Former State Route 2 Business
SR 2 Business was commissioned in 1988 along the former route of Delaware State Route 2 through Downtown Newark. Elkton Road carried the state route alongside SR 896 northeast from Christina Parkway (SR 2/4) to Delaware Avenue east and from West Main Street. Originally a four lane arterial with concrete pavement, Elkton Road north to West Park Place was rebuilt as a four-lane boulevard in the late 2000s. The remainder northeast was also reconfigured in 2012-13 as a landscaped boulevard with bike lanes, and renamed to South Main Street.
Delaware Avenue carried SR 2 Business east to Library Avenue (SR 2/72) at Newark High School, while westbound paralleled along Main Street to the north. SR 896 branches northwest from the couplet via New London Road while SR 273 joins Delaware Avenue and Main Street as part of its cross city route between Cecil County, Maryland and Ogletown.
A study conducted by DelDOT in 2013 with public input, suggested removing SR 2 Business all together while truncating SR 2 east from the Maryland state line to the intersection of Library Avenue (SR 72) and East Main Street (SR 273). The study also recommended renumbering Elkton Road west from Christina Parkway (SR 4/896) as new SR 279 to provide continuity with MD 279 southwest to Elkton. These changes were ultimately finalized, and signs throughout Newark were updated by winter 2014.
Delaware State Route 2 Business - 2002 Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT)
- 39,590 - SR 2/4/896 Christiana Parkway to Newark limits
- 20,709 - Barksdale Road to SR 273 / Delaware Avenue
- 32,641 - S. College Avenue to Chapel Street
- 19,297 - Chapel Street to SR 2-72 / Library Avenue
East
SR 2 turned east from Elkton Road with SR 896 south along Christina Parkway (SR 4) east as SR 2 Business began. SR 2 Business east / SR 896 north overlapped to South Main Street and the couplet of West Main Street / Delaware Avenue to Downtown. When SR 279 was signed in 2014, the erroneous East SR 896 reference here was retained.
12/21/12
SR 2 Business overlapped with SR 896 north for 1.7 miles to South College Avenue. The first reassurance marker appeared just east of the split with SR 2 along Elkton Road.
03/28/04
SR 2 Business east / SR 896 (Elkton Road) north at Casho Mill Road. The concrete surface of Elkton Road was eventually paved over with asphalt.
05/15/05
Span wire signals previously operated along Elkton Road eastbound at Thorn Lane west to the Towne Court Apartments and Short Lane south to Park Place Park.
03/28/04
The four lane, concrete roadway of Elkton Road next intersected Park Place. Elkton Road ends here now, but the name used to extend east to Delaware Avenue.
03/28/04
Reassurance shield assembly for SR 896 north / SR 2 Business east after W Park Place.
03/28/04
Mast arm traffic lights were installed along SR 2 Business / SR 896 (Elkton Road) at Veterans Drive in 1997.
03/28/04
Apple Road intersected Elkton Road to the immediate east of Veterans Drive at Park & Shop shopping center. Apple Road spans the adjacent CSX Railroad to the north.
03/28/04
Prior to the 2012 redesign, Elkton Road remained with four lanes north to Amstel Avenue. A pedestrian underpass below the parallel CSX Railroad line ties into this intersection from the north.
03/28/04
SR 2 Business east / SR 896 north combined with SR 273 east along the initial two blocks of W Delaware Avenue. Orchard Road intersects the Delaware Avenue next.
03/28/04
SR 896 northbound split with SR 2 Business / SR 273 for S College Avenue north in the heart of the University of Delaware campus. Sign changes made here added a I-95 trailblazer for S College Avenue south and a parking sign in place of the SR 2 business shield.
06/23/12
SR 2 Business / SR 273 eastbound reassurance assembly posted after the split with SR 896 north. The University of Delaware campus north and south of E Delaware Avenue was designed with a Jeffersonian motif.
06/23/12
E Delaware Avenue separates the Newark business district with the UD campus on the approach to Academy Street. Academy Street comprises a through street between E Park Place and E Main Street (SR 2 Business / SR 273 westbound).
05/15/05
SR 2 Business / SR 273 (E Delaware Avenue) eastbound at S Chapel Street. Chapel Street was once a part of SR 72, which is why shields were posted here.
