U.S. Route 40 in Maryland

Garrett County

U.S. Route 40 enters Maryland from Pennsylvania in far western Maryland's Garrett County, carrying the name "National Pike." It passes through rural farmland on this side of the state, intersecting U.S. Route 219 at its interchange with Interstate 68 in Accident. U.S. Route 40 shares the roadway with U.S. Route 219 until it joins I-68 (built during 1971-73 as the "National Freeway") traveling eastward towards Cumberland.

Allegany County

U.S. 40/I-68 passes into Allegany County just west of Frostburg. The highway traverses historic "Cumberland Narrows" mountain gap to the county seat and major western Maryland city of Cumberland (nicknamed the "Queen City"). The previous alignments of US 40, carrying the name "National Pike", are either U.S. Route 40 Alternate or Scenic US 40, which parallel I-68 and US 40 very closely through the County (and later also carrying the designation of Maryland Route 144 (MD 144) and serve as main streets for the various towns and small cities they pass through, trailing the continued historic route of the 1808's Old National Road extension from Cumberland to Baltimore turnpike, which will still have many of the original 19th Century stone milestones every mile on the north side with five-mile stone markers with more elaborate carvings indicating mileage and distance to destinations. Since, the mid 2000s, The National Road now has a multi-state tourism/historical partnership and association collaborating various towns, cities and counties through which it passes from Baltimore to Vandalia, the original territorial capital of Illinois near the Mississippi River. Also several significant histories and guide books have been published throughout the 20th Century to describe its features, hazards and attractions plus historic/scenic sites. US 40 follows I-68 through Cumberland on an elevated highway through the western reaches of the Potomac River valley dividing the historic town, site of Colonel George Washington's Fort Cumberland of the French and Indian War era.

Washington County

At the Sideling Hill Creek Bridge, I-68/US 40 passes into Washington County, just west of Bellegrove, Maryland.

The I-68/US 40 roadway later passes through a 340-foot (100 m) massive deep cut in Sideling Hill. Just to the east of the cut is the site of the former "Sideling Hill Exhibit Center", a state museum (currently located in Hancock in the "narrow neck" of Maryland) that highlighted the many varied rock layers of Western Maryland mountain geology in "The Cut". Shortly after this, in the town of Hancock where the State of Maryland narrows to less than two miles (3 km) across, on a steep valley slope carrying parallel highways, roads and railroad tracks (historic Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (now Amtrak and CSX plus Conrail freight rail systems) between the Mason–Dixon line with Pennsylvania to the north and the western branch of the Potomac River boundary with Virginia where Interstate 68 ends. US 40 then defaults onto Interstate 70 at Exit 1 of the latter route, coming down from the northwest at the large truck stop plazas at Breezewood, Pennsylvania. U.S. Route 522 is also carried by I-70, but it leaves to the south at the very next exit.

Interstate 70 and US 40 pass close to the West Virginia border along the historic old 1820s-30's era Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and its Potomac River, then turns toward Hagerstown and Washington County. Shortly before this, though, US 40 separates from I-70 to the north at exit 9 and passes through the town and county seat (known as the "Hub City") on Washington Avenue (eastbound) and Franklin Street (westbound), where it interchanges with Interstate 81. Heading southeast out of Hagerstown, US 40 diverges into two separate routes, US 40 (Dual Highway) and US 40 Alt. US 40 parallels Interstate 70, its longtime, cross-country travel partner, crossing it again at exit 32 near Greenbrier State Park on the older Baltimore National Pike alignment. US 40 Alt (also known as Maryland Route 144 heads southeast on the historic Old National Pike of 1805 alignment through Boonsboro, crossing the famous South Mountain at "Turner's Gap", with its notable American Civil War battles here and at nearby "Crampton's Gap and "Fox's Gap" where Confederate forces under General Robert E. Lee held back oncoming Union armies under General George B. McClellan just prior to the horrific Battle of Antietam in September 1862. The two highway routes converge just west of the "City of Clustered Spires", Frederick which is also the site of several major Civil War conflicts, such as the 1862 first Southern Invasion (resulting in "Battle of Antietam"), the 1863 second passing of the huge armies on their way to Pennsylvania to collide at Gettysburg and the nearby "Battle of Monocacy", "The Battle That Saved Washington" in 1864's third Confederate Invasion.

