Delaware Route 8 (DE-8, formerly US 40 Business, more formerly Delaware Routes 4 and 5) is a state route in UD: Westover Islands. The route runs from US 40 in Palm Shores to DE 12 in South Beach. Some parts of the highway are in Newark County.
Overview[]
Palm Shores to Kensington[]
Delaware Route 8 starts in Palm Shores, where it is known as Kensington Road. It crosses the Palm Cove and goes across I-76, featuring a modified diamond interchange. It then heads south and reaches an intersection with Woodbury Station Road in the outskirts of Kensington. DE 8 then reaches Kensington, passing straight through the downtown and providing access to many important buildings. Medical Drive intersects with DE 8 at this point.
Kensington to Cape Henlopen (Old Alignment)[]
Traffic may be heavy in Kensington due to this as well as the trucking since many trucks travel to and from the port via DE 8 and DE 508 from Kensington to the Port whenever jobs are done in Kensington. Then it made a left turn onto Summit Road at the intersection with Delaware Route 508 and went eastwards towards Westover, passing Medical Drive for a second time which was expanded south as Darley Hill Road. DE 8 continued going east until reaching Newark County Route 3 and I-976, in the southern portion of Westover which used to be the small town of Woodbury. The route continued going eastwards across the main island until reaching the Oil Refinery (which was moved to near South Beach), which has since moved to DE 12 near South Beach. After passing it, DE 8 started to have curves as it ran along Mount Astley. About halfway through this section, there was a small tunnel that only regular cars can go through on this highway. This tunnel first appeared in the v4.4.9 3 New Cars! update on April 24th, 2021 and it still exists to this day on DE 508. The road then ended at a traffic circle with US 40 once again.
Kensington to South Beach (new alignment)[]
Traffic may be heavy in Kensington due to this as well as the trucking since many trucks travel to and from the port via DE 8 and DE 508 from Kensington to the Port whenever jobs are done in Kensington. Then it becomes concurrent with DE 508 and goes south towards the port. It continues to be concurrent with that highway until reaching Newark County Route 3 just past the port. The route continues going south across the main island and Rodanthe Island until reaching South Beach and has many curves before reaching the city and is more curvy than it was previously before the expansion and the speed limit is still 50 mph (with the fact that there is no speed limit signs likely indicating that or that the update was rushed so there is no speed limit signs in the area) suggesting it is safe to go that speed on most of the straight parts. The curves are not known to have suggested speeds and just caution signs letting drivers know where the curves leading drivers to guess how much they have to slow down on them. The road then ends at an intersection with DE 12 in South Beach.
DE 8 is only divided from the Delaware Route 508/DE 8 intersection to Palm Shores (albeit the 4 lane multi-lane segment). Most of the road is a rural 2 lane undivided road mostly with a speed limit of 50 mph with many curves south of the port along with some straight sections.
DE 8 used to make a loop as it paralleled US 40. This was changed on December, 23rd, 2023, when the route changed to go south with DE 508 along the south shore of Westover Islands and returns to its host route just west of Cape Henlopen. However, the section before the DE 508 section still parrels US 40 which is the highway that now does the east side of the parrel. As of December, 23rd, 2023 the part of the highway that is south of the port is the most curviest highway section in UD: Westover Islands. (Some parts of DE 5 might be curvier when it's opened). The houses along the highway south of the port are more of placeover houses as they will be there until the houses are placed in sometime in early 2024 before March.
Downtown Westover can be seen on some parts of the highway that are close to Westover such as Palm Shores.
History[]
The original US 40 BUS ran between US 1 and DE 72 in Ultimate Driving II Classic, connecting to I-95 in the town of Bloxboro.
In UD: Westover Islands, DE 8, former US 40 BUS and originally DE 4 and DE 5, loops to US 40 near what is now Mount Astley, which is a mountain above I-76. The road otherwise stayed the same, except that the multi-lane section was not divided.
In 2017 and 2018 respectively, the segment between Palm Shores and Summit Road was divided to prevent traffic from drifting into the opposite lanes. This also prevented U-turns that would occur in Kensington as well.
With the change to Westover Islands in May 2016, the DE 8 (then US 40 BUS)/US 40 junction was moved to a traffic circle east of Westover, allowing surface traffic access to Cape Henlopen State Park.
A small tunnel was added to US 40 BUS on April 24, 2021 that travels through Mount Astley. Located east of the oil refinery, the tunnel is only accessible to cars and has a maximum height clearance of 10' (3.048 m). Large vehicles, such as trucks, buses and the RV cannot enter the tunnel and must circle back around. In addition, there are signs saying right turns are prohibited for these vehicles onto the eastbound direction at the access road to the refinery.
On July 3, 2021, the entirety of US 40 BUS was transferred to state level, becoming Delaware Route 8. Aside from map changes and road sign replacements, the route itself did not change until February of 2022, when the end of the route was edited to have curves. The speed limit did not change in this section, likely due to it being safe to travel 50 mph on the straight parts, and it not being as dangerous as DE 92 or DE 52. However, there are no advisory signs with the recommended speeds for the curves. Until December 24th, 2022 the map still stated that it was going straight until the road curved left onto US 40 and as of December 24th, 2022 it now shows the curves on the route.
