Delaware Roads - I-95


3rd St. EB at Cherry St., Wilmington. It's original, but a little askew. Click for closeup.


Click here to check out I-95/DE 1/DE 7 interchange construction.


Two southbound photos, first one courtesy Lou Corsaro. Clearly, in Lou's photo, the South was an afterthought (Alex Nitzman says it's because the US 301 shield patched over the original SOUTH). In the second photo, an older sign heralds an upcoming Maryland exit, with no number because the JFK Freeway (I-95 north of Baltimore) was not exit numbered for many years.


Some northbound NJ-style route shields here, though I don't think you'll find one quite as screwed up as the 896 shield anywhere else. Are all those digits in different fonts? Also, the oval is pinched a bit much vertically (it's more striking in person), as if it wants to fit four digits - and the E-series 9 and 6 bear that out. If the Exit 4 BGS's look a bit crowded, it's because DE 1 only popped in during the last ten-ish years. And during that time, the lengthy Churchmans Crossing replaced Metroform, the previous name of DE 7 NB's destination. Alex Nitzman says Metroform was only used southbound, and Stanton (or N. Stanton) was used northbound. Doesn't really matter, it's all Churchmns Cr now.


All that's missing is a heptagon. Or a... pentagram? NB.


DE Highway 50th Anniversary, hiding in Delaware House.


Northbound again, you can see all the patches on this sign - not just the destination, but also the Delaware Park shield - who knows what may have been there before? Perhaps a DE 4 shield.


Speaking of patched, the first sign was taken down before the "4A-B" patch was ever removed to reveal the "4" underneath. It was replaced by the second sign, which seams to have something wrong with it.


I-95 doesn't exit itself, don't worry. Telling people to follow Delaware Park to get to Delaware Park? Genius. The assembly of the SB Exit 4B sign - even if it's only temporary? Not genius.


For a little while in mid-2013, you could walk up to the future SB sign and see how gigantic signs are and how pathetically tiny we puny humans are. There are still seam issues between sign halves (think a crack of distracting daylight at the right day and hour) and there should not be Clearview font on the "Exit Only" panel or exit tab. I argue the DE route shields are all too small, the spacings of many sign elements need work, and DE 58 does not go north at this exit - it's DE 7 North to DE 58.


Keep a sign out there long enough and it'll become old enough to feature on my site. This is on the SB Exit 5B ramp to DE 141 NB.


Facing the beginning of the I-295/I-95 split NB, lane distribution becomes apparent (I-95 NB has four lanes, splitting into three sets of two lanes for 95, 295, and 495), as does the gradual divergence of the exit and the way in which it's intertwined with interchange 5. This is also courtesy Doug Kerr.


The I-295 shield fell off this SB sign. The SB I-95 to NB I-295 exit starts out as a single-lane left exit, which immediately turns into two lanes on really old concrete. The second exit lane ends about a thousand feet after it started, raising the question as to why they bother including it anymore. Then there's one lane striped on a two-lane-wide concrete bed, which then merges into the mainline. I assume that some trickery with the I-95 NB to I-295 NB exit ramp over the years has resulted in the lane drop on the SB-NB exit; in the same time span, probably because of I-495, I-95 SB also dropped from three to two lanes at this interchange, according to Alex Nitzman.
Oh, I have no idea why this exit isn't numbered. I-295 could easily be 5A and I-495 could be 5B. If DE has a policy of not numbering Interstate-Interstate junctions, then why is I-495's northern terminus Exit 11? And that EXIT ONLY strip is a little, errr, unusual.


NB, now very near the I-295 split, another shield has fallen off a sign, and NJ-NY are for some reason left-justified with a line of center-justified text. Just because it's an overlay (NY wanted to be included) doesn't excuse it.


The SB ramp to I-295 used to be a 2-lane diverge, but is now a single lane with an ultra-wide gore that quickly turns into 2 lanes - and then one ends. Makes a lot less sense now. This photo also shows that the ramp is original concrete.


Interesting signage notes:
1) The exit tabs are separated from the BGS's.
2)There is no advance notice that Exit 7 is, in fact, Exit 7A-B.
3) Why not just M. L. King Jr. Blvd. instead? Or bring back Wilmington Blvd. (thanks to Alex Nitzman for telling me the original name). Now there's no distinction to be made between the famous minister and his less famous father.
4) Exits 7A and 7B both use the same lane to exit. Thus 52 NORTH shouldn't be an EXIT ONLY; that wording is what should appear on the 52 SOUTH sign.
5) That little arrow shouldn't be there between the EXIT and the ¼.
6) How about a real destination instead of Delaware Ave.? Or instead of Junction?


The southern approach to Wilmington.


Click to drive north through the heart of the city.


Looking south from the north bank (1st photo) and north from the south bank of Brandywine Creek (click for more bridges) under I-95.


What this interchange is missing is some notification that US 202 SB continues on I-95 SB. This is a recent development, and DelDOT didn't think it through well, as it didn't give a new number to the leftover piece of former 202. Thus DE 202 used to be US 202, but is not an extension of it - think 202 SPUR, perhaps.


I-495 has a 65 MPH speed limit, as opposed to I-95's 55; I-495 was always intended for thru traffic, and was supposed to be I-95 (with current I-95 labelled I-895 during the 1980's reconstruction). Why would it have been 895, with another 895 in Baltimore, when 495 wasn't used between New York and DC? This is the first SB BGS for a Delaware exit, and judging from the exit tab and square corners, you should be able to figure out that it's in fact in Pennsylvania. PennDOT never figured out that after reconstruction in 2000, I-95 was again fully open in both directions. Doesn't really matter, because through traffic really should only be using I-495.

I-95/DE 1/DE 7 interchange construction

Into Pennsylvania on I-95
Into Maryland on I-95
Exit 1 to DE 896
Exit 1A to US 301
Exit 4 to DE 7
Exit 4A to DE 1
Exit 5 to DE 141
Onto I-295
Onto I-495 (maybe at Exit 11)
Exit 7 to DE 52
Exit 8 to DE 202 and US 202
See more of Wilmington
Free I-95
and the Delaware Turnpike on Steve Anderson's phillyroads.com
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