Delaware Route 404

Delaware Route 404
Route information
Maintained by DelDOT
Length:	35.18 mi[1] (56.62 km)
Major junctions
West end:	MD 404 near Adams Crossroads
	DE 36 in Scotts Corner US 13 in Bridgeville DE 18 near Bridgeville US 113 in Georgetown US 9 in Georgetown DE 30 in Gravel Hill DE 5 in Harbeson
East end:	US 9 / DE 1 / US 9 Bus. in Five Points
Highway system
Routes in Delaware ← US 301 DE 491 →

Delaware Route 404 is a major state highway in Sussex County, Delaware that spans the width of the state. DE 404's eastern terminus is in Five Points near Lewes, and in the west it enters Maryland as Maryland Route 404. DE 404 is therefore part of a single, continuous "Route 404" that crosses the Delmarva Peninsula. The route provides a major connection between the Delaware beach resorts and Maryland's Chesapeake Bay Bridge, with signs along the route guiding motorists towards the bridge. Although DE 404 provides a major connection to the Bay Bridge and the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area, as well as a connection from the metropolitan area to Delaware's beaches, it, and its Maryland counterpart are mostly undivided and have been prone to accidents and congestion. While Maryland has been actively working towards improving MD 404, Delaware is reluctant to upgrade DE 404, instead urging motorists to use Delaware Route 16 as an alternate to reach the beaches.

For most of its length, Delaware Route 404 overlaps with another route. It is cosigned with U.S. Route 13 through Bridgeville. It also shares longer concurrencies with two other highways along its route: Delaware Route 18 between Bridgeville and Georgetown, and U.S. Route 9 between Georgetown and Five Points. DE 404 was first desingated by 1936 to run from the Maryland border to DE 18 southeast of Bridgeville. The route was extended to Five Points by 1987. By 1999, DE 404 was aligned to bypass Bridgeville.

Route description

Delaware Route 404 heads southeast from the Maryland border on the two-lane, undivided Seashore Highway, passing through farmland. In Scotts Corner, it intersects the western terminus of Delaware Route 36, which heads northeast on Scotts Corner Road to provide access to DE 16. It then heads toward Bridgeville, where DE 404 makes a left turn onto Newton Road to bypass Bridgeville and Delaware Route 404 Business heads to the southeast, passing through Bridgeville.^[1][2]

DE 404 follows Newton Road east to U.S. Route 13. It then heads south on US 13 running to the east of Bridgeville. Just south of Bridgeville, DE 404 meets up again with DE 404 Business as well as the southern terminus of U.S. Route 13 Business through Bridgeville. It then heads to the southeast on the Seashore Highway and Delaware Route 18 merges onto DE 404.^[1][2]

The two routes head to the east, passing through farmland and tracts of the Ellendale/Redden State Forest. The routes reach the Sussex County seat of Georgetown, where they cross U.S. Route 113. They then head to the southeast on Bedford Street toward the center of Georgetown. At The Circle in the center of Georgetown, DE 18 ends, and DE 404 heads east along with U.S. Route 9 on Market Street.^[1][2]

Erroneous US 404 shield along DE 1 in Five Points

The two routes head east out of Georgetown and become the Lewes Georgetown Highway. Just east of Georgetown, the route intersects the eastern terminus of U.S. Route 9 Truck, a truck bypass to the south of Georgetown for US 9. It then heads east to Gravel Hill, where it intersects Delaware Route 30. It then intersects Delaware Route 5 in Harbeson. Past that intersection, the route starts to enter more developed areas as it approaches the Five Points intersection. Upon reaching Five Points, it intersects Delaware Route 1D and Delaware Route 23, two routes that head toward the south. It then reaches Delaware Route 1, where DE 404 ends, US 9 heads to the south on DE 1, and U.S. Route 9 Business heads east on Savannah Road toward Lewes. DE 404's junction with DE 1 is erroneously signed as a US 404 sign is used at this intersection.^[1][2] DE 404 serves as a major route connecting the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area to the Delaware beaches.^[3] The highest average annual daily traffic along DE 404 is 25,603 vehicles along US 13 with the lowest being 5,706 vehicles at the western terminus of DE 404 Business.^[1]

History

By 1920, what would originally become DE 404 was an unimproved county road, with the section east of Bridgeville under contract as a state highway.^[4] The entire route of what would become DE 404 was completed as a state highway to a point northwest of Bridgeville by 1924.^[5] By 1931, the road was built as a state highway northwest to the Maryland border.^[6] When Delaware designated its state highways by 1936, DE 404 was designated to run from the Maryland border, where it connected to MD 404 southeast to DE 18 southeast of Bridgeville. The route followed its current alignment to Bridgeville, where it passed through the town on Market Street and South Main Street before picking up its current alignment east of US 13. At this time, what is now DE 404 past its then-eastern terminus was designated as part of DE 18.^[7] By 1987, DE 404 was extended east to DE 1 in Five Points, following DE 18 to Georgetown and US 9 (which had replaced a portion of DE 18) from Georgetown to Five Points.^[8] By 1990, DE 404 Alternate was created to bypass Bridgeville to the north and east, following Newton Road and US 13.^[9] DE 404 Alternate became a part of DE 404 by 1999, with the former DE 404 through Bridgeville becoming DE 404 Business.^[10]

Major intersections

The entire route is in Sussex County.

