The Summit Bridge carries U.S. Route 301

U.S. Route 301

U.S. Route 301 is a spur of U.S. Route 1 running through the South Atlantic States. It currently runs 1,099 miles from Glasgow, Delaware at U.S. Route 40 to Sarasota, Florida. It passes through the states of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida...

 and Delaware Routes 71

Delaware Route 71

Delaware Route 71 is a state highway in New Castle County, Delaware. The route loops off U.S. Route 13 from south of Townsend to Tybouts Corner, traveling to the west of US 13 by way of Townsend, Middletown, and the Summit Bridge...

 and 896 across the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, connecting Newark, Delaware

Newark, Delaware

Newark is an American city in New Castle County, Delaware, west-southwest of Wilmington. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the city is 31,454. Newark is the home of the University of Delaware.- History :...

 with Dover, Delaware

Dover, Delaware

The city of Dover is the capital and second largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, and the principal city of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kent County. It is located on the St. Jones River in the Delaware...

 (via Delaware Rt. 71) and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge

Chesapeake Bay Bridge

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge is a major dual-span bridge in the U.S. state of Maryland. Spanning the Chesapeake Bay, it connects the state's rural Eastern Shore region with the more urban Western Shore. The original span opened in 1952 and, at the time, with a length of , it was the world's longest...

 (via U.S. Rt. 301). The bridge also carries Delaware Bicycle Route 1

Delaware Bicycle Route 1

Delaware Bicycle Route 1 is a bicycle route that runs the north-south length of the U.S. state of Delaware, from the Maryland border in Fenwick Island, Sussex County north to the Pennsylvania border near Montchanin, New Castle County. The route passes through many Delaware scenes, including...

, a bicycle route that spans the length of the state of Delaware, across the canal. Opened in 1961, the Summit Bridge was the second four-lane high-level crossing in Delaware and was designed for a future upgrade of U.S. Rt. 301 to a four-lane limited access toll road connecting the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and the Delaware Turnpike

Delaware Turnpike

The Delaware Turnpike, also known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway, is an tolled highway that lies entirely within the state of Delaware. Running in a general southwest to northeast direction, paralleling nearby U.S...

 (I-95

Interstate 95 in Delaware

In Delaware, Interstate 95 runs diagonally from the border with Maryland northeast to the border with Pennsylvania. Between the Maryland state line and exit 5, I-95 is also designated as the Delaware Turnpike and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway. Along with its auxiliaries, I-95 is the only...

), but such plans have been shelved by both the Maryland and Delaware Departments of Transportation (it has since been resurrected by DelDOT as a realignment of US 301 connecting Maryland and Delaware Route 1 near the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Bridge). The current bridge replaces a former swing span structure that was demolished when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rerouted the canal to a new sea-level channel south of Lums Pond State Park

Lums Pond State Park

Lums Pond State Park is a 1790-acre Delaware state park near Bear, New Castle County, Delaware in the United States. The park surrounds Lums Pond, an impoundment built by the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal on St. Georges Creek...

. A construction project on the approaches to the bridge currently has traffic reduced to two lanes across the bridge.

See also

• List of crossings of the Cheasapeake & Delaware Canal