I cull through the Delaware News Journal’s online website almost every day looking for road related stories for the website and for my personal interest in my former state. One was posted today about Interstate 95 and its growing congestion and lack of money to upgrade the ailing interchange with Delaware 1 and the bottleneck at the Interstate 295 split.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060709/NEWS/60709005/1006

The article just says the same thing that is said all the time about Interstate 95. The road is bad, improvements are needed, but there is no money, and nothing is going to happen in the immediate future. The multimedia section however has some video from Deldot of I-95’s construction, and there’s some neat stuff in there including a sign that displays “Interstate 295 to U.S. 13 – New Jersey Wilmington” and a mileage sign that displays both Baltimore and Washington. Seeing I-295 with a control point of Wilmington is a first for me and I’ve never ever seen Washington as a control point in Delaware.
Also on the flash video are some scenes of Delaware Turnpike toll plazas which look strikingly similar to those built on the SR 1 Turnpike in the 1990s. DelDOT still uses the same bridge support design as the spans built during the 1960s for Interstate 95, and one sign in the video was still in place as of 2004, the Maryland 279 – one mile guide sign along southbound in Newark. See some screen shots below:

Speed Limit 60 sign posted along Interstate 95 southbound at Christiana Marsh

Maryland 279 sign posted near the state line, the sign is still there today.

Baltimore and Washington! mileage sign, likely posted beyond the Delaware Turnpike toll plaza at Newark.

Maryland/Delaware state line sign on Interstate 95 southbound. There is no indication of the state line today unfortunately.

Pay toll – 1 mile sign

Delaware Turnpike toll plaza, perhaps the booths near Newark.

Welcome to the Delaware Turnpike sign posted after crossing into the First State from Maryland. There’s a version of this sign along southbound today at Christiana Marsh.

Service Plaza 1 mile sign on I-95 north. There are similar shaped signs still in use today.

Guide sign for Delaware 41 south – Basin Road / New Castle. The highway shield appears to be a square, which was the style used by the First State for a period of time between circular cutouts and the standard black on white circle signs used today.

Interstate 295 to U.S. 13 guide sign posted ahead of the Interstate 95/295 split near Newport.