Walkabout Wilmington – A stroll through the city
Streets, traffic lights, highway signs and bridges that help make up the Wilmington, Delaware city scape. Photos are cataloged by street and ordered from south to north or west to east.
Harrison Street flows three blocks southwest from Lovering Avenue and Brandywine Park to Delaware Avenue at Fountain Plaza. Delaware Avenue splits from Pennsylvania Avenue as a one-way street north nearby. 03/30/04
Harrison Street is discontinuous between Delaware 52 (Pennsylvania Avenue) and Tenth Street due to Cool Springs Reservoir. The side street resumes from Tenth Street to Maryland Avenue (Delaware 4) through the Cool Springs, Hilltop, and Hedgeville neighborhoods of the city. 03/30/04
Orange Street north at Ninth Street in Downtown Wilmington. Older mast arm assemblies here were removed during construction of a new development at the southeast corner by 2016. 03/30/04
Decorative mast arm signals at Orange Street north at Tenth Street. Wilmington started using this style of assembly by 2000. 03/30/04
Park Drive winds along side or above the west banks of Brandywine Creek north from Market and 16th Streets to Lovering Avenue near Trolley Square. The scenic drive passes underneath the Washington Street Bridge near Wilmington Hospital and the Brandywine Zoo. 03/30/04
Park Drive winds along side or above the west banks of Brandywine Creek north from Market and 16th Streets to Lovering Avenue near Trolley Square. The scenic drive passes underneath the Washington Street Bridge near Wilmington Hospital and the Brandywine Zoo. 03/30/04
Park Drive and Van Buren Street meet just below the Brandywine Creek Bridge of Interstate 95. Van Buren Street descends from Happy Valley to span the creek north to the Triangle community. 03/30/04
Park Drive and Van Buren Street meet just below the Brandywine Creek Bridge of Interstate 95. Van Buren Street descends from Happy Valley to span the creek north to the Triangle community. 05/19/07
All 30" pedestal signals at Park Drive and Van Buren Street were replaced with 42" signals by 2012. 03/30/04
All 30" pedestal signals at Park Drive and Van Buren Street were replaced with 42" signals by 2012. 03/30/04
An I-95 overhead was overlaid with green outs and a new shield in 2000 during the six month reconstruction and associated closures of I-95 north of Wilmington. The panel was replaced with a copy of the original sign by 2007. 03/19/04
Replaced signal heads at Pennsylvania Avenue and Union Street near the Little Italy community. 04/01/04
SR 52 (Pennsylvania Avenue) south at the split intersection with Union Street. SR 2 follows Union Street west from here. 04/01/04
An array of 30" Eagle brand signals were previously used at the intersection of Van Buren Street north and Delaware Avenue (SR 52). Van Buren Street provides part of the movement from SR 52 north to the Jackson Street on-ramp to I-95 south. 04/01/04
An array of 30" Eagle brand signals were previously used at the intersection of Van Buren Street north and Delaware Avenue (SR 52). 04/01/04
Van Buren Street provides part of the movement from SR 52 north to the Jackson Street on-ramp to I-95 south. November 1999
Van Buren Street lowers four blocks from Pennsylvania Avenue to enter Brandywine Park at Park Drive. 03/30/04
Van Buren Street lowers four blocks from Pennsylvania Avenue to enter Brandywine Park at Park Drive. 03/30/04
Van Buren Street south intersects Park Drive below high level span for Interstate 95 near Happy Valley. 03/30/04
Van Buren Street south intersects Park Drive below high level span for Interstate 95 near Happy Valley. 03/30/04
Van Buren Street crosses Brandywine Creek between Interstate 95 and Washington Street. Supported by eight arch spans, the Van Buren Street Bridge is 353 feet in length. The bridge was built in 1906 during the City Beautiful Movement. Extra attention was given to the engineering, architectural and landscaped surroundings to aesthetically blend the bridge into Brandywine Park.<sup>1</sup> 03/30/04
The Van Buren Street Bridge supports a 48" diameter water main, linking the Porter Reservoir to the filter station at Sixteenth and Market Streets. DelDOT closed the bridge in 1996 for major repairs.<sup>1</sup> 03/30/04
Looking west at the Washington Street Bridge from the path along Park Drive along Brandywine Creek. The arch bridge is 720 feet long with five spans. Opened on November 24, 1921, the Washington Street Bridge is the only open spandrel arch bridge in the state of Delaware.<sup>1</sup> 03/30/04
Designed as a memorial to Delaware's war veterans, each of the 40' tall pylons along the main span of the Washington Street Bridge include bronze tablets commemorating service in various wars.<sup>1</sup> 03/30/04
Washington Street north at 13th Street and the entrance to Wilmington Hospital. The city of Wilmington placed two 42" signals on this span wire over Washington Street to accompany 30" ground level signals. All were replaced after 2008. 03/30/04
The eastern section of 14th Street stems east from Washington Street and Wilmington Hospital to Clifford Brown Walk in the Upper East Side community. The western section branches off Delaware Avenue to the Highlands neighborhood in northwest Wilmington. 03/30/04
The Washington Street Bridge spans Brandywine Creek and Park Drive with a 40 foot wide roadway and two 14 foot sidewalks.<sup>1</sup> 03/30/04
Crews from Byers Electric installing 36" Eagle Mark IV traffic signals at the Washington Street split with Baynard Avenue. U.S. 202 historically used Baynard Boulevard between Concord Avenue and Washington Street. 03/30/04
Photos by Alex Nitzman
References:
- Delaware Historic Bridges
http://www.deldot.net/static/ projects/archaeology/historic_pres/ delaware_bridge_book/bridge_toc.html, Delaware Department of Transportation.
Page Updated Friday May 26, 2017.












