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U.S. Route 202 in Delaware

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144-635: U.S. Route 202 ( US 202 ) is a US Highway running from New Castle, Delaware , northeast to Bangor, Maine . The southernmost section of the route in the U.S. state of Delaware passes through northern New Castle County . It runs from its southern terminus at an interchange with US 13 / US 40 near the Wilmington Airport north to the Pennsylvania state line in Brandywine Hundred . The route passes east of

288-567: A "quasi-public corporation" to take over the operation of intercity passenger trains. Matters were brought to a head on June 21, 1970, when the Penn Central , the largest railroad in the Northeastern United States and teetering on bankruptcy, filed to discontinue 34 of its passenger trains. In October 1970, Congress passed, and President Richard Nixon signed into law (against the objections of most of his advisors),

432-718: A "transitional CEO" who would reorganize Amtrak before turning it over to new leadership. On November 17, 2016, the Gateway Program Development Corporation (GDC) was formed for the purpose of overseeing and effectuating the rail infrastructure improvements known as the Gateway Program. GDC is a partnership of the States of New York and New Jersey and Amtrak. The Gateway Program includes the Hudson Tunnel Project, to build

576-425: A banner such as alternate or bypass —are also managed by AASHTO. These are sometimes designated with lettered suffixes, like A for alternate or B for business. The official route log, last published by AASHTO in 1989, has been named United States Numbered Highways since its initial publication in 1926. Within the route log, "U.S. Route" is used in the table of contents, while "United States Highway" appears as

720-521: A day's pay for 100-to-150-mile (160 to 240 km) workdays. Streamliners covered that in two hours. Matters approached a crisis in the 1960s. Passenger service route-miles fell from 107,000 miles (172,000 km) in 1958 to 49,000 miles (79,000 km) in 1970, the last full year of private operation. The diversion of most United States Post Office Department mail from passenger trains to trucks, airplanes, and freight trains in late 1967 deprived those trains of badly needed revenue. In direct response,

864-521: A distinctively-shaped white shield with large black numerals in the center. Often, the shield is displayed against a black square or rectangular background. Each state manufactures their own signage, and as such subtle variations exist all across the United States. Individual states may use cut-out or rectangular designs, some have black outlines, and California prints the letters "US" above the numerals. One- and two-digit shields generally feature

1008-577: A large overhang of debt from years of underfunding. In the mid-1990s, Amtrak suffered through a serious cash crunch. Under Downs, Congress included a provision in the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 that resulted in Amtrak receiving a $ 2.3 billion tax refund that resolved their cash crisis. However, Congress also instituted a "glide path" to financial self-sufficiency, excluding railroad retirement tax act payments. George Warrington became

1152-623: A main route. Odd numbers generally increase from east to west; U.S. Route 1 (US 1) follows the Atlantic Coast and US 101 follows the Pacific Coast. (US 101 is one of the many exceptions to the standard numbering grid; its first "digit" is "10", and it is a main route on its own and not a spur of US 1.) Even numbers tend to increase from north to south; US 2 closely follows the Canadian border, and US 98 hugs

1296-441: A means for interstate travelers to access local services and as secondary feeder roads or as important major arteries in their own right. In other places, where there are no nearby Interstate Highways, the U.S. Routes often remain as the most well-developed roads for long-distance travel. While the system's growth has slowed in recent decades, the U.S. Highway System remains in place to this day and new routes are occasionally added to

1440-527: A modified cloverleaf interchange with the northern terminus of DE 202 at the northern edge of Wilmington, at which point US 202 splits from I-95. Upon splitting from I-95, US 202 heads north on the six-lane divided Concord Pike into the Brandywine Hundred area, running between Alapocas Run State Park to the west and the Rock Manor Golf Course to the east and passing over East Park Drive before coming to an interchange with

1584-634: A new tunnel under the Hudson River and rehabilitate the existing century-old tunnel, and the Portal North Bridge, to replace a century-old moveable bridge with a modern structure that is less prone to failure. Later projects of the Gateway Program, including the expansion of track and platforms at Penn Station New York, construction of the Bergen Loop and other improvements will roughly double capacity for Amtrak and NJ Transit trains in

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1728-447: A part of popular culture. US 101 continues east and then south to end at Olympia, Washington . The western terminus of US 2 is now at Everett, Washington . Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation , doing business as Amtrak ( / ˈ æ m t r æ k / ; reporting marks AMTK , AMTZ ), is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of

1872-602: A rough grid. Major routes from the earlier map were assigned numbers ending in 0, 1 or 5 (5 was soon relegated to less-major status), and short connections received three-digit numbers based on the main highway from which they spurred. The five-man committee met September 25, and submitted the final report to the Joint Board secretary on October 26. The board sent the report to the Secretary of Agriculture on October 30, and he approved it November 18, 1925. The new system

2016-742: A short distance to the northwest. The road enters the city of Wilmington and curves to the north, passing to the west of Daniel S. Frawley Stadium , which is home of the Wilmington Blue Rocks baseball team, and the Chase Center on the Riverfront convention center as it heads west of the Wilmington Riverfront . I-95/US 202 continues towards downtown Wilmington and crosses onto a viaduct, passing over Norfolk Southern's Wilmington & Northern Running Track and

2160-511: A signalized intersection. In addition, the interchange ramps were repaved and bridges were rehabilitated. The project was finished in July ;2015, months behind schedule due to the closure of I-495 in 2014. On August 7, 2015, a dedication ceremony to mark the completion of the project was held, with Governor Jack Markell , Senator Tom Carper , and DelDOT secretary Jennifer Cohan in attendance. The project, which cost over $ 33 million,

2304-567: A year, its highest number since its founding in 1970. Politico noted a key problem: "the rail system chronically operates in the red. A pattern has emerged: Congress overrides cutbacks demanded by the White House and appropriates enough funds to keep Amtrak from plunging into insolvency. But, Amtrak advocates say, that is not enough to fix the system's woes." Joseph H. Boardman replaced Kummant as president and CEO in late 2008. In 2011, Amtrak announced its intention to improve and expand

2448-637: Is a north–south route, unlike its parent US 22 , which is east–west. As originally assigned, the first digit of the spurs increased from north to south and east to west along the parent; for example, US 60 had spurs, running from east to west, designated as US 160 in Missouri , US 260 in Oklahoma , US 360 in Texas , and US 460 and US 560 in New Mexico . As with

2592-439: Is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States . As the designation and numbering of these highways were coordinated among the states, they are sometimes called Federal Highways , but the roadways were built and have always been maintained by state or local governments since their initial designation in 1926. The route numbers and locations are coordinated by