Location	Mile[1]	Road	Notes
	0.00	MD 404 west (Shore Highway)	Maryland state line, western terminus
Scotts Corner	3.23	DE 36 east (Scotts Store Road)
Bridgeville	6.08	DE 404 Bus. east (Seashore Highway)
	8.22	US 13 north (Sussex Highway)	West end of US 13 overlap
		US 13 Bus. south (Main Street)
	10.73	US 13 south (Sussex Highway) / US 13 Bus. north / DE 404 Bus. west (Main Street)	East end of US 13 overlap
	12.38	DE 18 west (Cannon Road)	West end of DE 18 overlap
Georgetown	21.71	US 113 (Dupont Boulevard)
	22.76	US 9 west (Market Street)	Traffic circle, east end of DE 18 overlap, west end of US 9 overlap
		US 9 Truck west (Park Avenue)
Gravel Hill		DE 30 (Gravel Hill Road)
Harbeson	28.82	DE 5 (Harbeson Road)
Nassau		DE 1D south (Plantation Road) / DE 23 south (Beaver Dam Road)	West end of DE 1D/DE 23 overlap
	35.18	US 9 east / DE 1 (Coastal Highway) / US 9 Bus. east (Savannah Road)	Eastern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Bannered routes

DE 404 Business

Delaware Route 404 Business
Location:	Bridgeville
Length:	3.34 mi[1] (5.38 km)
Existed:	1999–present

Delaware Route 404 Business is a 3.34-mile (5.38 km)^[1] long business route of Delaware Route 404 that runs through the town of Bridgeville. The easternmost part of the route in the southern part of Bridgeville is cosigned with U.S. Route 13 Business, which itself is a business route off of U.S. Route 13.^[1][11] The route was created in 1999 when Delaware Route 404 was rerouted to bypass Bridgeville on the alignment of short lived Delaware Route 404 Alternate.^[10]

Former DE 404 Alternate

Delaware Route 404 Alternate
Location:	Bridgeville
Length:	4.65 mi[1] (7.48 km)
Existed:	1990–1999

Delaware Route 404 Alternate was a 4.65-mile (7.48 km)^[1] alternate alignment of Delaware Route 404 that bypassed the town of Bridgeville. It ran to the north of Bridgeville on Newton Road and to the east of Bridgeville on U.S. Route 13.^[1][12] The route was created by 1990.^[9] The alignment of Delaware Route 404 Alternate was replaced by Delaware Route 404 itself in 1999. The route of Delaware Route 404 in Bridgeville then became known as Delaware Route 404 Business.^[10]

See also

• U.S. Roads portal
• Delaware portal

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m} http://www.deldot.gov/information/pubs_forms/manuals/traffic_counts/2006/pdf/rpt_pgs1_38_rev.pdf DelDOT 2006 Traffic Count and Mileage Report
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Google, Inc. Google Maps – overview of Delaware Route 404 (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc. http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=delaware+404+and+maryland+404&daddr=38.76259,-75.60926+to:38.7061129,-75.5153511+to:delaware+1+and+delaware+404&hl=en&sll=38.778585,-75.447105&sspn=0.259614,0.676346&geocode=FYgRUAId55h8-ynBCPD3JWC4iTGtY93nuvPhdQ%3BFV54TwIdVEt--ykdgKIProy4iTHGG3Aidogg9Q%3BFcCbTgIdKbp_-yk_ASwveO24iTFQAuAte7Oumw%3BFeZATwIdlfCE-ylvQyNmybm4iTF2HvutM7z3pw&vpsrc=0&mra=dpe&mrsp=1&sz=11&via=1,2&t=h&z=11. Retrieved November 16, 2011. 
3. ^ "Delmarva beach forecast for the 4th of July weekend". WJLA-TV. July 1, 2011. http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/2011/06/delmarva-beach-forecast-for-the-4th-of-july-weekend-11637.html. Retrieved November 16, 2011. 
4. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1920 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_002.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-15. 
5. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1924 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_003.pdf. Retrieved 2010-08-01. 
6. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1931 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_005.pdf. Retrieved 2010-08-19. 
7. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1936/37 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_008.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-15. 
8. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1987 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_064.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-29. 
9. ^ ^{a b} Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1990 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_070.pdf. Retrieved February 6, 2011. 
10. ^ ^{a b c} Delaware Department of Transportation (PDF). Delaware Official Highway Map (Map) (1999 ed.). http://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/historic_highway_maps/pdf/cd_074.pdf. Retrieved February 6, 2011. 
11. ^ Google, Inc. Google Maps – overview of Delaware Route 404 Business (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc. http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=seashore+highway+and+newton+road&daddr=US+13+and+seashore+highway&hl=en&sll=38.724827,-75.588684&sspn=0.016238,0.042272&geocode=FchVTwIdvQJ--yk7hs68rvS4iTFRjkJsWGfiQA%3BFaPdTgIdrZR--ynPv8E9DvO4iTF2pSBbkqndEw&vpsrc=0&mra=ls&t=h&z=14. Retrieved November 16, 2011. 
12. ^ Google, Inc. Google Maps – overview of Delaware Route 404 Alternate (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc. http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=seashore+highway+and+newton+road&daddr=38.762,-75.60653+to:US+13+and+seashore+highway&hl=en&sll=38.754846,-75.603018&sspn=0.032463,0.084543&geocode=FchVTwIdvQJ--yk7hs68rvS4iTFRjkJsWGfiQA%3BFRB2TwId_lV--ynfFqz1sYy4iTEFUFvO7iWjyQ%3BFaPdTgIdrZR--ynPv8E9DvO4iTF2pSBbkqndEw&vpsrc=0&mra=ls&via=1&t=h&z=13. Retrieved November 16, 2011.