 When Delaware designated its state highway system by 1936 , the state highway between Milford and Bethany Beach became a part of DE 14 , which continued west from Milford to the Maryland border near Burrsville , Maryland . In 1939 , a southern extension of DE 14 was built between Bethany Beach and the Maryland border in Fenwick Island as a gravel road . In 1940 , a swing bridge opened across the Indian River Inlet . The same year , work began for a bypass of the route between Dewey Beach and west of Rehoboth Beach , which included a bascule bridge over the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal . In 1942 , the Rehoboth Beach bypass for DE 14 was completed . In addition , the roadway was paved between Fenwick Island and Bethany Beach by that year . In 1952 , a new swing bridge opened across the Indian River Inlet after the previous bridge was destroyed by ice and tides in 1948 . 