2736-467: Is headed by a Board of Directors, two of whom are the Secretary of Transportation and CEO of Amtrak, while the other eight members are nominated to serve a term of five years. Amtrak's network includes over 500 stations along 21,400 miles (34,000 km) of track. It directly owns approximately 623 miles (1,003 km) of this track and operates an additional 132 miles of track; the remaining mileage

2880-772: Is in the process of eliminating all intrastate U.S. Highways less than 300 miles (480 km) in length "as rapidly as the State Highway Department and the Standing Committee on Highways of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials can reach agreement with reference thereto". New additions to the system must serve more than one state and "substantially meet the current AASHTO design standards ". A version of this policy has been in place since 1937. The original major transcontinental routes in 1925, along with

3024-737: Is now US 202 along Basin Road was completed as a state highway. When the US Highway System was established in 1926, US 122 was designated to follow the Concord Pike between US 13 (Philadelphia Pike) in Wilmington and the Pennsylvania state line, heading north into that state and continuing to US 22 at Whitehouse, New Jersey . In 1934, US 122 was redesignated US 202. Also at this time, US 202

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3168-640: Is over rail lines owned by other railroad companies. While most track speeds are limited to 79 mph (127 km/h) or less, several lines have been upgraded to support top speeds of 110 mph (180 km/h), and parts of the Northeast Corridor support top speeds of 160 mph (260 km/h). In fiscal year 2022, Amtrak served 22.9 million passengers and had $ 2.1 billion in revenue, with more than 17,100 employees as of fiscal year 2021. Nearly 87,000 passengers ride more than 300 Amtrak trains daily. Nearly two-thirds of passengers come from

3312-616: Is owned by New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Connecticut Department of Transportation as the New Haven Line .) This mainline became Amtrak's "jewel" asset, and helped the railroad generate revenue. While the NEC ridership and revenues were higher than any other segment of the system, the cost of operating and maintaining the corridor proved to be overwhelming. As a result, Amtrak's federal subsidy

3456-591: Is part of the National Highway System . The Wilmington and Great Valley Turnpike Company was chartered on January 23, 1811 to build a turnpike running north from Wilmington along the Concord road, continuing to West Chester and Great Valley in Pennsylvania. Construction on the turnpike progressed throughout the 1810s. The Wilmington and Great Valley Turnpike was known in Delaware as

3600-590: Is powered by overhead lines ; for the rest of the system, diesel-fueled locomotives are used. Routes vary widely in the frequency of service, from three-days-a-week trains on the Sunset Limited to several times per hour on the Northeast Corridor. For areas not served by trains, Amtrak Thruway routes provide guaranteed connections to trains via buses, vans, ferries and other modes. The most popular and heavily used services are those running on

3744-763: The California Zephyr between Oakland and Chicago via Denver and revived the Auto Train , a unique service that carries both passengers and their vehicles. Amtrak advertised it as a great way to avoid traffic along the I-95 running between Lorton, Virginia (near Washington, D.C.) and Sanford, Florida (near Orlando) on the Silver Star alignment. In 1980s and 1990s, stations in Baltimore, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. received major rehabilitation and

3888-442: The 10 largest metropolitan areas and 83% of passengers travel on routes shorter than 400 miles (645 km). In 1916, 98% of all commercial intercity travelers in the United States moved by rail, and the remaining 2% moved by inland waterways . Nearly 42 million passengers used railways as primary transportation. Passenger trains were owned and operated by the same privately owned companies that operated freight trains. As

4032-566: The American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO), worked to form a national numbering system to rationalize the roads. After several meetings, a final report was approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in November 1925. After getting feedback from the states, they made several modifications; the U.S. Highway System was approved on November 11, 1926. Expansion of the U.S. Highway System continued until 1956, when

4176-532: The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The only federal involvement in AASHTO is a nonvoting seat for the United States Department of Transportation . Generally, most north-to-south highways are odd-numbered, with the lowest numbers in the east and the highest in the west, while east-to-west highways are typically even-numbered, with the lowest numbers in

4320-477: The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway filed to discontinue 33 of its remaining 39 trains, ending almost all passenger service on one of the largest railroads in the country. The equipment the railroads had ordered after World War II was now 20 years old, worn out, and in need of replacement. As passenger service declined, various proposals were brought forward to rescue it. The 1961 Doyle Report proposed that

4464-1018: The COVID-19 pandemic , Amtrak continued operating as an essential service. It started requiring face coverings the week of May 17, and limited sales to 50% of capacity. Most long-distance routes were reduced to three weekly round trips in October 2020. In March 2021, following President Joe Biden's American Jobs Plan announcement, Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn outlined a proposal called Amtrak Connects US that would expand state-supported intercity corridors with an infusion of upfront capital assistance. This would expand service to cities including Las Vegas , Phoenix , Baton Rouge , Nashville , Chattanooga , Louisville , Columbus (Ohio) , Wilmington (North Carolina) , Cheyenne , Montgomery , Concord , and Scranton . Also in March 2021, Amtrak announced plans to return 12 of its long-distance routes to daily schedules later in

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4608-505: The Everett Turnpike . However, US Routes in the system do use parts of five toll roads: U.S. Routes in the contiguous United States follow a grid pattern, in which odd-numbered routes run generally north to south and even-numbered routes run generally east to west, though three-digit spur routes can be either-or. Usually, one- and two-digit routes are major routes, and three-digit routes are numbered as shorter spur routes from

4752-688: The Gulf Freeway carried US 75 , the Pasadena Freeway carried US 66 , and the Pulaski Skyway carries US 1 and US 9 . The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 appropriated funding for the Interstate Highway System, to construct a vast network of freeways across the country. By 1957, AASHO had decided to assign a new grid to the new routes, to be numbered in the opposite directions as

4896-658: The Highway Trust Fund and Aviation Trust Fund paid for by user fees, highway fuel and road taxes, and, in the case of the General Fund, from general taxation. Gunn dropped most freight express business and worked to eliminate deferred maintenance. A plan by the Bush administration "to privatize parts of the national passenger rail system and spin off other parts to partial state ownership" provoked disagreement within Amtrak's board of directors. Late in 2005, Gunn

5040-539: The Interstate Highway System was laid out and began construction under the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower . After the national implementation of the Interstate Highway System, many U.S. Routes that had been bypassed or overlaid with Interstate Highways were decommissioned and removed from the system. In some places, the U.S. Routes remain alongside the Interstates and serve as

5184-618: The New England states got together to establish the six-state New England Interstate Routes . Behind the scenes, the federal aid program had begun with the passage of the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 , providing 50% monetary support from the federal government for improvement of major roads. The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 limited the routes to 7% of each state's roads, while 3 in every 7 roads had to be "interstate in character". Identification of these main roads

