Delaware Route 24


Delaware Route 24 is a state highway located in Sussex County, Delaware. The route runs east from Maryland Route 348 at the Maryland border east of Sharptown, Maryland to an intersection with DE 1 in Midway, between Lewes and Rehoboth Beach. Along the way, DE 24 passes through Laurel, Millsboro, and Long Neck. DE 24 intersects U.S. Route 13 in Laurel, US 113/DE 20 in Millsboro, and DE 5 and DE 23 in Long Neck. The route runs concurrent with DE 30 between Mission and Millsboro. DE 24 features an alternate alignment, DE 24 Alternate, that runs to the north of the route from US 113 in Stockley to DE 24 near Midway. DE 24 was built as a state highway throughout the 1920s, with completion of the entire route by 1931. DE 24 was assigned onto its current alignment by 1936. DE 24 Alt. was designated by 2006.

Route description

DE 24 begins at the Maryland border, where the road continues west into that state as MD 348. From the state line the route heads east on two-lane undivided Sharptown Road. The road heads through agricultural areas with some woods and homes, curving to the northeast. DE 24 runs to the south of Laurel Airport and enters the town of Laurel, passing homes. Following this, the route turns north onto West Street. DE 24 curves east and becomes West Market Street, crossing the Delmarva Central Railroad's Delmarva Subdivision line at-grade as it continues into the downtown of Laurel. At the Central Avenue intersection, the route becomes East Market Street and runs southeast, bending east onto East 4th Street and heading through areas of homes to the south of Records Pond. At the eastern edge of Laurel, DE 24 becomes Market Street and comes to an intersection with US 13.
Past Laurel, DE 24 heads east on Laurel Road through farmland with some woodland and homes, crossing James Branch. The route then passes to the north of Trap Pond State Park. The road continues east through a mix of farms and woods with occasional residences, reaching an intersection with DE 30 in Mission. Here, DE 24 turns north to form a concurrency with DE 30 on Millsboro Highway, with the road running northeast. Farther along, residential development increases as the road crosses into the town of Millsboro. At this point the road name becomes Laurel Road as it passes homes and reaches an intersection with US 113/DE 20. Past this intersection, DE 24/DE 30 turns north-northeast on Washington Street. The two routes split into a one-way pair that heads north, following Main Street eastbound and Washington Street westbound. The road crosses the Delmarva Central Railroad's Indian River Subdivision line at-grade. The one-way pair heads through the downtown area of Millsboro, rejoining along two-way Main Street and crossing Indian River to the east of Millsboro Pond. A short distance later, DE 24 and DE 30 split at an intersection.
Upon splitting from DE 30, DE 24 heads northeast on John J. Williams Highway, soon curving to the east. The road passes through farmland with some woods and homes, passing through a Mountaire Farms chicken plant and briefly gaining a center left-turn lane. The route continues through rural areas as a two-lane road and crosses Swan Creek and Warwick Gut, bending to the northeast and passing northwest of the Nanticoke Indian Museum before coming to an intersection with DE 5 near Oak Orchard. At this point DE 5 turns northeast to form a concurrency with DE 24. The road heads north through residential and commercial development with some fields as it enters the Long Neck area, where it intersects DE 23. Here, DE 5 splits from DE 24 by turning northwest onto DE 23, and DE 24 continues north through a mix of farms, woods, and residential neighborhoods, crossing Guinea Creek and passing the Baywood Greens golf course. The road runs through Angola and passes east of Burton Pond before it curves to the northeast, crossing Love Creek on the Eugene D. Bookhammer Bridge. The route continues northeast and intersects DE 1D/DE 24 Alt. Here, DE 1D turns northeast to join DE 24 and the two routes pass homes and businesses as a three-lane road with a center left-turn lane. DE 24/DE 1D becomes a four-lane undivided road and then a divided highway as it comes to its end at an intersection with DE 1 in Midway.
The portions of the route between Townsend Street and Delaware Avenue in Laurel and Christ Church Road and Trap Pond Road east of Laurel are designated as part of the Nanticoke Heritage Byway, a Delaware Byway. DE 24 has an annual average daily traffic count ranging from a high of 34,023 vehicles at the east end of the DE 30 concurrency to a low of 1,681 vehicles at the intersection with Dickerson Road west of Laurel. None of DE 24 is part of the National Highway System.

History

By 1920 what is now DE 24 existed as a state highway between Mission and Phillips Hill, with the remainder of the route existing as an unimproved county road. At this time the road was under contract as a state highway between Laurel and Pepper and from Phillips Hill to east of Millsboro. The sections under contract were completed by 1924 and the remainder of present-day DE 24 was proposed as a state highway a year later. Completion of these final segments occurred by 1931. DE 24 was assigned to its current alignment between the Maryland border west of Laurel and DE 14 in Midway by 1936. In 1940, a new bridge was built over Love Creek as part of improving the route east of Millsboro for traffic heading to the beaches in the summer. On April 16, 2018, the Delaware Department of Transportation unveiled plans to widen DE 24 to four lanes between the Love Creek bridge and DE 1 along with adding left turn lanes and improving intersections. This project is planned in order to improve safety and reduce traffic congestion along the road. Construction on the first phase between Mulberry Knoll Road and DE 1 is planned to begin in on March 3, 2020 and be completed in 2022. Construction on the second phase between the Love Creek bridge and Mulberry Knoll Road is planned to begin in 2021 and be finished in 2022.

Major intersections

Delaware Route 24 Alternate

Delaware Route 24 Alternate is an alternate route of DE 24 between US 113 in Stockley and DE 24 in Midway. The route heads east from US 113 on two-lane undivided Speedway Road, passing to the north of Georgetown Speedway. DE 24 Alt. reaches a roundabout with Zoar Road/Bethesda Road and heads southeast onto Zoar Road, passing through agricultural areas with some woods and homes and crossing the Delmarva Central Railroad's Indian River Subdivision line. The road continues east through more areas of farms, woods, and residences, turning north and east before crossing DE 30 in Zoar. The route heads east-northeast through more rural areas, turning north onto Hollyville Road. DE 24 Alt. turns northeast and comes to a junction with DE 5 in Hollyville. The road continues east and intersects DE 23 in Hollymount. Here, DE 24 Alt. turns north to join DE 23 on Beaver Dam Road and the two routes continue through agricultural and wooded areas with residential developments, curving to the northeast and crossing Bundicks Branch. In Five Points the road intersects DE 1D, with DE 23 turning to the north and DE 24 Alt. continuing northeast along with DE 1D on Plantation Road. The two routes curve southeast immediately to the south of the intersection between US 9/DE 404 and DE 1 and head through a mix of farmland and residential development. Finally, the road reaches an intersection with DE 24 where DE 24 Alt. ends and DE 1D turns northeast to join DE 24. DE 24 Alt. was designated by 2006.
Major intersections