U.S. Route 9 (US 9) is a
United States Numbered Highway
The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...
in the
Northeastern U.S., running from
Laurel, Delaware
Laurel is a town in Sussex County, Delaware, United States. The population was 3,865 at the time of the 2020 census. Laurel is part of the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. It once hosted the Laurel Blue Hens of the Ea ...
, north to
Champlain, New York
Champlain is a town in Clinton County, New York, United States. The population was 5,754 at the 2010 census. The town is located on the western shore of Lake Champlain, near the northern end of Lake Champlain and is on the U.S./Canadian border ...
. In
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...
, the route runs a southwest–northeast path through
Sussex County. Even though US 9 is signed north–south for the remainder of its route, the segment in Delaware is signed east–west. The highway runs from its western terminus at
US 13 in Laurel northeast to the
Cape May–Lewes Ferry terminal in
Lewes
Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...
, where the ferry carries the route across the
Delaware Bay
Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States, lying between the states of Delaware and New Jersey. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltw ...
to
North Cape May, New Jersey. US 9 passes through rural areas and serves the communities of Laurel,
Georgetown, and Lewes. US 9 intersects
Delaware Route 20 (DE 20) in Hardscrabble,
US 113 and
DE 18/
DE 404 in Georgetown,
DE 30 in
Gravel Hill,
DE 5 in
Harbeson, and
DE 1 at the Five Points intersection in
Nassau. US 9 runs
concurrent with DE 404 between Georgetown and Five Points and with DE 1 between Five Points and
Carpenters Corner.
What is now US 9 in Delaware was originally built as a state highway during the 1920s and designated by 1936 as Delaware Route 28 (DE 28) between Laurel and Georgetown and a part of DE 18 between Georgetown and Lewes. US 9 was extended to Delaware from New Jersey by way of the Cape May–Lewes Ferry in 1974, replacing all of DE 28 and the portion of DE 18 between Georgetown and Five Points, with the route aligned to bypass Lewes. DE 404 was designated concurrent with the portion of US 9 between Georgetown and Five Points by 1987.
Route description
US 9 begins at an intersection with
US 13 in the commercial northern part of the town of
Laurel
Laurel may refer to:
Plants
* Lauraceae, the laurel family
* Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel
People
* Laurel (given name), people with the given name
* Laurel (surname), people with the surname
* Laurel (mus ...
, where the road continues west past the terminus of US 9 as Georgetown Road. From the western terminus, the route heads to the northeast on two-lane undivided County Seat Highway. The road leaves Laurel and runs through a mix of farmland and woodland with some homes. The route intersects
DE 20 in the community of Hardscrabble, at which point it briefly becomes a
divided highway. Past this intersection, US 9 becomes undivided again and continues through rural land, crossing
Tyndall Branch and passing to the southeast of the
University of Delaware
The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...
's Carvel Research and Education Center and
Sussex Technical High School. Past this, the route heads through the community of
Whaleys Corners. Farther northeast, the road reaches the town of
Georgetown and intersects
US 113/
DE 404 Truck in a commercial area. At this point,
US 9 Truck heads south along US 113/DE 404 Truck to bypass Georgetown to the south. Following US 113, the route continues northeast on West Market Street through residential areas. US 9 enters downtown Georgetown and intersects
DE 18/
DE 404 at a
traffic circle
A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junct ...
called The Circle, where the
Sussex County Courthouse is located.
At this point, US 9 continues northeast
concurrent with DE 404 on East Market Street through the downtown area. The road crosses the
Delmarva Central Railroad
The Delmarva Central Railroad is an American short-line railroad owned by Carload Express that operates of track on the Delmarva Peninsula in the states of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. The railroad operates lines from Porter, Delaware to Ha ...
's Indian River Subdivision line at-grade and runs through residential areas with a few businesses, passing south of the Southern Delaware Tourism Visitors Center. The roadway briefly becomes a divided highway at the Sand Hill Road/Airport Road intersection. US 9/DE 404 heads east-northeast out of Georgetown and becomes Lewes Georgetown Highway, passing through farmland and woodland with some development. The two routes intersect the eastern terminus of US 9 Truck/DE 404 Truck a short distance east of Georgetown. In the community of
Gravel Hill, the road crosses
DE 30. Following this intersection, US 9/DE 404 passes through more rural land, reaching a junction with
DE 5 near businesses in the community of
Harbeson. Past here, the two routes cross an abandoned railroad line at the Cool Spring Road intersection in the community of
Cool Spring. Farther east, residential development near the road begins to increase, with the road passing through the community of
Belltown. Upon reaching the area of the Five Points intersection in the community of
Nassau, US 9/DE 404 runs past homes and businesses, widening into a divided highway and coming to an intersection with
DE 1D/
DE 23. US 9/DE 404 runs along a four-lane divided highway before the road comes to a junction with
DE 1. Here, DE 404 ends,
US 9 Business (US 9 Bus.) continues northeast, and US 9 heads east for a concurrency with DE 1. At this intersection, access from eastbound US 9 to northbound DE 1 is provided by a reverse
jughandle
A jughandle is a type of ramp or slip road that changes the way traffic turns left at an at-grade intersection (in a country where traffic drives on the right). Instead of a standard left turn being made from the left lane, left-turning traffic ...