5328-537: The Pacific coast . Many local disputes arose related to the committee's choices between designation of two roughly equal parallel routes, which were often competing auto trails. At their January meeting, AASHO approved the first two of many split routes (specifically US 40 between Manhattan, Kansas and Limon, Colorado and US 50 between Baldwin City, Kansas and Garden City, Kansas ). In effect, each of

5472-485: The Pennsylvania state line, where it continues into that state as Wilmington-West Chester Pike. US 202 in Delaware has an annual average daily traffic count ranging from a high of 118,720 vehicles at the south end of Wilmington along the I-95 concurrency to a low of 30,643 vehicles at the intersection with Augustine Cut-Off between I-95 and DE 141/DE 261. The entire length of US 202 in Delaware

5616-636: The Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976. A large part of the legislation was directed to the creation of Conrail , but the law also enabled the transfer of the portions of the NEC not already owned by state authorities to Amtrak. Amtrak acquired the majority of the NEC on April 1, 1976. (The portion in Massachusetts is owned by the Commonwealth and managed by Amtrak. The route from New Haven to New Rochelle

5760-415: The auto trails which they roughly replaced, were as follows: US 10, US 60, and US 90 only ran about two thirds of the way across the country, while US 11 and US 60 ran significantly diagonally. US 60's violation of two of the conventions would prove to be one of the major sticking points; US 60 eventually was designated as US 66 in 1926, and later it became

5904-409: The 1940s and 1950s to adopt the same number as the U.S. Route they connected to – mostly in the western provinces. Examples include British Columbia 's highways 93 , 95 , 97 , and 99 ; Manitoba 's highways 59 , 75 , and 83 ; or Ontario King's Highway 71 . The reverse happened with U.S. Route 57 , originally a Texas state highway numbered to match Mexican Federal Highway 57 . In the 1950s,

U.S. Route 202 in Delaware - Misplaced Pages Continue

6048-559: The 20th century progressed, patronage declined in the face of competition from buses , air travel , and the car . New streamlined diesel-powered trains such as the Pioneer Zephyr were popular with the traveling public but could not reverse the trend. By 1940, railroads held 67 percent of commercial passenger-miles in the United States. In real terms, passenger-miles had fallen by 40% since 1916, from 42 billion to 25 billion. Traffic surged during World War II , which

6192-489: The 48 contiguous U.S. states and three Canadian provinces . Amtrak is a portmanteau of the words America and track. Founded in 1971 as a quasi-public corporation to operate many U.S. passenger rail routes, Amtrak receives a combination of state and federal subsidies but is managed as a for-profit organization . The company's headquarters is located one block west of Union Station in Washington, D.C. Amtrak

6336-620: The California corridor trains accounted for a combined 2.35 million passengers in fiscal year 2021. Other popular routes include the Empire Service between New York City and Niagara Falls , via Albany and Buffalo , which carried 613.2 thousand passengers in fiscal year 2021, and the Keystone Service between New York City and Harrisburg via Philadelphia that carried 394.3 thousand passengers that same year. Four of

6480-432: The Concord Pike. The Concord Pike was taken over by New Castle County in 1911, at which point the tolls were removed. A portion of the Concord Pike near Talleyville was incorporated into the state highway system by 1920, with the remainder of the road proposed to become a state highway. By 1924, the Concord Pike between Blue Ball and Talleyville was a state highway, with the remainder remaining a county road. A year later, what

6624-451: The DOT's analysis was far too optimistic, with director George Shultz arguing to cut the number of routes by around half. Nixon agreed with Shultz, and the public draft presented by Volpe on November 30 consisted of only 16 routes. The initial reaction to this heavily-cut-back proposed system from the public, the press, and congressmen was strongly negative. It made front-page headlines across

6768-467: The Empire Connection tunnel opened in 1991, allowing Amtrak to consolidate all New York services at Penn Station. Despite the improvements, Amtrak's ridership stagnated at roughly 20 million passengers per year, amid uncertain government aid from 1981 to about 2000. In the early 1990s, Amtrak tested several different high-speed trains from Europe on the Northeast Corridor. An X 2000 train

6912-484: The Gulf Coast. The longest routes connecting major cities are generally numbered to end in a 1 or a 0; however, extensions and truncations have made this distinction largely meaningless. These guidelines are very rough, and exceptions to all of the basic numbering rules exist. The numbering system also extended beyond the borders of the United States in an unofficial manner. Many Canadian highways were renumbered in

7056-478: The NEC and rises in automobile fuel costs. The inauguration of the high-speed Acela in late 2000 generated considerable publicity and led to major ridership gains. However, through the late 1990s and very early 21st century, Amtrak could not add sufficient express freight revenue or cut sufficient other expenditures to break even. By 2002, it was clear that Amtrak could not achieve self-sufficiency, but Congress continued to authorize funding and released Amtrak from

7200-642: The NEC, including the Acela and Northeast Regional . The NEC runs between Boston and Washington, D.C. via New York City and Philadelphia. Some services continue into Virginia . The NEC services accounted for 4.4 million of Amtrak's 12.2 million passengers in fiscal year 2021. Outside the NEC the most popular services are the short-haul corridors in California, the Pacific Surfliner , Capitol Corridor , and San Joaquins , which are supplemented by an extensive network of connecting buses. Together

7344-1003: The NRPC as a politically expedient way for the President and Congress to give passenger trains a "last hurrah" as demanded by the public. They expected the NRPC to quietly disappear as public interest waned. After Fortune magazine exposed the manufactured mismanagement in 1974, Louis W. Menk , chairman of the Burlington Northern Railroad , remarked that the story was undermining the scheme to dismantle Amtrak. Proponents also hoped that government intervention would be brief and that Amtrak would soon be able to support itself. Neither view had proved to be correct; popular support allowed Amtrak to continue in operation longer than critics imagined, while financial results made passenger train service returning to private railroad operations infeasible. The Rail Passenger Service Act gave

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7488-421: The NRPC had hired Lippincott & Margulies to create a brand for it and replace its original working brand name of Railpax. On March 30, L&M's work was presented to the NRPC's board of incorporators, who unanimously agreed on the "headless arrow" logo and on the new brand name "Amtrak", a portmanteau of the words America and trak , the latter itself a sensational spelling of track . The name change

7632-601: The Navy and retired Southern Railway head William Graham Claytor Jr. came out of retirement to lead Amtrak. During his time at Southern, Claytor was a vocal critic of Amtrak's prior managers, who all came from non-railroading backgrounds. Transportation Secretary Drew Lewis cited this criticism as a reason why the Democrat Claytor was acceptable to the Reagan White House. Despite frequent clashes with

7776-492: The Northeast Corridor before coming to an interchange with DE 4 and DE 48 that provides access to the downtown area and the Wilmington Riverfront. At this point, the four-lane freeway continues northeast, with one-way northbound North Adams Street to the east and one-way southbound North Jackson Street to the west serving as frontage roads . I-95/US 202 continues through residential areas to

