page_title: Delaware Route 4
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Delaware Route 4 / History
caption_attribution_description: Delaware Route 4 eastbound approaching eastern terminus at Delaware Route 48 in Wilmington
context_page_description: Delaware Route 4 is a state highway in New Castle County, Delaware. The route runs from DE 279 and DE 896 in Newark east to DE 48 in downtown Wilmington. The route passes through suburban areas in northern New Castle County between Newark and Wilmington, intersecting DE 72 in the eastern part of Newark, DE 273 in Ogletown, DE 58 in Christiana, DE 7 in Stanton, DE 141 in Newport, DE 62 and DE 100 between Newport and Wilmington, and Interstate 95 /U.S. Route 202 in Wilmington. DE 4 is a four-lane road much of its length.
  What is now DE 4 was originally a county road that was paved in the 1930s. DE 4 was designated in the 1960s to run from the Maryland border along Chestnut Hill Road near Newark east to DE 48 in Wilmington. Between 1971 and 1981, the route extended past DE 48 along Washington Street and Washington Street Extension to US 13 Business in Bellefonte. In the 1980s, the western terminus of DE 4 was realigned from Chestnut Hill Road to the newly built Christiana Parkway, terminating at DE 2 and DE 896.
context_section_description: By 1920, what would become DE 4 existed as a county road. The road from Stanton to Wilmington was paved four years later and the portion west of Stanton was paved by 1936. In 1936, work was underway to improve the road between Stanton and Newport by widening and resurfacing it, with completion a year later. In 1957, Maryland Avenue between Silview and Boxwood Road was widened to four lanes and the one-way pair along Market Street and Justis Street in Newport was established.
  The present DE 4 designation first appeared in 1967, at which point it ran from the Maryland border near Newark east to DE 48 in Wilmington, following Chestnut Hill Road from the state line before picking up its current alignment southeast of Newark. By 1971, the route was extended northeast to US 13 Bus. in Bellefonte, forming a brief concurrency with DE 48 before continuing along Washington Street and Washington Street Extension. DE 4 was truncated back to DE 48 by 1981, with DE 3 being realigned to the easternmost part of Washington Street Extension three years later. The portion of DE 4 concurrent with DE 7 was widened into a divided highway in 1985, with the road shifted west to a new alignment passing over the Amtrak tracks and the White Clay Creek.
  The Christiana Parkway around the southern edge of Newark was completed in September 1983 and DE 4 was realigned to use the Christiana Parkway by 1987, ending at DE 2 (Elkton Road) in the southwestern part of Newark. DE 896 was rerouted to use the Christiana Parkway the following year with DE 2 following by 1990. In 1997, an interchange was constructed with DE 273 in Ogletown as part of a realignment of DE 273 in the area that eliminated a short concurrency with DE 4. The concurrent DE 2 designation was removed from the Christiana Parkway in 2013 as part of simplifying the route numbers in Newark.
caption: DE 4 eastbound approaching eastern terminus at DE 48 in Wilmington
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