Delaware Route1A (DE1A) is a state highway in Sussex County, Delaware. The route, which is signed north-south, runs 2.01mi (3.23km) from DE1 in the town of Dewey Beach north to another intersection with DE1 west of the city of Rehoboth Beach. The route provides access to Rehoboth Beach from DE1, heading north before turning to the west. DE1A follows King Charles Avenue, Bayard Avenue, 2nd Street (southbound), Christian Street (northbound), and Rehoboth Avenue.
What is now DE1A was originally a part of DE14 between 1936 and 1942. The road was designated DE14A by 1966. In the 1970s, DE1A was designated along DE14A for a few years before DE14A was decommissioned in favor of DE1A. Between 2002 and 2006, a streetscape project revitalized the Rehoboth Avenue portion of the route and a roundabout was added at the northern entrance to Rehoboth Beach.
Route description
DE1A northbound on Bayard Avenue in Rehoboth Beach
DE1A begins at an intersection with DE1 in the town of Dewey Beach. At this intersection, access from southbound DE1 to northbound DE1A is provided via St. Louis Street. From DE1, the route heads north on two-lane undivided King Charles Avenue. The road passes through residential areas before it leaves Dewey Beach, becoming Silver Lake Drive and curving northwest to run to the south of Silver Lake. The route bends north and crosses the lake, where it enters the city of Rehoboth Beach. Here, the name changes to Bayard Avenue and it becomes a divided highway. DE1A becomes undivided again and comes to an intersection with Christian Street. At this point, northbound DE1A turns northwest onto Christian Street to reach Rehoboth Avenue while southbound DE1A follows 2nd Street north to Rehoboth Avenue; Rehoboth Avenue serves as the main street of Rehoboth Beach that leads east to the Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk along the Atlantic Ocean.[3][4]
DE1A southbound approaching Rehoboth Beach
The highway heads west along four-lane divided Rehoboth Avenue and runs past businesses, passing south of the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center. The road intersects DE1B, which connects to DE1, before it comes to a roundabout at Grove Street/Columbia Avenue, with Columbia Avenue heading northeast to provide access to the town of Henlopen Acres, the community of North Shores, and the Gordons Pond section of Cape Henlopen State Park. Following this, the route narrows into a two-lane undivided road and passes south of the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center and the Rehoboth Beach Museum before crossing the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal on a drawbridge and leaving Rehoboth Beach. DE1A continues west past homes and businesses and ends at another intersection with DE1. This intersection has no direct access from DE1A to southbound DE1. Access to southbound DE1 from DE1A is by way of the Rehoboth Avenue Extension service road parallel to DE1 that provides access to DE1 at the Sea Blossom Boulevard intersection.[3][4]
DE1A has an annual average daily traffic count ranging from a high of 25,168vehicles just west of Rehoboth Beach to a low of 3,437vehicles on the Rehoboth Avenue Extension frontage road at the northern terminus at DE1.[1]
What is now DE1A was originally designated as part of DE14 by 1936.[7] By 1942, DE14 was realigned to bypass Rehoboth Beach to the southwest.[8] DE14A was designated onto the former alignment of DE14 through Rehoboth Beach by 1966.[5] By 1974, DE14A became concurrent with DE1A.[2] The DE14A designation was dropped in 1977 and the road was solely designated DE1A.[6]
In October 2002, work began on a streetscape project to revitalize Rehoboth Avenue.[9] The project provided new sidewalks and plants and placed utility lines underground.[10] A roundabout opened at Grove Street/Columbia Avenue in May 2004.[11] The roundabout features a replica of the Cape Henlopen Light and serves as a gateway to Rehoboth Beach.[12] When the roundabout first opened, there were issues of drivers not yielding properly.[11] As a result, improved yield signage was installed.[13] The streetscape project was completed in June 2006, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony held. The project cost $36 million; the Delaware Department of Transportation paid $16.3 million, the city of Rehoboth Beach provided $10 million, and the Federal Highway Administration provided $7.75 million. U.S. Senators Tom Carper and Joe Biden helped secure federal funds for the project.[10]
12Maryland State Highway Administration (1974). Maryland: Official Highway Map(PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland State Highway Administration.
12Delaware Department of Transportation (2017). Official Travel & Transportation Map(PDF) (Map). Dover: Delaware Department of Transportation. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
12Delaware State Highway Department (1966). Official Highway Map(PDF) (Map). Dover: Delaware State Highway Department. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
12Maryland State Highway Administration (1977). Maryland: Official Highway Map(PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland State Highway Administration.
↑Delaware State Highway Department; The National Survey Co. (1936). Official Road Map of the State of Delaware(PDF) (Map) (1936–1937ed.). Dover: Delaware State Highway Department. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
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