7920-697: The Northeast Corridor, some of which connect to it or are extensions from it. In addition to its inter-city services, Amtrak also operates commuter services under contract for three public agencies: the MARC Penn Line in Maryland, Shore Line East in Connecticut, and Metrolink in Southern California. Service on the Northeast Corridor (NEC), between Boston , and Washington, D.C. , as well as between Philadelphia and Harrisburg ,

8064-498: The Northeast Corridor, state-supported short-haul service outside the Northeast Corridor, and medium- and long-haul service known within Amtrak as the National Network. Amtrak receives federal funding for the vast majority of its operations including the central spine of the Northeast Corridor as well as for its National Network routes. In addition to the federally funded routes, Amtrak partners with transportation agencies in 18 states to operate other short and medium-haul routes outside of

8208-544: The Northeast, New York held out for fewer routes designated as US highways. The Pennsylvania representative, who had not attended the local meetings, convinced AASHO to add a dense network of routes, which had the effect of giving six routes termini along the state line. (Only US 220 still ends near the state line, and now it ends at an intersection with future I-86 .) Because US 20 seemed indirect, passing through Yellowstone National Park , Idaho and Oregon requested that US 30 be swapped with US 20 to

8352-406: The November 30th draft. These required routes only had their endpoints specified; the selection of the actual routes to be taken between the endpoints was left to the NRPC, which had just three months to decide them before it was due to start service. Consultants from McKinsey & Company were hired to perform this task, and their results were publicly announced on March 22. At the same time,

8496-474: The Rail Passenger Service Act. Proponents of the bill, led by the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP), sought government funding to ensure the continuation of passenger trains. They conceived the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (NRPC), a quasi-public corporation that would be managed as a for-profit organization , but which would receive taxpayer funding and assume operation of intercity passenger trains – while many involved in drafting

8640-473: The Reagan administration over funding, Claytor enjoyed a good relationship with Lewis, John H. Riley , the head of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and with members of Congress. Limited funding led Claytor to use short-term debt to fund operations. Building on mechanical developments in the 1970s, high-speed Washington–New York Metroliner Service was improved with new equipment and faster schedules. Travel time between New York and Washington, D.C.

8784-401: The Secretary of Transportation, at that time John A. Volpe , thirty days to produce an initial draft of the endpoints of the routes the NRPC would be required by law to serve for four years. On November 24 Volpe presented his initial draft consisting of 27 routes to Nixon, which he believed would make a $ 24 million profit by 1975. The Office of Management and Budget , however, believed Volpe and

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8928-595: The U.S. Highway grid. Though the Interstate numbers were to supplement—rather than replace—the U.S. Route numbers, in many cases (especially in the West ) the US highways were rerouted along the new Interstates. Major decommissioning of former routes began with California 's highway renumbering in 1964 . The 1985 removal of US 66 is often seen as the end of an era of US highways. A few major connections not served by Interstate Highways include US 6 from Hartford, Connecticut, to Providence, Rhode Island and US 93 from Phoenix, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada, though

9072-476: The US Highway system, three-digit numbers are assigned to spurs of one or two-digit routes. US 201 , for example, splits from US 1 at Brunswick, Maine , and runs north to Canada. Not all spurs travel in the same direction as their "parents"; some are connected to their parents only by other spurs, or not at all, instead only traveling near their parents, Also, a spur may travel in different cardinal directions than its parent, such as US 522 , which

9216-477: The US highway, which did not end in zero, but was still seen as a satisfyingly round number. Route 66 came to have a prominent place in popular culture, being featured in song and films. With 32 states already marking their routes, the plan was approved by AASHO on November 11, 1926. This plan included a number of directionally split routes, several discontinuous routes (including US 6 , US 19 and US 50 ), and some termini at state lines. By

9360-504: The United States Numbered Highways system had a total length of 157,724 miles (253,832 km). Except for toll bridges and tunnels , very few U.S. Routes are toll roads . AASHTO policy says that a toll road may only be included as a special route , and that "a toll-free routing between the same termini shall continue to be retained and marked as a part of the U.S. Numbered System." U.S. Route 3 (US 3) meets this obligation; in New Hampshire , it does not follow tolled portions of

9504-427: The airport concurrent with Delaware Route 141 (DE 141) before coming to an interchange with Interstate 95 (I-95). At this point, US 202 heads northeast along with I-95 through Wilmington . Just north of Wilmington, US 202 splits from I-95 by running north on Concord Pike through the suburban Brandywine Hundred area to the Pennsylvania state line. US 202 is a multilane divided highway

9648-409: The approval of the states along the former US 60. But Missouri and Oklahoma did object—Missouri had already printed maps, and Oklahoma had prepared signs. A compromise was proposed, in which US 60 would split at Springfield, Missouri , into US 60E and US 60N, but both sides objected. The final solution resulted in the assignment of US 66 to the Chicago-Los Angeles portion of

9792-405: The auto trail associations were not able to formally address the meetings. However, as a compromise, they talked with the Joint Board members. The associations finally settled on a general agreement with the numbering plans, as named trails would still be included. The tentative system added up to 81,000 miles (130,000 km), 2.8% of the public road mileage at the time. The second full meeting

9936-455: The bill did not believe the NRPC would actually be profitable, this was necessary in order for the White House and more conservative members of Congress to support the bill. There were several key provisions: Of the 26 railroads still offering intercity passenger service in 1970, only six declined to join the NRPC. Nearly everyone involved expected the experiment to be short-lived. The Nixon administration and many Washington insiders viewed

10080-433: The busiest, most complex section of the Northeast Corridor. In June 2017, it was announced that former Delta and Northwest Airlines CEO Richard Anderson would become Amtrak's next President & CEO. Anderson began the job on July 12, assuming the title of President immediately and serving alongside Moorman as "co-CEOs" until the end of the year. On April 15, 2020, Atlas Air Chairman, President and CEO William Flynn

10224-434: The corridor to make it suitable for higher-speed electric trains. The Northend Electrification Project extended existing electrification from New Haven, Connecticut , to Boston to complete the overhead power supply along the 454-mile (731 km) route, and several grade crossings were improved or removed. Ridership increased during the first decade of the 21st century after the implementation of capital improvements in

10368-477: The country and it was quickly leaked that the DOT had wanted a far larger system than the White House would approve of. The ICC produced its own report on December 29, criticising the proposed draft and arguing for the inclusion of fifteen additional routes, giving further ammunition to the congressmen who wanted an expanded system. Further wrangling between the DOT and the White House produced the final list of routes on January 28, 1971, adding five additional routes to

