INTERSTATE 495 (DELAWARE)

'Interstate 495' (abbreviated 'I-495') in Delaware is a six-lane three-digit 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. Highway 202 and the Pennsylvania state line.
Although the most recent of all three of Delaware's Interstate highways, I-495 had to be totally 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 Route I-95," like that on Interstate 83 in York, Pennsylvania. The mayor of Wilmington has staunchly rejected the proposal.

Contents

Exits

Exits

'NOTE:' These are the current exits on I-495; the proposed exit numbers are listed as if I-95 was rerouted according to the 1978-1982 alignment.

County	Municipality	Mile	# (current)	# (proposed)	Destinations	Notes
Southern terminus of I-495. I-495 southbound defaults onto I-95 southbound.
New Castle	Newport				DE 141 - New Castle, Lancaster, PA	SB only; eliminates weaving btwn I-95/I-495 jct & DE 141
			5C	5C	I-295 - Del Mem Br, New Jersey-New York	Southbound exit ramp only
	Minquadale		1	6	US 13 - Wilmington, Dover
	Wilmington		2	7	DE 9A - Terminal Avenue, Port of Wilmington	To DE 9
			3	8	12th Street
			4	9	US 13/DE 3 - Governor Printz Blvd, Edgemoor
	Claymont		5	10	US 13 - Philadelphia Pike, Claymont
			6	11A	DE 92 - Naamans Road	SB only, to Tri-State Mall
Northern terminus of I-495. I-495 northbound defaults onto I-95 northbound.