Frederick County

US 40 enters Frederick County in Myersville, Maryland. The road passes through South Mountain, and goes underneath I-70 with no access. US 40 continues traveling in a southwesterly direction, running through the towns of Myersville and Arch Bridge. In Frederick, US 40 uses Patrick Street (the main west-east route through Frederick's historic downtown), before merging back onto the US 15 north-south expressway for a short distance. It leaves US 15 and rejoins I-70 on the southern and eastern outskirts of Frederick. Old MD 144 on the 19th Century's Old National Road once again takes over along the old 1920's era alignment of US 40.

Carroll County

I-70/US 40 runs shortly through Carroll County in Mount Airy, Maryland, interchanging with Maryland Route 27. The highway crosses over the South Branch Patapsco River Bridge, where it leaves Carroll County.

Howard County

US 40 continues to share the road with I-70 for some time passing through rural Howard County, until it splits into the Baltimore National Pike in western Ellicott City, Maryland. Once again, the road separates with the old National Road pathway carrying MD 144 routes to the southeastward towards historic Ellicott City and US 40 continues to the north. The Howard County section of "Baltimore National Pike" features a large commercial shopping district, as well as numerous restaurants. In December 2016, Governor Larry Hogan designated a portion of US 40 as "Korean Way", paying homage to the many Korean American businesses and residents of the county. A major interchange with US 29 connects US 40 with the destinations of Columbia and Washington, D.C., as well as an express route to I-70 towards Baltimore and Towson.

After passing over the upper northern reaches of the Patapsco River valley and crossing the bridge over Patapsco Valley State Park entering Baltimore County before in Ellicott City, a former colonial port and one of the state's "Antiques Capital" as the Patapsco River courses through a deep valley with the town perched on surrounding steep sides.

Baltimore County

The Highway 40 heads toward Baltimore, interchanging with the Baltimore Beltway (later renamed for former Gov. Theodore R. McKeldin and Baltimore City Mayor in the 1940s, 50's and 60's, also designated as Interstate 695. This section of the "Baltimore National Pike" traverses Catonsville's commercial strip of shopping centers and varieties of car dealerships and fast-food restaurants as it crosses the 1919 Baltimore city limits near Security Boulevard and the massive national headquarters of the Social Security Administration.

Baltimore City

Inside Baltimore City, US 40 continues as Baltimore National Pike changes into Edmondson Avenue, then passes southeastward onto West Franklin and West Mulberry Streets as a one-way pair, bypassing Gwynns Falls-Leakin Parks (which escaped having the interstate cut through its wilderness wooded stream valleys in the 1970s after a heated decade-long public debate and battle), before shortly leaving to utilize the former expressway stub originally meant to continue to carry Interstate 170 for a short distance between Pulaski Street and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard. Through this area, an alignment called "Truck US 40" diverts larger vehicles onto an alternate cross-town route (largely via North Avenue and U.S. Route 1). The I-170 expressway stub (long-time nicknamed the "Highway to Nowhere") also carries US 40 over Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, rejoining West Franklin Street and West Mulberry Street just west of North Greene and North Paca Streets, both of which are the northern terminus of MD 295, which eventually become Russell Street leading to the Baltimore–Washington Parkway. US 40 passes through the Seton Hill Historic District and the tony 19th Century historic Mount Vernon-Belvedere neighborhood and a few blocks south from Baltimore's landmark Washington Monument, (built 1815-1827). Just beyond historic main Charles Street and Saint Paul Street and Place, now East Franklin and Mulberry Streets merge through the "Preston Gardens" district onto the six-lane elevated Orleans Street Viaduct, which US 40 uses to cross the downtown Jones Falls stream valley, (a former main railroad route to downtown), passing over Interstate 83 (the Jones Falls Expressway) in the process (with no access) towards East Baltimore. It follows the divided Orleans Street, passing through the campus of The Johns Hopkins Hospital where it narrows to an undivided four lanes, until its end at Pulaski Highway on the east side of the city. US 40 carries this name on this four lane, divided highway alignment, heading northeastward having a full cloverleaf interchange with MD 151 at Erdman Avenue, which leads to the Baltimore city limits again on the eastside again re-entering Baltimore County towards North Point Boulevard and parallel Old North Point Road and with partial interchanges with Interstate 895, Moravia Road, and Interstate 95 before exiting the city, bearing northeast and meeting I-695 of the Baltimore (McKeldin) Beltway again.

