alt. Farther southeast, residential development near the road increases and it widens to four lanes. DE 20 comes to its eastern terminus at an intersection with DE 54 west of Fenwick Island.

The portion of the route between Bridgeville Highway and US 13 in Seaford is designated as part of the Nanticoke Heritage Byway, a Delaware Byway. DE 20 has an annual average daily traffic count ranging from a high of 34,190 vehicles at the north end of Millsboro to a low of 3,030 vehicles at the Shiloh Church Road intersection between Hardscrabble and Millsboro. The portions of DE 20 concurrent with US 13 and US 113 are part of the National Highway System.

History

What would become DE 20 was originally an unimproved county road in 1920, with the portion between Seaford and Concord under contract as a state highway. By 1924, the road was completed as a state highway from the Maryland border east to Concord. The portion of road between Concord and Hardscrabble was proposed as a state highway a year later. By 1931, the state highway was extended from Concord to Hardscrabble. A portion of what would become DE 20 west of Millsboro was built as a state road the following year.

DE 20 was designated to run from the Maryland border in Reliance east to US 113 in Millsboro by 1936, following its current alignment to Seaford before heading south along what was then US 13 (Front Street) to Blades, where it turned east onto High Street and picked up its current alignment to Millsboro. In 1939, plans were made to eliminate the grade crossing with the Pennsylvania Railroad (now Norfolk Southern's Delmarva Secondary) in Seaford by replacing it with a bridge over the tracks. Construction on this bridge began a year later. On September 2, 1941, the DE 20 bridge over the railroad tracks in Seaford opened to traffic.

By 1970, the Norman Eskridge Highway was built between Front Street and US 13 in Seaford, and DE 20 was moved to its current alignment bypassing Seaford and Blades to the north and northeast along the Norman Eskridge Highway and US 13. In 1985, the highway was widened into a four-lane road through Seaford, with a parallel bridge built over Conrail's Delmarva Secondary (now Norfolk Southern). The route was extended to DE 1 in Fenwick Island by 1994, following its current alignment between Millsboro and DE 54 before overlapping with DE 54 (Lighthouse Road) for the easternmost portion of the route. In 2005, DE 20 was removed from the DE 54 concurrency after it was determined unnecessary for there to be two route numbers for that stretch of road.

Major intersections

The entire route is in Sussex County.