Delaware Route 896

Delaware Route 896 marker
Delaware Route 896
Map
Route information
Maintained by DelDOT and USACE
Length21.13 mi[1] (34.01 km)
Existed1938[2]–present
Major junctions
South end US 13 in Boyds Corner
Major intersections
North end MD 896 near Newark
Location
CountryUnited States
StateDelaware
CountiesNew Castle
Highway system
I-895 DE 1

Delaware Route 896 (DE 896) is a state highway located in New Castle County, Delaware. The route runs from U.S. Route 13 (US 13) in Boyds Corner north to the Maryland border northwest of Newark, where the road becomes unsigned Maryland Route 896 (MD 896) briefly before heading into Pennsylvania as Pennsylvania Route 896 (PA 896). The route heads west from US 13 before turning north along with DE 71 in Mount Pleasant, crossing the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal on the Summit Bridge. After the bridge, DE 71 splits off to the east and the road continues to Glasgow, where it comes to an intersection with US 40. DE 896 continues north and interchange with Interstate 95 (I-95) before reaching Newark, where it bypasses the University of Delaware to the west by following DE 4, Elkton Road, and South Main Street. DE 896 comes to downtown Newark and continues northwest to the Maryland border. DE 896 has a business route, DE 896 Business (DE 896 Bus.), that passes through Glasgow, and had an alternate alignment south of Glasgow called DE 896 Alternate (DE 896 Alt.).

DE 896 was originally built as a state highway during the 1920s and 1930s. By 1938, the route was designated between DE 71 in Summit Bridge and the Maryland border northwest of Newark. In the 1950s, the route was extended to US 13 south of Townsend, following DE 71 to Middletown and replacing a part of that route south of there. Between the 1950s and 1990s, various alignments of US 301, US 301N, and US 301S followed DE 896. In the 1980s, DE 896 was realigned to head from Mount Pleasant to US 13 in Boyds Corner, with DE 71 later being extended down the former route past Middletown. Also around this time, DE 896 was rerouted to bypass the University of Delaware to the west. A bypass of Glasgow was completed in the 1990s. The concurrency with US 301 between Mount Pleasant and Glasgow was removed in 2019.

  1. ^ Staff (2018). "Traffic Count and Mileage Report: Interstate, Delaware, and US Routes" (PDF). Delaware Department of Transportation. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference DE 1938 map was invoked but never defined (see the help page).