10512-593: The east before the freeway curves northeast and has an interchange with the southern terminus of I-495 . Following this, I-95/US 202 becomes a six-lane freeway and heads through marshland, crossing the Christina River . The freeway comes to bridges over Norfolk Southern 's Shellpot Secondary and Little Mill Creek as it continues through more wetlands west of the Russell W. Peterson Urban Wildlife Refuge, with Amtrak 's Northeast Corridor running parallel

10656-402: The entire length across Delaware, with the section concurrent with I-95 a freeway . The Concord Pike was originally chartered as the Wilmington and Great Valley Turnpike in 1811, a turnpike that was to connect Wilmington to Great Valley, Pennsylvania . The Concord Pike between US 13 in Wilmington and the Pennsylvania state line became a part of US 122 in 1926. In 1934, US 122

10800-480: The ex- New York Central Railroad 's Water Level Route from New York to Ohio and Grand Trunk Western Railroad 's Chicago to Detroit route. The reduced passenger train schedules created confusion amongst staff. At some stations, Amtrak service was available only late at night or early in the morning, prompting complaints from passengers. Disputes with freight railroads over track usage caused some services to be rerouted, temporarily cancelled, or replaced with buses. On

10944-471: The first documented person to drive an automobile from San Francisco to New York using only a connection of dirt roads, cow paths, and railroad beds. His journey, covered by the press, became a national sensation and called for a system of long-distance roads. In the early 1910s, auto trail organizations—most prominently the Lincoln Highway —began to spring up, marking and promoting routes for

11088-517: The heading for each route. All reports of the Special Committee on Route Numbering since 1989 use "U.S. Route", and federal laws relating to highways use "United States Route" or "U.S. Route" more often than the "Highway" variants. The use of U.S. Route or U.S. Highway on a local level depends on the state, with some states such as Delaware using "route" and others such as Colorado using "highway". In 1903, Horatio Nelson Jackson became

11232-624: The high-speed rail corridor from Penn Station in NYC, under the Hudson River in new tunnels, and double-tracking the line to Newark, NJ , called the Gateway Program , initially estimated to cost $ 13.5 billion (equal to $ 18 billion in 2023). From May 2011 to May 2012, Amtrak celebrated its 40th anniversary with festivities across the country that started on National Train Day (May 7, 2011). A commemorative book entitled Amtrak: An American Story

11376-467: The intended use, provide a parallel routing to the mainline U.S. Highway. Before the U.S. Routes were designated, auto trails designated by auto trail associations were the main means of marking roads through the United States. These were private organizations, and the system of road marking at the time was haphazard and not uniform. In 1925, the Joint Board on Interstate Highways , recommended by

11520-429: The interchange between I-95 and US 202/DE 202 in order to reduce congestion. The project widened the ramp between northbound I-95 and northbound US 202 to two lanes, the ramp between southbound US 202 and southbound I-95 was extended to modern standards, and the ramp between southbound I-95 and southbound DE 202 was relocated from a cloverleaf loop to a directional ramp that intersects DE 202 at

11664-574: The interchange with I-95 north of Wilmington. By 1981, DE 202 was designated along Concord Avenue between US 13 Bus. and I-95, extending south from the southern terminus of US 202. US 202 was extended south to its current terminus at US 13/US 40 near the Wilmington Airport in 1984, following I-95 through Wilmington before heading south along DE 141. In 1992, plans were made to build an interchange with DE 141 and DE 261 north of I-95; however, plans for

11808-701: The job, he is the second-longest serving head of Amtrak since it was formed more than 40 years ago. On December 9, 2015, Boardman announced in a letter to employees that he would be leaving Amtrak in September 2016. He had advised the Amtrak Board of Directors of his decision the previous week. On August 19, 2016, the Amtrak Board of Directors named former Norfolk Southern Railway President & CEO Charles "Wick" Moorman as Boardman's successor with an effective date of September 1, 2016. During his term, Moorman took no salary and said that he saw his role as one of

11952-403: The latter is planned to be upgraded to Interstate 11 . Three state capitals in the contiguous U.S. are served only by U.S. Routes: Dover, Delaware ; Jefferson City, Missouri ; and Pierre, South Dakota . In 1995, the National Highway System was defined to include both the Interstate Highway System and other roads designated as important to the nation's economy, defense, and mobility. AASHTO

12096-483: The more colorful names and historic value of the auto trail systems. The New York Times wrote, "The traveler may shed tears as he drives the Lincoln Highway or dream dreams as he speeds over the Jefferson Highway , but how can he get a 'kick' out of 46, 55 or 33 or 21?" (A popular song later promised, " Get your kicks on Route 66! ") The writer Ernest McGaffey was quoted as saying, "Logarithms will take

12240-516: The new recreation of long-distance automobile travel. The Yellowstone Trail was another of the earliest examples. While many of these organizations worked with towns and states along the route to improve the roadways, others simply chose a route based on towns that were willing to pay dues, put up signs, and did little else. Wisconsin was the first state in the U.S. to number its highways , erecting signs in May 1918. Other states soon followed. In 1922,

12384-593: The north, and the highest in the south, though the grid guidelines are not rigidly followed, and many exceptions exist. Major north–south routes generally have numbers ending in "1", while major east–west routes usually have numbers ending in "0". Three-digit numbered highways are generally spur routes of parent highways; for example, U.S. Route 264 (US 264) is a spur off US 64 . Some divided routes , such as US 19E and US 19W , exist to provide two alignments for one route. Special routes, which can be labeled as alternate, bypass or business, depending on

12528-405: The northern terminus of DE 37 . Past this junction, the median of US 202/DE 141 widens as the road intersects Airport Road and becomes a freeway. The road comes to an interchange with I-95 (Delaware Turnpike) and the southern terminus of I-295 . Here, US 202 splits from DE 141 and heads to the east along I-95, an eight-lane freeway with a wide median. I-295 splits off to

12672-406: The northern terminus of US 301 , which was extended along US 13/US 40 from its previous terminus at State Road to Farnhurst. By 1966, the portion of I-95 that currently carries US 202 was completed between DE 141 and downtown Wilmington. I-95 was completed between downtown Wilmington and the Concord Pike in 1969. In 1970, the southern terminus of US 202 was truncated to

12816-548: The northern terminus of DE 141 and the southern terminus of DE 261 in Blue Ball that also provides access to the Augustine Cut-off. At this interchange, the southbound shoulder becomes a bus lane . Past this interchange, the road enters Fairfax and intersects Powder Mill Road/Murphy Road, where the southbound shoulder bus lane ends. The route passes between AstraZeneca 's North American headquarters to

12960-557: The northern terminus of DE 141 from the Powder Mill Road intersection further north. This interchange was constructed as part of the Blue Ball Properties project, a project undertaken to improve roads in this area as part of AstraZeneca locating their North American headquarters to the area. The project took place between 2002 and 2007 and cost $ 123 million. In December 2011, a project began to improve

