Delaware Route 30
Delaware Route 30 is a state highway in Sussex County, Delaware. The route runs from an intersection with Bi-State Boulevard a short distance west of U.S. Route 13 between Laurel and Delmar to DE 1 Business southeast of Milford in the area of Lincoln and Cedar Creek. The road runs east to Gumboro, where it turns north on the Millsboro Highway to Millsboro. Along this road, DE 30 shares concurrencies with DE 26, DE 54, and DE 24. From Millsboro, the route passes through Gravel Hill and to the west of Milton before reaching Milford. DE 30 is signed as an east-west road from the southern terminus to the east end of the DE 24 concurrency in Millsboro and as a north-south road from that point until the northern terminus.
What is now DE 30 south of Gravel Hill was built as a state highway in various stages during the 1920s and 1930s. A short-lived DE 30 in the 1930s ran from DE 20 in Seaford north and east to DE 404 northwest of Bridgeville. The current DE 30 was first designated by 1938 to connect DE 24 in Millsboro to DE 5 in Milton. The route was rerouted to end at DE 14 south of Milford by 1971. DE 30 was extended southwest to Bi-State Boulevard by 1994 and its northern terminus was moved to DE 1 Bus. by way of a new road by 2003. An interchange with DE 1 was completed in 2014. DE 30 formerly had an alternate route, DE 30 Alternate, that was created by 1999 to connect the route with DE 1 by way of Johnson Road and was removed by 2017.
Route description
DE 30 begins at an intersection with Bi-State Boulevard in southwestern Sussex County between the towns of Laurel and Delmar, heading east on two-lane undivided Whitesville Road. A short distance later, the road crosses US 13 at a superstreet intersection, in which DE 30 traffic must turn right, use U-turn ramps along US 13, and turn right again to continue on DE 30. Following this, the road through a mix of farmland and woodland with some homes to the south of Trap Pond State Park, crossing James Branch. The route turns southeast before it curves to the east again. Farther east, DE 30 comes to an intersection with DE 26/DE 54.At this point, DE 30 turns northeast to form a concurrency with DE 26/DE 54 on Millsboro Highway. The road curves north and heads into the residential community Gumboro, where DE 54 splits to the east. DE 26/DE 30 leaves Gumboro and continues back into areas of farms and forests with occasional residences. In Shaft Ox Corner, DE 26 splits to the east and DE 30 heads north to an intersection with DE 24 in Mission.
Here, DE 24 turns north to join DE 30, with the road running northeast. Farther along, residential development increases as the road heads into the town of Millsboro. At this point, the road names becomes Laurel Road and it 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 runs 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 24, DE 30 signage changes from east-west to north-south and the route leaves Millsboro. It continues north on Gravel Hill Road, passing to the east of Millsboro Pond. The road heads through a mix of farmland and woodland with some homes. In the community of Zoar, the route intersects DE 24 Alt. Farther north, DE 30 reaches the community of Gravel Hill. In Gravel Hill, the road crosses the Delmarva Central Railroad's Lewes Industrial Track line at-grade and comes to an intersection with US 9/DE 404. From this point, the route curves northwest before bending north again. DE 30 intersects DE 5 Alt., which serves as a western bypass of the town of Milton for DE 5. Here, DE 5 Alt. turns north to form a concurrency with DE 30, with the road crossing an abandoned railroad grade just east of the terminus of the Delmarva Central Railroad's Milton Industrial Track line. At an intersection with DE 16, DE 5 Alt. heads east along with that route and DE 30 continues north on Isaacs Road.
The route heads away from Milton and crosses Sowbridge Branch as it passes to the east of Reynolds Pond. DE 30 intersects Cedar Creek Road and turns northwest onto that road, curving north and back to the northwest. The road heads through the Cedar Creek area and crosses Cedar Creek to the east of Swiggets Pond before it intersects Johnson Road. DE 30 continues north-northwest and comes to ramps providing access to and from the southbound lanes of DE 1. At this point, the route gains a center left-turn lane and passes east of Bayhealth Hospital, Sussex Campus before it reaches an intersection with Wilkins Road, which provides access to and from the northbound lanes of DE 1 at an interchange. Past this intersection, DE 30 turns northwest and passes between residential subdivisions to the southwest and DE 1 to the northeast as a two-lane road, coming to its northern terminus at an intersection with DE 1 Bus. at the point that route merges into DE 1 at an interchange southeast of the city of Milford. DE 30 has access to northbound DE 1 Bus. and access from southbound DE 1 Bus.
The section of the route between DE 16 near Milton and DE 1 Bus. in Milford is designated as part of the Delaware's Bayshore Byway, a Delaware Byway. DE 30 has an annual average daily traffic count ranging from a high of 34,023 vehicles at the east end of the DE 24 concurrency to a low of 1,087 vehicles at the intersection with DE 26/DE 54. None of DE 30 is part of the National Highway System.
History
By 1920, what is now DE 30 existed as a state highway between Mission and Phillips Hill and was proposed as one between Phillips Hill and Millsboro, with the remainder of the route existing as a county road. The state highway between Phillips Hill and Millsboro was completed by 1924. The state highway portion of the present-day route was extended from Mission to Gumboro a year later, with a section in the Gumboro area under proposal as a state highway. By 1931, the road was completed as a state highway between US 13 and Jones Branch and from James Branch to Gumboro. In addition, the state highway was completed from Millsboro to north of Gravel Hill as an unpaved road, with a portion north of Gravel Hill becoming a paved county road. The state highway between US 13 and Gumboro was fully complete the following year. By 1936, the road between Millsboro and Gravel Hill was paved.DE 30 was first designated in 1936 to run from DE 20 in Seaford north and east to DE 404 northwest of Bridgeville, heading north and crossing DE 18 in Atlanta before turning east to reach DE 404. This was eliminated by 1938, and is now Atlanta Road and Dublin Hill Road. By 1938, DE 30 was designated to run from DE 24 in Millsboro north to DE 5 in Milton, following its current alignment to north of Gravel Hill and then running along Shingle Point Road north into Milton. A portion of current DE 30 south of the DE 16 intersection was paved a year later. By 1952, the current route of DE 30 north of Gravel Hill was paved. DE 30 was rerouted to follow its present alignment north to DE 14 south of Milford by 1971. By 1994, DE 30 was extended from Millsboro to its current terminus at Bi-State Boulevard. The northern terminus of DE 30 was moved to its current location at DE 1 Bus. by 2003 when a road connecting DE 30 to DE 1 Bus. was completed. In November 2012, construction began on an interchange at DE 1 southeast of Milford. The interchange between DE 1 and DE 30 was completed in July 2014. On February 29, 2016, construction began on a superstreet intersection at US 13; this project was completed on May 19 of that year.