Baltimore County

US 40, for the entire length of Pulaski Highway, is closely paralleled by I-95. It also runs between Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and the CSX Philadelphia Subdivision railroad lines, while US 40's previous alignment, MD 7, parallels the highway in segments. Pulaski Highway acts as a major artery for much of Eastern Baltimore County, especially in the population centers of Rosedale, Essex, Middle River, and White Marsh. The roadway has another interchange with the Baltimore Beltway at The Centre at Golden Ring (old Golden Ring Mall). Additional major intersections include Maryland Route 700 (Martin Boulevard) and Maryland Route 43 (White Marsh Boulevard).

Harford County

Pulaski Highway passes over Little Gunpowder Falls through Gunpowder Falls State Park near Joppa into Harford County. The roadway continues along the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay through the cities of Edgewood, Maryland, Abingdon, Maryland, and Aberdeen, Maryland.The Aberdeen Proving Ground is accessed by several routes intersecting with Pulaski Highway, including Maryland Route 715 (Aberdeen Thruway) and Maryland Route 22 (Harford Boulevard). Lastly, the highway bypasses the city of Havre de Grace, Maryland, splitting with Revolution Street, which provides access to the Downtown Historic District.

Cecil County

Between Havre de Grace on the southwest shore and Perryville to the northeast, it crosses the Susquehanna River on the tolled Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge entering Cecil County in the State's far northeastern corner. The toll plaza for this Hatem Bridge is encountered just beyond its east end. US 40 leaves Maryland in Elkton which is situated at the famous "Head of Elk" at the northern end of the Bay, crossing the border of the old historic Mason–Dixon line of 1767 into the first State of Delaware.

History

The National Road was opened from Cumberland on the Potomac River west and northwest into Pennsylvania, and beyond to Wheeling, Virginia on the Ohio River, in the 1810s. The turnpikes connecting Cumberland to Baltimore operated as the Cumberland Turnpike (Cumberland to Conococheague), Hagers-Town and Conococheague Turnpike (Conococheague to Hagerstown), Boonsborough Turnpike (Hagerstown to Boonsboro), and Baltimore and Frederick-town Turnpike (Boonsboro to Baltimore), completed in 1824. To the east of Baltimore, the Baltimore and Havre-de-Grace Turnpike went northeast from Baltimore to Havre de Grace, and public roads continued from Perryville, across the Susquehanna River from Havre de Grace to Elkton, where the Elk and Christiana Turnpike continued into Delaware.

Future

The US 40 bridge over the Patapsco River in Ellicott City, originally constructed in 1936, will be replaced in a project that started in the spring of 2011 and is expected to be completed in 2013. During the bridge replacement, temporary bridges will be constructed to serve traffic for the first time in a major bridge project in Maryland.

As part of the Red Line project that was cancelled in 2015, segments of Edmondson Avenue and Franklin Street were to be widened to allow construction of the future east-west light rail line inside the median area. The Red Line would have also utilized the median of the US 40 freeway in West Baltimore.