On September 2, 2022, at the intersection where DE 8 transitions from a north-south route to east-west, Delaware Route 508 was added on the south end. As a result of this, the Port of Kensington was moved south on the new highway, and there is a new sign indicating where the new highway goes at that intersection. In addition, another new route called Newark County Route 3 (CR-3) was also added, which also intersected with DE 8 in what used to be Woodbury until December, 23rd, 2023 as that route now intersects Delaware Route 508.
On December 24, 2022, in the v5.2 Christmas Update, a new spur of I-76 was introduced, I-976. Its southern terminus is at DE 8 and CR 3. For some time, a bug caused the traffic lights to not work. It was fixed on April 22, 2023 though some servers still would have these traffic lights as “broken” until they broke again due to bugs later on. Some intersections in Kensington can malfunction causing flashing yellow lights and stop lights or the lights not working at all. At Woodbury Station Road, the traffic light could be a red flashing light on Woodbury Station Road/a yellow flashing light on the highway or go through a red/green light phase though traffic on Woodbury Station Road depending on the server and what the DOT decides to do with the traffic lights at the intersection in the server can still turn left/right after stopping regardless due to there being a stop sign there. The Kensington Plaza stop light was also broken for a short period of time due to bugs with the previous update at the time.
On December, 23rd, 2023 the previous route was changed to DE 508 east of Kensington and would go south toward the port with a concurrency with DE 508 with it continuing south until a give way junction. After the junction, DE 8 runs with many curves until it reaches South Beach with some of the curves seeming to be as dangerous as DE 92 and DE 52.
Speed limits[]
| Speed (mph) | Speed (km/h) | Section | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 35 mph | 56 km/h | In Kensington | Speed enforced by radar. You'll be fined if you're speeding excessively. |
| 55 mph | 88 km/h | Between Palm Shores and Kensington. | N/A |
| 50 mph | 80 km/h | Kensington to South Beach | Most of DE 8 is 50 mph. Be cautious on the curvy parts. |
Intersections[]
Intersections listed north to south.
| District/City/Town | Connecting Route/Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Palm Shores | US 40 Rodanthe Westover Cape Henlopen State Park |
Western terminus of DE 8. Formerly DE 3. |
| Kensington | I-76 Rodanthe Westover Cape Henlopen Nomtauk |
A modified diamond interchange. Formerly DE 1. |
| Kensington Shopping Center Kensington Go-Kart Park Kensington Dunes State Park |
Access to all 3 locations. | |
| Medical DrivePit Stop Hospital |
Side street in town of Kensington. | |
| Port Of Kesington | Runs together with DE 508. Heavily used by trucks and vehicles toward to South Beach. | |
| CR-3 | A modified give way junction. DE-508 splits here. | |
| Left turn to Newark County Route 3 (CR-3) to Westover
Keep straight to Delaware Route 8 (DE-8) to South Beach Right turn to Delaware Route 508 (DE-508) to South Beach Regional Airstrip and DE-12 | ||
| South Beach | DE-12 | End at DE-12. Left turn to DE-12 southbound and right turn to DE-12 northbound. |
Former intersections[]
This intersection was removed in May 2016.
Gallery[]
.jpg "Hqdefault (2).jpg (15 KB)")
Trivia[]
- The current routing of DE 8 follows the routing of a former state highway; DE 5. Prior to December 23rd, 2023, DE 8 also followed the routing of another former state highway; DE 4.
- DE 8 was the first business route in the current series, when it was under the name of US-40 BUS which was the first business route to be completed in a games border and the first business route in the UDU.
- US 40 and the former alignment of Delaware Route 8 (DE 4) used to loop at I-76 and access to the Cape Henlopen State Park was only via I-76 until May 2016.
- The entire route is known as Kensington Road.
- It has a connection to the Woodbury Rim Trail, which serves as another connection to the Summit Trail to the top of Mt. Astley.
- Before smooth terrain there was no signed speed limit between I-76 and Kensington (after the city was moved south) and the speed limit was 60 mph in between Kensington and US 40.
- On July 3rd, 2021, this road was renamed from US 40 Business to Delaware Route 8. This caused the highway to be the second state highway to be completed within a games border, with the first being Delaware Route 72.
- US 40 Business can still be seen labeled on the traffic cameras when viewed.
- The maximum height clearance through the Mount Astley tunnel is 10'. Trucks and buses are not permitted through this tunnel as they will smash into it- a sign with overhead warning lights at the oil refinery entrance will activate if an over-height vehicle passes, warning them to turn back and use Newark County Route 3 to access Westover.
- As of December, 23rd, 2023 despite the speed limit being 50 mph, the curves are narrower south of the port resulting in cars having to slow down even more on the curves in order to avoid going off of the highway.
- After the v5.4 Christmas Update, DE 8 is changed from a loop highway to a vertical highway from Palm Shores (North) to South Beach (South).