Maryland Route 222

Route description

MD 222 begins at an intersection with MD 7 (Broad Street) in the town of Perryville. The highway heads north as two-lane Aiken Avenue, which reaches its northern end at US 40 (Pulaski Highway) immediately to the east of the toll plaza for the Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge. MD 222 continues northeast as Perryville Road, which crosses over CSX's Philadelphia Subdivision. The highway curves north and leaves the town of Perryville and passing Perryville High School. MD 222 intersects the southern end of MD 824 (Reservoir Road) and the entrance to the Perryville Outlet Center before meeting I-95 (John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway) at a four-ramp partial cloverleaf interchange. At the north end of the interchange, the highway briefly re-enters the town of Perryville, intersects the ramps to and from southbound I-95 and the entrance to Hollywood Casino Perryville, and reaches a four-way intersection with the northern end of MD 824 (Blythedale Road) and MD 275 (Perrylawn Drive). MD 222 Truck follows MD 275 north toward Rising Sun, and MD 222 turns west onto Bainbridge Road toward Port Deposit.

MD 222 heads westfarmland, crossing Happy Valley Branch before passing the entrance to the former United States Naval Training Center, Bainbridge, which contains the Edward W. Haviland House and the original campus of the Tome School. The highway descends from a high bluff to the Susquehanna River, during which southbound MD 222 has a climbing lane. Upon entering the town limits of Port Deposit, MD 222's name changes to Main Street and the highway makes a sharp turn to the north to parallel the river and Norfolk Southern Railway's Port Road Branch. The state highway intersects MD 276 (Centre Street) in the center of Port Deposit. MD 222 passes the Paw Paw Building and intersects Granite Avenue before crossing Rock Run and passing under a low railroad bridge to the west side of the tracks. The highway leaves the town of Port Deposit and continues north as Susquehanna River Road, closely paralleling the river and passing through a unit of Susquehanna State Park along the river. Soon after crossing Octoraro Creek, MD 222 reaches its northern terminus at an intersection with US 1 (Conowingo Road) at the eastern end of Conowingo Dam. Following US 1 northeast to the community of Conowingo leads to the southern terminus of US 222 and the northern terminus of MD 222 Truck.

MD 222 is a part of the National Highway System as a principal arterial from US 40 north to MD 275 within Perryville.

History

What is now MD 222 was originally designated MD 268. MD 268 was replaced by a southern extension of US 222 from US 1 at Conowingo to US 40 (now MD 7) in Perryville in 1938. The Susquehanna River Road section of US 222 was transferred from state to county maintenance through a May 8, 1958, road transfer agreement. However, that section was returned to state control through an August 23, 1961, agreement after Cecil County requested it be returned to the state. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) approved rolling back the southern end of the US 222 designation from US 40 to US 1 at their April 1995 spring meeting. The Maryland State Highway Administration proposed and AASHTO approved the redesignation of US 222 to MD 222 from US 40 to US 1 in February 1996; however, the new designation had already been enacted officially and marked publicly in 1995. The redesignation did not apply to Aiken Avenue; indeed, Aiken Avenue's designation was changed from US 222 to MD 222 in 1972.

The first stretch of the Perryville–Conowingo highway to be improved was in Perryville, where Cecil County constructed with state aid a macadam road from the Aikin station on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad south toward the Post Road (now MD 7) by 1910. Cecil County extended the macadam road to the Post Road by 1919. The highway from the Aikin railroad crossing to Port Deposit was paved as a 15-foot-long (4.6 m) concrete road in two sections: from the railroad to near Port Deposit by 1921 and through Port Deposit by 1923. MD 268 was paved as a concrete road from Port Deposit to US 1 at Conowingo Dam between 1930 and 1933; the construction work included repurposing a railroad bridge across Octoraro Creek as a highway bridge. MD 268's bridge across the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was constructed between 1931 and 1934. The old highway approaching the Aikin grade crossing became MD 449.

MD 268 was proposed to be widened to 20 feet (6.1 m) from US 40 to US 1 in 1934. The portion of US 222 from US 40 to near Port Deposit was expanded to improve access between the U.S. Highway and United States Naval Training Center, Bainbridge, east of Port Deposit in 1942 and 1944. US 222 was widened and resurfaced between what is now the MD 222–MD 275—MD 824 intersection and Port Deposit in 1959 and 1960. The U.S. Highway was relocated as part of the construction of its original diamond interchange with I-95 in 1962 and 1963. The old alignment of US 222 east of its I-95 interchange became MD 824. The highway was resurfaced with bituminous concrete from MD 7 to US 40 and reconstructed and widened from US 40 to the southern MD 824 intersection in 1968 and 1969. The widening work included widening US 222's bridge across the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, which was removed and replaced between 1987 and 1989. The I-95 interchange was converted from a standard diamond to a four-ramp partial cloverleaf with all four ramps east of MD 222 between 1993 and 1994. Aiken Avenue was reconstructed in an urban streetscape project in 2001 and 2002.

Junction list

The entire route is in Cecil County.

Truck route

Maryland Route 222 Truck is a signed 12.49-mile (20.10 km) truck bypass of MD 222 from MD 222 in Perryville to US 1 and US 222 in Conowingo. The signed route follows MD 275 from MD 222 in Perryville north to MD 276 in Woodlawn. MD 222 Truck continues north on MD 276 from Woodlawn north to US 1 west of Rising Sun. The truck route then heads west on US 1 (in a wrong-way concurrency) to US 222's southern terminus in Conowingo. MD 222 Truck has existed since at least 2002.

Junction list
The entire route is in Cecil County.

Auxiliary routes

MD 222 has three auxiliary routes that are maintained by the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) and provide access to the authority's facilities around I-95's interchange with MD 222 and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway toll plaza to the east of the Millard E. Tydings Memorial Bridge. The highways were created as part of the reconstruction of MD 222's interchange with I-95 in 1993 and 1994.