We had the opportunity to revisit Baltimore again this month to add to some of our exploration from summer of 2010. Researching a few things in advance, we plotted a drive along U.S. 40 east from west of the city to the Orleans Street Viaduct and the vicinity of the Jones Falls Expressway viaduct. A few old signs remain and some drastic changes to the former Interstate 170 freeway were documented among other photo stops.

Detail of the button copy sign reveals a “70N” label scar left over from the pre-1973 numbering of Interstate 70 between Baltimore and Frederick as Interstate 70N.

We photographed this overhead in 2010 and it is still in place today.

U.S. 40 east at Uplands Parkway in Baltimore.

Old Frederick Road no longer connects with U.S. 40 (Edmondson Avenue) at Uplands in west Baltimore. Turns out the permanent roadway closure is a part of the new Uplands development.

Continuing east, U.S. 40 (Edmondson Avenue) meets Hilton Parkway at an elongated cloverleaf interchange. Hilton Parkway comprises a controlled access roadway northward through Gwynns Falls Park to North Avenue at Hilton Street. The roadway doubles as part of a sporadically signed truck route for both U.S. 1 and U.S. 40.

City installed button copy signs remain in use throughout the interchange featuring a variant of the classic US Highway shield design.

U.S. 40 east at Franklin Street in Baltimore.

U.S. 40 splits with Edmondson Avenue for Franklin Street ahead of Poplar Grove Street. Traffic lights display both red and green at the same time similar to the U.S. 1 turn from Wilkens onto Fulton Avenues. This is not MUTCD complaint, but it is here none the less. Also take note of the classic U.S. 40 shields. Many of these remain in service for US 40 in the city.

A few blocks to the east, U.S. 40 partitions into a one-way street couplet utilizing Mulberry Street (east) and Franklin Street (west). This split quickly lines the frontage of the former Interstate 170 freeway between Monroe Street (U.S. 1 south) and Greene Street (Maryland 295 south). Interstate 170 opened to traffic in 1979 and was signed until 1983, when U.S. 40 took its place. The stub end of the freeway at U.S. 1 alluded to the scuttled continuation of I-170 west to unbuilt Interstate 70. A $6 million project undertaken in fall 2010 demolished most of the unused structure of Interstate 170 from the Mount Street overpass west to Pulaski Street. The elevated roadway was leveled and replaced with a grassy area slated for new parking areas for the adjacent MARC West Baltimore station.

What was originally a hulk of concrete adorned with a mural is now a fenced off lawn.

Gone also were the concrete walls meant for the U.S. 1 off-ramp of Interstate 170 east and the sign bridge hosting U.S. 1 signs above.

The westbound view of U.S. 40 leaving the former I-170 freeway for Franklin Street. Note the changes from just two years ago.

Many of the signs meant for U.S. 1, U.S. 40 and Interstate 170 remain in place however, such as this diagrammatic along Fulton Avenue south at Franklin Street.

Hats off to Laura Bianca and MDRoads.com for this green outline U.S. 40 sign by John Hopkins Hospital, and the city of Baltimore for ignoring it when installing a new US 40 shield.

Three trailblazers for Interstate 83 retaining the state name remain under the Jones Falls Expressway viaduct.

The second of two I-83 state-named shields along Gay Street.

Braving the thick stench of urine, a shield shot from Centre Street.

The lone remaining button copy shield for Interstate 83 anywhere is affixed to this overhead above the Fallsway on-ramp to the JFX northbound from Madison Street.

Surprised to see that there is still one northbound state-named shield for Interstate 83 holding on to service.

The only state named shield for Interstate 695 remaining on the Baltimore Beltway mainline. It is doubtful any exist on the surface roads or side streets either.

GSV shows two sets of button copy signs along Key Highway southbound for Interstate 95. These signs were removed and now two Clearview-based ground level signs direct motorists to the freeway from the Fort McHenry area. The new signs display “Interstate 95 South Right Lane” and “Interstate 95 North Both Lanes”. These will be posted on a future Baltimore guide update.