Delaware Route 300
Delaware Route 300 (DE 300) is an 11.83-mile-long (19.04 km) state highway in Kent County, Delaware. The route is a continuation of Maryland Route 300 (MD 300) from the Maryland border near Everetts Corner. It runs in a northeast direction from there to Smyrna, where it ends at U.S. Route 13 (US 13) while concurrent with DE 6. Along the way, DE 300 passes through rural areas as well as the towns of Kenton and Clayton. The road intersects DE 44 in Everetts Corner, DE 11 southwest of Kenton, DE 42 in Kenton, DE 15 between Kenton and Clayton, and DE 6 in Smyrna. The road was first built as a state highway in the 1920s and 1930s between the Maryland border and Clayton, with the DE 300 designation given to the road by 1936. The route was extended to its current terminus in the 1950s.
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by DelDOT | ||||
| Length | 11.83 mi[1] (19.04 km) | |||
| Existed | 1936[2]–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end |  | |||
     | ||||
| East end |  | |||
| Location | ||||
| Counties | Kent | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
Route description
DE 300 begins at the Maryland border, where the road continues west into that state as MD 300. From the state line, the route heads east on two-lane undivided Sudlersville Road through agricultural areas and woods with some homes. A short distance after the state line, the road intersects the western terminus of DE 44 in Everetts Corner. DE 300 continues east-northeast through rural areas, passing through the community of Downs Chapel and crossing Jordan Branch. Farther east, the road intersects the northern terminus of DE 11. The route curves northeast, crossing an abandoned railroad line before entering the town of Kenton. At this point, the road becomes Main Street and passes homes along with a few businesses, intersecting DE 42 in the center of town.[3][4]
Past Kenton, DE 300 continues northeast on Wheatleys Pond Road, passing through more farm fields, some woodland, and residences. The road forms a brief concurrency with DE 15 before heading north and crossing Mill Creek. DE 300 enters the town of Clayton, running northeast through industrial areas and crossing the Delmarva Central Railroad's Delmarva Subdivision line at-grade, where it becomes the border between Clayton to the northwest and the town of Smyrna to the southeast. The route continues past a mix of homes and businesses, heading into Smyrna and passing northwest of Bayhealth Emergency Center, Smyrna before intersecting DE 6. At this point, DE 6 turns northeast and forms a concurrency with DE 300 on West Glenwood Avenue. The two routes pass a mix of homes and businesses before gaining a center left-turn lane past the Main Street intersection and entering a commercial area in the northern part of Smyrna as East Glenwood Avenue. Here, the road widens into a divided highway before it intersects US 13. At this point, DE 300 ends and DE 6 turns southeast to form a concurrency with US 13.[3][4]
DE 300 has an annual average daily traffic count ranging from a high of 15,378 vehicles at the eastern terminus at US 13 to a low of 2,686 vehicles at the DE 44 intersection.[1] The portion of DE 300 between the Maryland border and DE 44 is part of the National Highway System.[5]
History
By 1920, what is now DE 300 existed as an unimproved county road.[6] The road was completed as a state highway between Kenton and Clayton and was proposed as one west of Kenton four years later.[7] By 1931, the entire route between Clayton and the Maryland border was completed as a state highway.[8] DE 300 was designated between the Maryland border and an intersection with DE 6 between Clayton and Smyrna by 1936.[2] By 1954, DE 300 was extended east to its present terminus at US 13 in Smyrna.[9] By the 1990s, DE 6 was routed along DE 300 in Smyrna, bypassing the downtown area.[10]
Major intersections
The entire route is in Kent County.
| Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 0.00 | 0.00 | | Maryland state line; western terminus | |
| Everetts Corner | 0.33 | 0.53 | | Western terminus of DE 44 | |
| | 4.54 | 7.31 | | Northern terminus of DE 11 | |
| Kenton | 5.32 | 8.56 | | ||
| | | West end of DE 15 overlap | |||
| East end of DE 15 overlap | ||||
| Smyrna | 10.73 | 17.27 | | West end of DE 6 overlap | |
| 11.83 | 19.04 | | Eastern terminus | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| |||||
See also
References
- Staff (2018). "Traffic Count and Mileage Report: Interstate, Delaware, and US Routes" (PDF). Delaware Department of Transportation. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
- Delaware State Highway Department; The National Survey Co. (1936). Official Road Map of the State of Delaware (PDF) (Map) (1936–1937 ed.). Dover: Delaware State Highway Department. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- Delaware Department of Transportation (2017). Official Travel & Transportation Map (PDF) (Map). Dover: Delaware Department of Transportation. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
- Google (August 22, 2010). "overview of Delaware Route 300" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved August 22, 2010.
- National Highway System: Delaware (PDF) (Map). Federal Highway Administration. 2010. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
- Delaware State Highway Department (1920). Official Road Map (PDF) (Map). Dover: Delaware State Highway Department. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- Delaware State Highway Department (1924). Official Road Map (PDF) (Map). Dover: Delaware State Highway Department. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- Delaware State Highway Department (1931). Official Road Map of the State of Delaware (PDF) (Map). Dover: Delaware State Highway Department. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- Delaware State Highway Department (1954). Official Highway Map of Delaware (PDF) (Map) (1954–1955 ed.). Dover: Delaware State Highway Department. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- Delaware Department of Transportation Division of Planning Cartographic Information Section (1996). Delaware Official State Map (PDF) (Map). Dover: Delaware Department of Transportation. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
External links