.

Past the Five Points intersection, US 9 follows DE 1 on Coastal Highway, an eight-lane divided highway with six travel lanes and a combined right turn, bus, and bicycle lane in each direction. The road passes north of the
Lewes Transit Center, a
park-and-ride facility serving
DART First State
The Delaware Transit Corporation, operating as DART First State, is the only public transportation system that operates throughout the U.S. state of Delaware. DART First State provides local and inter-county bus service throughout the state and al ...
buses, and runs through commercial areas before it curves southeast into wooded areas. In the community of
Carpenters Corner, US 9 splits from DE 1 by turning northeast onto Dartmouth Drive, a four-lane undivided road with three westbound lanes and one eastbound lane. A short distance later, the route turns north-northeast onto two-lane undivided Kings Highway, passing through farmland with some residential subdivisions and heading to the east of
Cape Henlopen High School. US 9 splits from Kings Highway at a directional intersection and continues northeast on Theodore C. Freeman Highway, a road maintained by the
Delaware River and Bay Authority
The Delaware River and Bay Authority (DRBA) is a bi-state government agency of the United States, U.S. states of Delaware and New Jersey established by an interstate compact in 1962.
The authority operates the Delaware Memorial Bridge, Delaw ...
(DRBA) that bypasses the city of
Lewes
Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...
to the southeast. The route runs between developed areas to the northwest and rural areas and the parallel
Junction and Breakwater Trail to the southeast before crossing over the trail, Gills Neck Road, and the
Lewes and Rehoboth Canal on a high-level bridge. The road bends north and heads across an abandoned railroad line. After this, US 9 intersects the eastern terminus of US 9 Bus. and turns east onto Cape Henlopen Drive, passing between residential development along the
Delaware Bay
Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States, lying between the states of Delaware and New Jersey. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltw ...
to the north and the abandoned railroad tracks to the south. US 9 turns north onto a divided highway and comes to the Lewes Terminal of the
Cape May–Lewes Ferry, which carries the route across the Delaware Bay to
North Cape May, New Jersey. Cape Henlopen Drive continues east toward
Cape Henlopen State Park.
The section of US 9 between US 113 and DE 1 serves as part of a primary
hurricane evacuation route
Hurricane evacuation is the immediate and rapid movement of people away from the threat or actual occurrence of a hurricane. County judges, emergency managers and other officials may recommend a voluntary evacuation or order a mandatory evacuati ...
from the
Delaware Beaches
The Delaware Beaches are located along the Atlantic Ocean in the eastern part of Sussex County, Delaware, which is in the southern part of the state. In addition to beaches along the ocean, the area offers many amenities, including restaurants ...
to points inland while the section of US 9 between US 13 and US 113 serves as part of a secondary hurricane evacuation route from the coastal areas. Sections of US 9 in Delaware are part of the
Delaware Byways system. The portion of the route between DE 5 in Harbeson and DE 1 in Five Points is designated as part of the
Delaware Bayshore Byway, which is also a
National Scenic Byway
A National Scenic Byway is a road recognized by the United States Department of Transportation for one or more of six "intrinsic qualities": archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, and scenic. The program was established by Co ...
.
The portions of the route between DE 1 and Kings Highway and the eastern terminus of US 9 Bus. and the Cape May–Lewes Ferry terminal in Lewes are designated as part of the
Historic Lewes Byway, Gateway to the Bayshore. US 9 in Delaware has an
annual average daily traffic
Annual average daily traffic (AADT) is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a year divided ...
count ranging from a high of 58,655 vehicles along the DE 1 concurrency to a low of 977 vehicles at the Cape May–Lewes Ferry terminal.
[ The portion of US 9 in Delaware east of DE 18/DE 404 in Georgetown is part of the National Highway System.]