05/15/05
A pair of traffic light assemblies were posted along the Delaware Avenue S-curve between S Chapel Street and Tyre Avenue. These traffic control devices were installed by the early 1980s to meter traffic as SR 2/273 approached Tyre Avenue and Newark High School.
03/28/04
06/04/12
42 inch Eagle signals remained in service at East Delaware Avenue and Tyre Avenue to 2015.
05/15/05
SR 2 Business ended at the upcoming intersection where SR 273 east joins SR 72 north along Library Avenue for one block. The left curve warning signs predated the 1979 construction of Library Avenue south to Wyoming Road.
03/28/04
West
The westbound beginning of the SR 2 Business / SR 273 overlap along E Main Street from Ogletown Road.
08/03/13
Forking west from SR 2 west / SR 72 south (Library Avenue) on the beginning of SR 2 Business at McKees Lane. McKees Lane provides a short cut north to Cleveland Avenue under one of the few passages below the CSX Railroad in Newark.
05/21/07
SR 2 Business eastbound merged with SR 273 on East Main Street ahead of the signalized intersection with Tyre Avenue.
05/21/07
A 2-digit width shield for SR 273 remained in service along East Main Street by Newark Shopping Center until sometime after 2000.
07/08/00
East Main Street west at Chapel Street, the original alignment of SR 72. Chapel Street heads south to East Park Place and north to Cleveland Avenue at Paper Mill Road.
03/27/04
Academy Street carries two-way traffic south from SR 2 Business / SR 273 west to Lewis Park adjacent to the AMTRAK line. A pair of north facing, street level signals serve the exit from a municipal parking lot.
03/27/04
A pedestrian signal formerly operated at the main crosswalk near the Main Street Galleria between Academy Street and South College Avenue. Prior to the installation of signals here in winter 2004, a pair of yellow flashers instead cautioned motorists.
The traffic lights were eventually removed and replaced with flashing LEDs.
03/27/04
Span wire guide signs posted ahead of the SR 2 Business / SR 273 (Main Street) merge with SR 896 north from S College Avenue. The panel to the right was an original sign dating from the switch of Main Street from two-way traffic.
06/26/10
The left and center signs were replaced when SR 896 was relocated away from South College Avenue in 1988 to overlap with newly designation SR 2 Business along Elkton Road west.
06/23/12
A three-way split with SR 273 (W Main Street) west and SR 896 (New London Road) north took place just west of Downtown Newark where SR 2 Business joined SR 273 east / SR 896 south on Elkton Road (renamed to S Main Street in 2012).
06/23/12
Motorists continuing west along SR 2 Business veered away from West Main Street just ahead of the SR 273 west and 896 north separation through northwest Newark.
08/04/13
SR 273 east / SR 896 south quickly merged with SR 2 Business west at the beginning of Elkton Road (now S Main Street). SR 273 eastbound dog legs along Sh Main Street to Delaware Avenue east as part of its cross city route.
08/04/13
Shields for SR 2 Business west / SR 896 south posted along the newly rebuilt stretch of S Main Street (former Elkton Road).
08/04/13
Reassurance markers for SR 2 Business / SR 896 south at Apple Road were retained following the completion of the Elkton Road redesign.
08/04/13
Traveling westbound along Elkton Road between Thorn Lane and Casho Mill Road.
08/04/13
The truck restriction along Christina Parkway east from Elkton Road was increased from just trucks exceeding 9 tons of gross vehicle weight, to all trucks with over two axles. SR 4 forms part of a popular bypass of the Newark Toll Plaza for I-95 through traffic.
06/30/10
SR 2 Business ended as SR 896 south traded places with SR 2 west along Elkton Road. SR 2-4-896 overlapped east along Christina Parkway to South College Avenue otherwise.
06/20/12
SR 2 overtook the western most mile of Elkton Road from the end of SR 4 (Christina Parkway) to become MD 279.
06/20/12
Photo Credits:
- Alex Nitzman: 07/08/00, 03/27/04, 03/28/04, 05/21/07, 06/26/10, 06/30/10, 06/04/12, 06/20/12, 06/23/12, 12/21/12, 08/03/13, 08/04/13
- Alex Nitzman, Lou Corsaro: 05/15/05
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Page Updated Friday February 24, 2017.