13104-506: The numbering grid for the new Interstate Highway System was established as intentionally opposite from the US grid insofar as the direction the route numbers increase. Interstate Highway numbers increase from west-to-east and south-to-north, to keep identically numbered routes geographically apart in order to keep them from being confused with one another, and it omits 50 and 60 which would potentially conflict with US 50 and US 60 . In

13248-437: The optional routes into another route. In 1934, AASHO tried to eliminate many of the split routes by removing them from the log, and designating one of each pair as a three-digit or alternate route, or in one case US 37 . AASHO described its renumbering concept in the October 1934 issue of American Highways : "Wherever an alternate route is not suitable for its own unique two-digit designation, standard procedure assigns

13392-607: The other hand, the creation of the Los Angeles–Seattle Coast Starlight from three formerly separate train routes was an immediate success, resulting in an increase to daily service by 1973. Needing to operate only half the train routes that had operated previously, Amtrak would lease around 1,200 of the best passenger cars from the 3,000 that the private railroads owned. All were air-conditioned, and 90% were easy-to-maintain stainless steel. When Amtrak took over, passenger cars and locomotives initially retained

13536-458: The other states. Many states agreed in general with the scope of the system, but believed the Midwest to have added too many routes to the system. The group adopted the shield, with few modifications from the original sketch, at that meeting, as well as the decision to number rather than name the routes. A preliminary numbering system, with eight major east–west and ten major north–south routes,

13680-479: The overall market share fell to 46% by 1950, and then 32% by 1957. The railroads had lost money on passenger service since the Great Depression , but deficits reached $ 723 million in 1957. For many railroads, these losses threatened financial viability. The causes of this decline were heavily debated. The National Highway System and airports , both funded by the government, competed directly with

13824-433: The paint schemes and logos of their former owners which resulted in Amtrak running trains with mismatched colors – the "Rainbow Era". In mid-1971, Amtrak began purchasing some of the equipment it had leased, including 286 EMD E and F unit diesel locomotives, 30 GG1 electric locomotives and 1,290 passenger cars. By 1975, the official Amtrak color scheme was painted on most Amtrak equipment and newly purchased locomotives and

13968-412: The place of legends, and 'hokum' for history." When the U.S. numbered system was started in 1925, a few optional routings were established which were designated with a suffixed letter after the number indicating "north", "south", "east", or "west". While a few roads in the system are still numbered in this manner, AASHO believes that they should be eliminated wherever possible, by the absorption of one of

14112-503: The portion of US 202 between Murphy Road and Talleyville into a four-lane divided highway. This widening was completed in October ;1954. In 1955, recommendations were made to widen US 202 between Talleyville and the Pennsylvania state line. The divided highway was extended north from Talleyville to the Pennsylvania state line in 1957. By 1954, US 202 was moved onto a new one-way pair through downtown Wilmington, with

14256-441: The portion of the route between Talleyville and the Pennsylvania state line was taken over by the state. In 1941, the portion of US 202 along Baynard Boulevard and from Talleyville to the Pennsylvania state line was reconstructed. In 1953, the portion of US 202 along the Concord Pike between the Wilmington border and Murphy Road was widened into a four-lane divided highway. In September 1953, construction began to widen

14400-624: The private railroads pool their services into a single body. Similar proposals were made in 1965 and 1968 but failed to attract support. The federal government passed the High Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965 to fund pilot programs in the Northeast Corridor , but this did nothing to address passenger deficits. In late 1969, multiple proposals emerged in the United States Congress , including equipment subsidies, route subsidies, and, lastly,

14544-499: The proposed interchange were placed on hold two years later. In 2000, the portion of US 202 between I-95 and DE 141 (Powder Mill Road) was improved, with the alignment shifted to eliminate a few curves, the intersections at DE 261 and DE 141 improved, and a southbound transit lane added. In the 2000s, the Blue Ball Construction Project built an interchange at DE 261 that also relocated

14688-407: The railroads, which, unlike the airline, bus, and trucking companies, paid for their own infrastructure. American car culture was also on the rise in the post-World War II years. Progressive Era rate regulation limited the railroad's ability to turn a profit. Railroads also faced antiquated work rules and inflexible relationships with trade unions. To take one example, workers continued to receive

14832-443: The requirement. In early 2002, David L. Gunn replaced Warrington as seventh president. In a departure from his predecessors' promises to make Amtrak self-sufficient in the short term, Gunn argued that no form of passenger transportation in the United States is self-sufficient as the economy is currently structured. Highways, airports, and air traffic control all require large government expenditures to build and operate, coming from

14976-532: The rolling stock began appearing. Amtrak inherited problems with train stations (most notably deferred maintenance ) and redundant facilities from the competing railroads that once served the same communities. Chicago is a prime example; on the day prior to Amtrak's inception, intercity passenger trains used four different Chicago terminals: LaSalle , Dearborn , North Western Station , Central , and Union. The trains at LaSalle remained there, as their operator Rock Island could not afford to opt into Amtrak. Of all

15120-594: The route and the nominal direction of travel. Second, they are displayed at intersections with other major roads, so that intersecting traffic can follow their chosen course. Third, they can be displayed on large green guide signs that indicate upcoming interchanges on freeways and expressways. Since 1926, some divided routes were designated to serve related areas, and designate roughly-equivalent splits of routes. For instance, US 11 splits into US 11E (east) and US 11W (west) in Bristol, Virginia , and

15264-586: The routes rejoin in Knoxville, Tennessee . Occasionally only one of the two routes is suffixed; US 6N in Pennsylvania does not rejoin US ;6 at its west end. AASHTO has been trying to eliminate these since 1934; its current policy is to deny approval of new split routes and to eliminate existing ones "as rapidly as the State Highway Department and the Standing Committee on Highways can reach agreement with reference thereto". Special routes —those with

15408-500: The same large, bold numerals on a square-dimension shield, while 3-digit routes may either use the same shield with a narrower font, or a wider rectangular-dimension shield. Special routes may be indicated with a banner above the route number, or with a letter suffixed to the route number. Signs are generally displayed in several different locations. First, they are shown along the side of the route at regular intervals or after major intersections (called reassurance markers ), which shows

15552-406: The schedule. Amtrak uses a sliding scale, with trips under 250 miles (400 km) considered late if they are more than 10 minutes behind schedule, up to 30 minutes for trips over 551 miles (887 km) in length. Outside the Northeast Corridor and stretches of track in Southern California and Michigan, most Amtrak trains run on tracks owned and operated by privately owned freight railroads. BNSF

