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Delaware TurnpikeThe Delaware Turnpike (also known as the Delaware portion of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway) is an 11 mile-long expressway which joins Maryland's John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway (which carries Interstate 95 in Maryland) at the Delaware-Maryland border. At its northern end, the Delaware Turnpike essentially splits. It provides connections to the continuation of Interstate 95 through Wilmington to Chester and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and to northbound Interstate 295 which leads to the Delaware Memorial Bridge and the New Jersey Turnpike and I-295 in New Jersey. History In 1955, state officials developed a proposal for a new toll road, the Delaware Turnpike, which was to connect the Delaware Memorial Bridge with the Northeast Expressway, a toll road being developed by the state of Maryland. Together with the New Jersey Turnpike and other routes, a nonstop route would be provided from New York City to Washington, DC. Original plans called for the Delaware Turnpike to be financed by Delaware Memorial Bridge tolls, but soon after plans were announced, a new agency was created to fund, construct and maintain the toll road. Although the federal Interstate Highway System was begun shortly thereafter (beginning in 1956), the plans for the urgently needed road to be built as a toll facility continued. Construction took place from 1960 to 1963, at a cost of $30 million. On November 15, 1963, just one week before his assassination in Dallas Texas, President John F. Kennedy opened the 11 miles of the Delaware Turnpike and the 47 miles of Maryland's Northeast Expressway (later renamed the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway) at the Delaware-Maryland border. The date was also the bicentennial of the Mason-Dixon Line which divides the two states. Widening, tolls Over the years, the Delaware State Highway Department, and later, the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) made improvements to the original four-lane turnpike. Between 1968 and 1972, the turnpike was widened to six lanes, a project that was funded by turnpike tolls. An additional traffic lane was added to a large portion in the 1980s. The highway was originally constructed as a toll-facility, and it continues to be funded in this manner. The toll for automobiles in 2005 was $2. External Links
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