Interstate 495 (Delaware)

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Interstate 495 Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System
Length:	11.47 mi[1] (18.46 km)
Formed:	1970s
South end:	I-95/Delaware Turnpike/I-295/US 202 in Newport
Major junctions:	US 13
North end:	I-95/DE 92 in Claymont
Routes in Delaware < DE 491 I-895 >
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Interstate 495 (abbreviated I-495) in Delaware is a six-lane bypass of Interstate 95 around the city of Wilmington, Delaware. Built in the mid-1970s and opened as the "Wilmington Bypass", the highway became, between 1978 and 1982, the route of I-95 around Wilmington, while the original highway through the city, redesignated as Interstate 895, was reconstructed at the Wilmington Viaduct. In 1982, I-95 was rerouted back onto the original highway, and the bypass became I-495 again. A similar occurrence happened in 2000 when I-95 was closed off for a total rebuild project between U.S. Route 202 and the Pennsylvania state line.

Interstate 495 southbound along the Delaware River between Claymont and Edgemoor.

Although it is the most recent of Delaware's three Interstate highways, I-495 was rebuilt in the mid-1990s when the concrete surface, developed in France, failed prematurely and had to be totally replaced in sections, resulting in one-lane operations for nearly four years (a similar total rebuild project had to be done on Delaware Route 141 in Newport in the early 2000s). In addition, the bridge over the Christina River, at the Port of Wilmington, suffered severe damage when a truck went over the side of the bridge and exploded on impact, damaging support beams, and forcing traffic onto I-95, creating traffic snarls on the four-lane highway.

As a major bypass, officials in the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) has encouraged through traffic (by placing the "Baltimore" and "Philadelphia" control cities on its green signs) to use I-495 instead of I-95, as it has six lanes and a higher speed limit (65 mph instead of 55 mph on I-95). Since 2000, DelDOT officials have proposed rerouting I-95 back onto I-495 in the same arrangement used between 1978 and 1982, and renaming the current I-95 through Wilmington as "Business 95," like that on Interstate 83 in York, Pennsylvania. The mayor of Wilmington has staunchly rejected the proposal.

[edit] Exit list

The entire route is in New Castle County.

Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
Newport			To DE 141 – New Castle, Lancaster, PA	Southbound exit; eliminates weaving btwn I-95/I-495 jct & DE 141
		5C	I-295 north - Del Mem Br, New Jersey-New York	Southbound exit
Minquadale		1	US 13 to US 40 – Wilmington, Dover
Wilmington		2	DE 9A (Terminal Avenue) - Port of Wilmington
		3	12th Street
		4	US 13 (Governor Printz Blvd) / DE 3 – Edgemoor
Claymont		5	US 13 (Philadelphia Pike) – Claymont
		6	DE 92 (Naamans Road)	Southbound exit

[edit] References

v • d • e Auxiliary routes of Interstate 95 Florida: 195 • 295 • 395 • 595 • 795 (future) — North Carolina: 295 (future) • 795 — Virginia: 195 • 295 • 395 • 495 • 595 (former) — District of Columbia: 295 • 395 • 495 • 695 (unsigned) — Maryland: 195 • 295 • 395 • 495 • 595 (unsigned) • 695 • 795 • 895 — Delaware: 295 • 495 • 895 (former) — Pennsylvania: 695 (unbuilt) • 895 (unbuilt) — New Jersey: 195 • 295 • 495 (former) • 695 (unbuilt) • 895 (unbuilt) — New York: 295 • 495 • 695 • 895 — Connecticut - Rhode Island - Massachusetts: 195 • 295 • 395 • 495 • 695 (unbuilt) • 895 (unbuilt) — Maine: 195 • 295 • 395 • 495 (unsigned)