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"American streets are not sober little walks closed in between houses, but
national highways. The moment you set foot on one of them, you understand that it has to go on
to Boston or Chicago."
—Jean-Paul Sartre
Original Maryland US Routes, 1926
Most Maryland US routes have been
around from the beginning of the US highway system in 1926. Only 29 and 301 were missing from that
original plan. US 29 would be added in 1934, and 301 arrived soon
after completion of the Potomac River Bridge in 1940, replacing MD
3. US 219 ended at US 40 in Grantsville. The part running south of 40 to Oakland into West
Virginia was MD 37.
Early Changes
In 1938, Pulaski Highway, the new
US 40 was completed, replacing the two lane road which is
now Route 7. Two years later, the Choptank River Bridge was opened,
bringing US 213 to Cambridge and off its original inland route.
Postwar Growth
In 1949, in preparation for the Bay Bridge to be completed in 1952,
US 50 took over 213's routing to Ocean City. Around 1959,
US 301 was shifted east, away from Baltimore, onto US 50 across the Bay Bridge to where it is
now, formerly MD 71.
The Interstates Take Over (?)
The Interstate system, was to take over almost entirely the 111 and
240 corridors, but the end for these routes didn't come immediately.
US 111 was the first to go in 1963. Old US 111
was replaced by, and partially rerouted onto, I-83. The entirety of the old route designated
MD 45. US 240 was next in the early seventies, to be replaced by
I-270; the old route became MD 355. US 140 had not yet been replaced by
an Interstate (the Baltimore
County section of it would be by 1988) but it was only 120 miles
long. AASHTO, the body which coordinates US and
Interstate numbers, established a guideline which stated US routes should either be at
least 500 miles long and/or interstate (small i). Although 140 met
the latter, Maryland and Pennsylvania agreed to decommission 140 in
1979. The ruling would also mean the end of what was left of 213
between Elkton and Wye Mills after 50 took most of its length in 1949.
US 50 between Washington and Annapolis was to be designated I-595,
but people were used to 50, and dual signage considered a waste of
money. Its is referred to as 595 only in official state and federal
documents.
US 313?
Was 313 ever a US route? As far as I know, the answer is no. But it's
shown as MD 313 on maps all the way back to 1933. It may have been
suggested for inclusion in the original US route system, but rejected,
or perhaps an alternative inland routing for 213.
Hit the road!
Select from the links below. Decommissioned routes are in italics.
Information is laid out the same as the state route pages.
1 · 11 ·
13 · 15 ·
29 · 40 ·
48 · 50 ·
111 · 113 ·
140 · 213
· 219 · 220 ·
222 · 240 ·
301 · 340 ·
522
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