15696-519: The six busiest stations by boardings are on the NEC: New York Penn Station (first), Washington Union Station (second), Philadelphia 30th Street Station (third), and Boston South Station (fifth). The other two are Chicago Union Station (fourth) and Los Angeles Union Station (sixth). On-time performance is calculated differently for airlines than for Amtrak. A plane is considered on-time if it arrives within 15 minutes of

15840-505: The sixth president in 1998, with a mandate to make Amtrak financially self-sufficient. Under Warrington, the company tried to expand into express freight shipping, placing Amtrak in competition with the "host" freight railroads and the trucking industry . On March 9, 1999, Amtrak unveiled its plan for the Acela Express, a high-speed train on the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C. and Boston. Several changes were made to

15984-420: The south end of US 202 was truncated to the I-95 interchange north of Wilmington. DE 202 was designated along Concord Avenue in 1981. US 202 was extended south to its current terminus in 1984. US 202 begins at a partial cloverleaf interchange with US 13 / US 40 east of the Wilmington Airport , with the road continuing south toward the city of New Castle as DE 141 . From

16128-465: The southbound direction splitting from Concord Avenue to follow Baynard Boulevard to Washington Street and the northbound direction following US 13 on one-way Walnut Street and two-way Market Street before heading north onto Concord Avenue. In 1964, the southern terminus of US 202 was cut back from State Road to an interchange with I-295/US 40 in Farnhurst ; this interchange also served as

16272-557: The southern terminus, US 202 heads north-northwest concurrent with DE 141 on four-lane divided Basin Road, passing between Wilmington Airport to the west and residential neighborhoods in Wilmington Manor to the east. The road passes between the Delaware Air National Guard 's New Castle Air National Guard Base to the west and commercial establishments to the east, coming to a junction with

16416-564: The southwest to Oklahoma City , from where it ran west to Los Angeles . Kentucky strongly objected to this designated route, as it had been left off any of the major east–west routes, instead receiving the US ;62 designation. In January 1926, the committee designated this, along with the part of US 52 east of Ashland, Kentucky , as US 60 . They assigned US 62 to the Chicago-Los Angeles route, contingent on

16560-538: The splits in US 11 , US 19 , US 25 , US 31 , US 45 , US 49 , US 73 , and US 99 . For the most part, the U.S. Routes were the primary means of inter-city vehicle travel; the main exceptions were toll roads such as the Pennsylvania Turnpike and parkway routes such as the Merritt Parkway . Many of the first high-speed roads were U.S. Highways:

16704-775: The spring. Most of these routes were restored to daily service in late-May 2021. However, a resurgence of the virus caused by the Omicron variant caused Amtrak to modify and/or suspend many of these routes again from January to March 2022. Amtrak is required by law to operate a national route system. Amtrak has presence in 46 of the 48 contiguous states, as well as the District of Columbia (with only thruway connecting services in Wyoming and no services in South Dakota ). Amtrak services fall into three groups: short-haul service on

16848-431: The system with an aim to reduce costs, speed construction, and improve its corporate image. However, the cash-strapped railroad would ultimately build relatively few of these standard stations. Amtrak soon had the opportunity to acquire rights-of-way. Following the bankruptcy of several northeastern railroads in the early 1970s, including Penn Central, which owned and operated the Northeast Corridor (NEC), Congress passed

16992-430: The system. In general, U.S. Routes do not have a minimum design standard, unlike the later Interstate Highways , and are not usually built to freeway standards. Some stretches of U.S. Routes do meet those standards. Many are designated using the main streets of the cities and towns through which they run. New additions to the system, however, must "substantially meet the current AASHTO design standards ". As of 1989,

17136-489: The time the first route log was published in April 1927, major numbering changes had been made in Pennsylvania in order to align the routes to the existing auto trails. In addition, U.S. Route 15 had been extended across Virginia . Much of the early criticism of the U.S. Highway System focused on the choice of numbers to designate the highways, rather than names. Some thought a numbered highway system to be cold compared to

17280-636: The trains serving Dearborn Station, Amtrak retained only a pair of Santa Fe trains, which relocated to Union Station beginning with the first Amtrak departures on May 1, 1971. Dearborn Station closed after the last pre-Amtrak trains on the Santa Fe arrived in Chicago on May 2. None of the intercity trains that had served North Western Station became part of the Amtrak system, and that terminal became commuter-only after May 1. The trains serving Central Station continued to use that station until an alternate routing

17424-548: The two routes received the same number, with a directional suffix indicating its relation to the other. These splits were initially shown in the log as—for instance—US 40 North and US 40 South, but were always posted as simply US 40N and US 40S. The most heated argument, however, was the issue of US 60. The Joint Board had assigned that number to the Chicago-Los Angeles route, which ran more north–south than west–east in Illinois, and then angled sharply to

17568-468: The two-digit routes, three-digit routes have been added, removed, extended and shortened; the "parent-child" relationship is not always present. AASHTO guidelines specifically prohibit Interstate Highways and U.S. Routes from sharing a number within the same state. As with other guidelines, exceptions exist across the U.S. Some two-digit numbers have never been applied to any U.S. Route, including 37, 39, 47, 86, and 88. Route numbers are displayed on

17712-477: The unqualified number to the older or shorter route, while the other route uses the same number marked by a standard strip above its shield carrying the word 'Alternate'." Most states adhere to this approach. However, some maintain legacy routes that violate the rules in various ways. Examples can be found in California , Mississippi , Nebraska , Oregon , and Tennessee . In 1952, AASHO permanently recognized

17856-439: The west and businesses to the east. The roadway passes west of a park and ride lot located at a church. The route continues through commercial areas, heading into Talleyville . At this point, the median of the road widens to include businesses in it as it comes to the intersection with Garden of Eden Road/Silverside Road. The median narrows again as the road curves to the north-northeast, crossing Rocky Run . US 202 passes to

18000-554: The west of downtown Wilmington and passes over DE 9 , with a southbound exit. Farther northeast, the freeway heads into an alignment below street level and comes to an interchange with DE 52 . Past this interchange, the road continues north and crosses Brandywine Creek , heading through Brandywine Park , which is a part of the Wilmington State Parks complex. The freeway curves northeast again and passes under CSX 's Philadelphia Subdivision before reaching

18144-848: The west of the Widener University Delaware Law School and the Concord Mall and east of the Brandywine Campus of Wilmington University before it reaches an intersection with DE 92 in Brandywine . Past this intersection, the route runs between business parks to the west and the Brandywine Town Center shopping center to the east. A park and ride lot is located at the Brandywine Town Center. The road narrows to four lanes as it passes farm fields and homes. US 202 reaches

18288-671: Was 80-percent funded by the federal government. On September 25, 2017, the section of US 202 along Concord Pike between I-95 and the Pennsylvania state line was dedicated as the Gold Star Highway in honor of families of military members who died in service, with Governor John Carney and DelDOT secretary Cohan in attendance at a dedication ceremony. The entire route is in New Castle County . US Highway The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways )

