Existed: 1957 – present Length 15.72 km | Counties: New Castle Constructed 1957 | |
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County New Castle County, Delaware | ||
Delaware Route 299 (DE 299) is a state highway in New Castle County, Delaware. It runs 9.77 mi (15.72 km) from Maryland Route 282 (MD 282) at the Maryland border east of Warwick, Maryland to DE 9 in Mathews Corners, passing through Middletown and Odessa. It overlaps U.S. Route 301 (US 301) from just east of the Maryland border to the west end of Middletown. It is also concurrent with DE 15 along the eastern part of the US 301 concurrency. The road runs through a mix of suburban development.
Contents
Map of DE-299, Middletown, DE 19709, USA
Delaware Route 299 was originally designated as DE 4 in 1938, running as far east as US 13 in Odessa. By 1957, DE 4 became DE 299 to match MD 299 (now MD 282) and was extended east to DE 9 in 1959. Over the years, several different routes had followed the DE 299 alignment including DE 71 west of Middletown between 1959 and 1987 and US 301N between Middletown and Odessa from 1959 to 1971. In 2008, a widening of DE 299 in the western part of Middletown began; it was completed in November 2010.
Route description
DE 299 heads east from the Maryland border on Warwick Road, passing through farmland. At the state line, the road continues west into Maryland as MD 282. Shortly after the state line, it merges onto US 301 and heads to the northeast on Middletown Warwick Road. DE 15 joins with the two routes, heading from the south on Levels Road, and they head into the commercial western part of Middletown. At the point DE 15 makes a left onto Bunker Hill Road, US 301 continues straight and DE 299 makes a right onto Main Street, heading east across Norfolk Southern's Delmarva Secondary rail line into the downtown area of Middletown. In the center of town, DE 299 intersects DE 71 (Broad Street).
After running through the downtown area, the route heads east through suburban commercial development in the eastern part of Middletown, passing to the north of Middletown High School, and becomes Middletown Odessa Road. It passes south of a park and ride lot and intersects the DE 1 toll road at a diamond interchange. Following this interchange, DE 299 heads east through a mix of farms and homes into Odessa, becoming Main Street. In Odessa, the route is lined with homes and intersects US 13, which is split onto 5th Street northbound and 6th Street southbound. Following this intersection, the road runs through the Odessa Historic District. Past Odessa, DE 299 crosses the Appoquinimink River and heads to the southeast on Old State Road into housing developments. The route makes a left turn onto Taylors Bridge Road briefly and ends at DE 9 in Mathews Corners.
Portions of DE 299 are designated as part of the Delaware Byways system. The section between Silver Lake Road in Middletown and DE 9 is part of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway while the section between US 13 in Odessa and DE 9 is a spur of the Delaware's Bayshore Byway. DE 299 has an annual average daily traffic count ranging from a high of 16,456 vehicles at the west end of the DE 15 concurrency to a low of 433 vehicles at the Old State Road intersection. The portion of DE 299 concurrent with US 301 is part of the National Highway System.
History
By 1920, what is now DE 299 existed as an unimproved county road. This county road was paved by 1924. The present-day alignment of DE 299 became a state highway by 1935. The current DE 299 was originally designated as DE 4 in 1938, running between the Maryland border and US 13 in Odessa. By 1957, DE 4 was renumbered to DE 299 to match MD 299 (now MD 282) across the border and DE 71 was designated concurrent with most of the route west of Middletown. US 301 was designated along the DE 71/DE 299 concurrency in 1959 while US 301N was designated between DE 71 and US 13. Also at this time, DE 299 was extended east to DE 9. The US 301N designation was removed between Middletown and Odessa in 1971. DE 71 was rerouted off US 301/DE 299 by 1987. By 1994, DE 15 was designated to follow a portion of US 301/DE 299 west of Middletown. In July 2008, a widening project began on US 301/DE 299 between United Drive and the east end of the concurrency. This widening to four lanes was completed in November 2010.
Major intersections
The entire route is in New Castle County.