Delaware Route 2

Delaware Route 2
DE 2 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by DelDOT
Length	10.81 mi[1] (17.40 km)
Existed	1936[2]–present
Major junctions
West end	DE 72 / DE 273 in Newark
Major intersections	DE 72 near Newark DE 7 in Marshallton DE 41 / DE 62 in Prices Corner DE 141 in Prices Corner DE 100 in Elsmere DE 48 in Wilmington DE 9 in Wilmington
East end	DE 52 in Wilmington
Location
Country	United States
State	Delaware
Counties	New Castle
Highway system
Delaware State Route System List Byways
← DE 1D → DE 3

Delaware Route 2 (DE 2) is a 10.81-mile-long (17.40 km) east–west state highway located in the northern part of New Castle County in the U.S. state of Delaware. It runs from DE 72 and DE 273 on the eastern edge of Newark east to DE 52 in Wilmington. Between Newark and Wilmington, the route is a four- to six-lane divided highway called Capitol Trail and Kirkwood Highway that passes through suburban areas, running through Marshallton, Prices Corner, and Elsmere. In Wilmington, DE 2 is routed along the one-way pair of Lincoln Street eastbound and Union Street westbound, passing through urban areas.

What would become DE 2 was paved by 1924 and became a state highway in 1927, receiving the DE 2 designation by 1936. At this time, the western terminus of the route was at the Maryland state line southwest of Newark, where the road continued into that state as Maryland Route 279 (MD 279). The road was progressively widened into a divided highway from Wilmington to Newark between 1940 and 1964, bypassing some portions of the road which are now known as Old Capitol Trail. DE 2 was routed to bypass Newark to the south by 1990, with DE 2 Business (DE 2 Bus.) designated on the former route through Newark. In 2013, the western terminus of DE 2 was truncated to its current location and DE 2 Bus. was decommissioned. The westernmost portion of the former route was designated as DE 279, matching the route number just across the Maryland state line.