Delaware Route 286 (DE 286), also known as Bethel Church Road, is a 1.73-mile (2.78 km) two-lane undivided state highway in New Castle County, Delaware. The route runs from the Maryland border, where the road becomes Maryland Route 286 (MD 286), east to DE 15. The route passes through rural areas with some homes. DE 286, along with MD 286 and DE 15, forms a link between Chesapeake City, Maryland, and Summit Bridge, Delaware. The road was paved in the 1930s and became DE 286 in the 1990s.
Route description
DE 286 eastbound past its western terminus at MD 286 the Maryland state line
DE 286 begins at the Maryland border, where the road continues west into that state as MD 286 toward the town of Chesapeake City, and continues east on two-lane undivided Bethel Church Road through farmland. A short distance later, the road runs between residential developments. The road then passes between homes to the north and rural areas to the south before becoming lined with farms on both sides. DE 286 reaches its eastern terminus at DE 15, which heads south on Choptank Road and northeast on Bethel Church Road, at a roundabout.[3][4] DE 286 has an annual average daily traffic count of 4,597 vehicles.[1]
History
By 1920, what is now DE 286 existed as an unimproved county road.[5][6] The road in Delaware was paved by 1936 and served as part of the route between Summit Bridge and Chesapeake City.[7] Bethel Church Road from the state line east to DE 15 was designated DE 286 around 1994, extending the number from MD 286.[2] On November 20, 2009, a roundabout opened at the eastern terminus at DE 15.[8]
^ abDelaware Department of Transportation Division of Planning Cartographic Information Section (1994). Delaware Official State Map(PDF) (Map). Dover: Delaware Department of Transportation. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
^Delaware Department of Transportation (2017). Official Travel & Transportation Map(PDF) (Map). Dover: Delaware Department of Transportation. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
^Delaware State Highway Department (1920). Official Road Map(PDF) (Map). Dover: Delaware State Highway Department. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
^Delaware State Highway Department (1924). Official Road Map(PDF) (Map). Dover: Delaware State Highway Department. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
^Delaware State Highway Department; The National Survey Co. (1936). Official Road Map of the State of Delaware(PDF) (Map) (1936–1937 ed.). Dover: Delaware State Highway Department. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
MD 286 near Chesapeake City, MD
DE 15 near Summit Bridge
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