Length: 2.35 mi (3.78 km) Counties: Washington | Existed: 1927 – present | |
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Tourist
routes: Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Scenic Byway South end: US 522 at West Virginia border in Hancock North end: I-70 / US 522 at Pennsylvania border near Hancock | ||
U.S. Route 522 (US 522) is a part of the U.S. Highway System that runs from Powhatan, Virginia to Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. In Maryland, it runs 2.35 miles (3.78 km) from the West Virginia state line at the Potomac River north to the Pennsylvania state line within Hancock in western Washington County. US 522 crosses Maryland at its narrowest north–south point, meeting Maryland Route 144 (MD 144), Interstate 70 (I-70), US 40, and I-68 before entering Pennsylvania concurrent with I-70. Warfordsburg Road from US 40 (now MD 144) north to Pennsylvania was paved around 1920 and designated US 522 in the late 1920s. US 522 was extended south into West Virginia shortly after a new bridge was completed over the Potomac River in the late 1930s. It was moved onto I-70 north of Hancock when the Interstate highway was completed in the area in the mid 1960s.
Contents
Route description
US 522 enters Maryland by crossing the Potomac River on a long bridge at Hancock in western Washington County. The two-lane undivided bridge begins in West Virginia immediately after an intersection with River Road, then crosses CSX's Cumberland Subdivision and intersects a road to Potomac Airpark. The bridge crosses the state line on the south bank of the Potomac River, then continues above the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Berm Road, the Western Maryland Rail Trail, and South Street before the bridge ends. US 522 continues north as Warfordsburg Road, with southbound US 522 receiving a two-way ramp (unsigned US 522B) from MD 144 (Main Street) before bridging MD 144, Little Tonoloway Creek, and Limestone Road, which is unsigned MD 894. It becomes a divided highway immediately before northbound US 522 has a right-in/right-out interchange with High Street (unsigned US 522C), which leads to MD 144 via Virginia Avenue. Southbound US 522 has an exit ramp to Limestone Road used to access MD 144. US 522 meets I-70 and US 40 (Eisenhower Memorial Highway) at a three-level directional interchange where US 522 becomes concurrent with the two other highways. Immediately to the north, I-70 and US 522 meet the eastern terminus of I-68 (National Freeway) at another three-level directional interchange (where westbound US 40 leaves I-70 and goes onto I-68). Southbound US 522 exits I-70 via a left exit (unsigned US 522A) prior to US 40 joining eastbound I-70, so southbound US 522 does not have a concurrency with US 40. I-70 and US 522 continue north as a four-lane freeway to the Pennsylvania state line.
US 522 is a part of the main National Highway System for its entire length in Maryland.
History
Warfordsburg Road from Main Street at the west end of Hancock north to the Pennsylvania state line was paved in 1920. When the first number designations in the U.S. Highway System were released in 1926, US 622 was proposed for the highway between Hancock and Mount Union, Pennsylvania. Another proposed number for the highway may have been US 11W, which appears marked on Warfordsburg Road on official Maryland maps in 1927 and 1928. By 1930, the highway was marked as US 522. The March 1936 flooding of the Potomac River destroyed the pre-existing bridge over the river at Church Street. A temporary timber trestle was constructed while a new bridge was planned at the western edge of the town of Hancock. The new bridge and approach roads were completed in 1939. US 522 was extended south of Hancock by 1946. US 522 was moved from Warfordsburg Road to a concurrency with I-70 when the Interstate highway and the associated directional interchanges were completed in 1965.
Junction list
The entire route is in Hancock, Washington County.