History
What is currently US 9 in Delaware existed as a state highway between Whaleys Corners and Georgetown by 1920, with the remainder as an unimproved county road. At the time, the road was a state aid highway between Laurel and Whaleys Corners and under contract as a state aid highway between Georgetown and Harbeson. By 1924, the state highway along the present alignment of US 9 was completed, running from Laurel through Georgetown to Lewes. A year later, what is now US 9 along the DE 1 concurrency between Wescoats Road and Carpenters Corner was built as a state highway. The Kings Highway portion of the current route was paved by 1931. When Delaware assigned numbers to its state highways by 1936, DE 28 was designated to run from US 13 (Central Avenue) in Laurel east to DE 18 in Georgetown while the road between Georgetown and Lewes became a part of DE 18. By 1954, US 13 was moved to a new alignment to the east of Laurel, and the western terminus of DE 28 was truncated from Central Avenue to the new location of US 13. The same year, the present alignment of US 9 between Five Points and Wescoats Road was constructed as part of a new divided highway alignment of DE 14.
The Cape May–Lewes Ferry was started on July 1, 1964; at this time, the ferry did not carry a route number. In 1964, construction was underway on an approach road to the ferry between Kings Highway and Cape Henlopen Drive; this road was built by the DRBA. On December 21, 1965, the Delaware Senate
The Delaware State Senate is the upper house of the Delaware General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is composed of 21 Senators, each of whom is elected to a four-year term, except when reapportionment occur ...
approved a resolution for the approach road to the ferry to be named the Theodore C. Freeman Highway after Theodore C. Freeman, an astronaut who attended Lewes Elementary School from 1936 to 1944 that was killed in a plane accident while training on October 31, 1964.[ The Theodore C. Freeman Highway was opened in 1966.
In 1974, US 9 was extended across the ferry from New Jersey to Delaware, replacing DE 28 between Laurel and Georgetown and DE 18 between Georgetown and Five Points. Between Five Points and the terminal of the Cape May–Lewes Ferry, US 9 followed DE 1/DE 14, Kings Highway, and Theodore C. Freeman Highway before coming to Cape Henlopen Drive. At the same time, US 9 Bus. was designated onto the former alignment of DE 18 between Five Points and Lewes as well as a portion of Cape Henlopen Drive connecting to US 9.] US 9 Truck was created as a truck bypass of the portion of US 9 through Georgetown in 1983. DE 404 was extended to follow US 9 between Georgetown and Five Points by 1987.
In 1991, the Five Points intersection was reconfigured to separate the DE 23 and Plantation Road intersection from US 9/DE 404, with a short connector road linking US 9/DE 404 to the two roads. In addition, a jughandle was constructed from eastbound US 9/DE 404 to northbound DE 1. In 2004, the Delaware Department of Transportation
The Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) is an agency of the U.S. state of Delaware. The Secretary of Transportation is Shanté Hastings. The agency was established in 1917 and has its headquarters in Dover, Delaware, Dover.
The depar ...
began a study on converting the Five Points intersection into an interchange in addition to developing plans on widening US 9/DE 404 west of the Five Points intersection. Alternatives for these projects were presented at public workshops between 2004 and 2008, although the projects were canceled due to lack of support and financial limitations.
On January 25, 2021, construction began to realign Airport and Sand Hill roads at their intersection with US 9/DE 404 east of Georgetown as part of a larger project to create an eastern gateway into Georgetown. Construction was expected to be completed in April 2021.
In 2022, construction began to reconfigure the intersection between US 9/DE 404 and DE 1D/DE 23 that would realign DE 1D and DE 23 to meet at a roundabout
A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junct ...
and intersect a longer connector road linking to US 9/DE 404 and also build a direct ramp from southbound DE 1 to US 9/DE 404 at the DE 1D/DE 23 intersection. The connector to DE 1D/DE 23 and the ramp from southbound DE 1 opened on May 16, 2024. A proposed construction project will widen US 9 along Kings Highway between DE 1 and Theodore C. Freeman Highway near Lewes. The road will be widened to a four-lane divided highway with shared-use paths on both sides of the road. Along this stretch, roundabouts will be constructed at Dartmouth Drive, Clay Road, Gills Neck Road, the entrance to proposed developments, and Theodore C. Freeman Highway.
Major intersections
See also
*
References
External links
US 9 at AARoads.com
Delaware Roads - US 9
{{state detail page browse, type=US, route=9, state=Delaware, stateafter=New Jersey
09
Transportation in Sussex County, Delaware