South Main Street
Newark marks renaming of Elkton Road as South Main Street
9:49 a.m., Jan. 2, 2013--The city of Newark has renamed a section of Elkton Road as South Main Street.
The renaming, for portions of Elkton Road between West Main Street and West Park Place, took effect Jan. 1.
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An event to recognize the designation of South Main Street will be held on Friday, Jan. 4, at 11 a.m. at the Buffalo Wild Wings north parking lot located at 100 South Main St.
With Main Street traditionally seen as the downtown center, city officials said Elkton Road was often seen as where downtown ended. In actuality, Elkton Road has been part of downtown since City Council expanded the boundaries of downtown Newark in May 2007 to include both sides of Elkton Road from West Main Street to Apple Road and more recently to West Park Place. As a result, properties along Elkton Road began to develop as an extension of Main Street.
City Council members say they believe that changing the name of Elkton Road for this section of downtown will add to the success by associating it more closely with the city’s national award-winning Main Street and will foster additional growth.
“Renaming Elkton Road to South Main Street reaffirms our belief that this will become the next phase of our downtown redevelopment,” says Newark Mayor Vance Funk. “Newark has become a very popular destination, which has been enhanced by DelDOT’s excellent redevelopment of South Main Street.”
“There is a lot of excitement about the extension of Main Street within our business community,” says City Manager Carol Houck. “Like many people I have spoken with, I am looking forward to opportunities for additional beautification and investment along this gateway into our city.”
With the name change at the beginning of the year and the near completion of a multi-year project by the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) to widen and repave Elkton Road, South Main Street offers visitors a brand new road to drive on with beautifully landscaped medians, wide bike lanes and sidewalks paved with red brick accents to signify that pedestrians are walking in the downtown district.
“The Elkton Road project involved collaboration between DelDOT, elected officials, city of Newark, University of Delaware, business leaders and residents to improve pedestrian, bicycle and transit facilities as part of the pavement reconstruction and safety improvements,” says DelDOT Secretary Shailen Bhatt. “This project has addressed the multi-modal transportation needs while creating a more welcoming environment that will stimulate downtown business and tourism.”