18432-467: Was adopted in March 1972. In New York City , Amtrak had to maintain two stations ( Penn and Grand Central ) due to the lack of track connections to bring trains from upstate New York into Penn Station; a problem that was rectified once the Empire Connection was built in 1991. The Amtrak Standard Stations Program was launched in 1978 and proposed to build a standardized station design across

18576-414: Was aided by troop movement and gasoline rationing . The railroad's market share surged to 74% in 1945, with a massive 94 billion passenger-miles. After the war, railroads rejuvenated their overworked and neglected passenger fleets with fast and luxurious streamliners. These new trains brought only temporary relief to the overall decline. Even as postwar travel exploded, passenger travel percentages of

18720-770: Was also chosen, based on the shield found on the Great Seal of the United States . The auto trail associations rejected the elimination of the highway names. Six regional meetings were held to hammer out the details—May 15 for the West , May 27 for the Mississippi Valley , June 3 for the Great Lakes , June 8 for the South , June 15 for the North Atlantic , and June 15 for New England . Representatives of

18864-510: Was both praised and criticized by local newspapers, often depending on whether that city was connected to a major route. While the Lincoln Highway Association understood and supported the plan, partly because they were assured of getting the US 30 designation as much as possible, most other trail associations lamented their obsolescence. At their January 14–15, 1926 meeting, AASHO was flooded with complaints. In

19008-468: Was completed in 1923. The American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO), formed in 1914 to help establish roadway standards, began to plan a system of marked and numbered "interstate highways" at its 1924 meeting. AASHO recommended that the Secretary of Agriculture work with the states to designate these routes. Secretary Howard M. Gore appointed the Joint Board on Interstate Highways , as recommended by AASHO, on March 2, 1925. The Board

19152-418: Was composed of 21 state highway officials and three federal Bureau of Public Roads officials. At the first meeting, on April 20 and 21, the group chose the name "U.S. Highway" as the designation for the routes. They decided that the system would not be limited to the federal-aid network; if the best route did not receive federal funds, it would still be included. The tentative design for the U.S. Route shield

19296-518: Was deferred to a numbering committee "without instructions". After working with states to get their approval, the committee expanded the highway system to 75,800 miles (122,000 km), or 2.6% of total mileage, over 50% more than the plan approved August 4. The skeleton of the numbering plan was suggested on August 27 by Edwin Warley James of the BPR, who matched parity to direction, and laid out

19440-609: Was fired. Gunn's replacement, Alexander Kummant (2006–08), was committed to operating a national rail network, and like Gunn, opposed the notion of putting the Northeast Corridor under separate ownership. He said that shedding the system's long-distance routes would amount to selling national assets that are on par with national parks, and that Amtrak's abandonment of these routes would be irreversible. In late 2006, Amtrak unsuccessfully sought annual congressional funding of $ 1 billion for ten years. In early 2007, Amtrak employed 20,000 people in 46 states and served 25 million passengers

19584-424: Was held August 3 and 4, 1925. At that meeting, discussion was held over the appropriate density of routes. William F. Williams of Massachusetts and Frederick S. Greene of New York favored a system of only major transcontinental highways, while many states recommended a large number of roads of only regional importance. Greene in particular intended New York's system to have four major through routes as an example to

19728-803: Was increased dramatically. In subsequent years, other short route segments not needed for freight operations were transferred to Amtrak. In its first decade, Amtrak fell far short of financial independence, which continues today, but it did find modest success rebuilding trade. Outside factors discouraged competing transport, such as fuel shortages which increased costs of automobile and airline travel, and strikes which disrupted airline operations. Investments in Amtrak's track, equipment and information also made Amtrak more relevant to America's transportation needs. Amtrak's ridership increased from 16.6 million in 1972 to 21 million in 1981. In February 1978, Amtrak moved its headquarters to 400 North Capitol Street NW, Washington D.C. In 1982, former Secretary of

19872-650: Was leased from Sweden for test runs from October 1992 to January 1993, followed by revenue service between Washington, D.C. and New York City from February to May and August to September 1993. Siemens showed the ICE 1 train from Germany, organizing the ICE Train North America Tour which started to operate on the Northeast Corridor on July 3, 1993. In 1993, Thomas Downs succeeded Claytor as Amtrak's fifth president. The stated goal remained "operational self-sufficiency". By this time, however, Amtrak had

20016-548: Was named Amtrak President and CEO. In addition to Atlas Air, Flynn has held senior roles at CSX Transportation , SeaLand Services and GeoLogistics Corp. Anderson would remain with Amtrak as a senior advisor until December 2020. As Amtrak approached profitability in 2020, the company undertook planning to expand and create new intermediate-distance corridors across the country. Included were several new services in Ohio, Tennessee, Colorado, and Minnesota, among other states. During

20160-445: Was publicly announced less than two weeks before operations began. Amtrak began operations on May 1, 1971. Amtrak received no rail tracks or rights-of-way at its inception. All of Amtrak's routes were continuations of prior service, although Amtrak pruned about half the passenger rail network. Of the 366 train routes that operated previously, Amtrak continued only 184. Several major corridors became freight-only, including

20304-508: Was published, a documentary was created, six locomotives were painted in Amtrak's four prior paint schemes , and an Exhibit Train toured the country visiting 45 communities and welcoming more than 85,000 visitors. After years of almost revolving-door CEOs at Amtrak, in December 2013, Boardman was named "Railroader of the Year" by Railway Age magazine, which noted that with over five years in

20448-526: Was realigned in Wilmington to head southwest from Concord Avenue onto Baynard Boulevard, splitting into a one-way pair following Washington Street southbound and West Street northbound as it passed through downtown Wilmington. In this area, US 202 turned east onto Front Street to an intersection with US 13. From here, US 202 headed south concurrent with US 13 to an intersection with US 13 and US 40 in State Road . On July 1, 1935,

20592-462: Was reduced to under 3 hours due to system improvements and limited stop service. This improvement was cited as a reason why Amtrak grew its share of intercity trips between the cities along the corridor. Elsewhere in the country, demand for passenger rail service resulted in the creation of five new state-supported routes in California, Illinois, Missouri, Oregon and Pennsylvania, for a total of 15 state-supported routes. Amtrak added two trains in 1983,

20736-421: Was renumbered to US 202 and the road was realigned to head southwest and end at US 13 and US 40 in State Road . In the 1950s, the Concord Pike north of Wilmington was widened into a divided highway. By 1954, US 202 was realigned to follow US 13 northbound and Washington Street southbound through downtown Wilmington. The southern terminus was cut back to I-295 in Farnhurst in 1964. In 1970,

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