Maryland

[cpzilliacus]

Here is a photo of BW pkwy at beltway in late 60s showing a 95 shield.



Can't verify from Tampa hotel but IIRC the 1961 rand McN shows bw pkwy as I95

The Baltimore-Washington Parkway was never signed as I-95, but there were plenty of TO I-95 like the one in your image above.  Note that designating the Parkway as I-95 was something that anti-highway activists in the District of Columbia and nearby parts of Maryland were promoting before I-95 across D.C. was cancelled.

This is southbound B-W Parkway in GSV on  the bridge over I-495 (and I-95 today). 

[lepidopteran]

New plan to add lanes to: Capital Beltway (MD side), I-270, and the B-W Parkway

This $9bn plan adds 4 lanes to:

• The Capital Beltway, between the American Legion and Wilson Bridges (does not appear the mention the Legion Bridge itself)
• I-270, all the way up to Frederick
• The B-W Parkway, to Baltimore City; would also transfer the road's operations from the National Park Service to MdTA

There would be express toll lanes on at least 2 of these routes.

[epzik8]

Just drove into Havre de Grace and on the eastbound approach on MD-155, there are at least two yellow turn intersection signs in Clearview.

[Beltway]

New plan to add lanes to: Capital Beltway (MD side), I-270, and the B-W Parkway
This $9bn plan adds 4 lanes to:

• The Capital Beltway, between the American Legion and Wilson Bridges (does not appear the mention the Legion Bridge itself)
• I-270, all the way up to Frederick
• The B-W Parkway, to Baltimore City; would also transfer the road's operations from the National Park Service to MdTA

There would be express toll lanes on at least 2 of these routes.

MDOT SHA will need to conduct a full NEPA EIS/location study process on these projects before they can be approved for construction.  That will take at least 5 years to conduct.

NEPA is the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
EIS is an Environmental Impact Statement

[adventurernumber1]

Disclaimer: I'm sure there's been threads on this millions of times before, and even if not, I'm not sure if it is justified for me to create one, so I'm just posting this here, since this is technically in Maryland.


This is something that I had never realized before, until browsing the D.C. area on Google Maps today.

For some reason I was oblivious to the fact that the southern end of the I-95/I-495 interchange (in Maryland) marks the location of a Park and Ride facility. This is very interesting, since I-70's eastern terminus is at a Park and Ride in Baltimore (which I am well aware of), which is close by. I don't know the history, but is it possible that in some form, I-95 was possibly originally going to go through much of the District of Columbia? 

See here: https://tinyurl.com/yclbxk3c

Maybe the Park and Ride is there for no reason other than to simply exist in that particular chosen spot, but I'm willing to bet that it being there is possibly due to some rich highway history.

I do find this to be quite interesting, and I can't believe that I was unaware of it before. I suppose I had never looked very closely at the I-95/I-495 interchange before.

[Jmiles32]

Disclaimer: I'm sure there's been threads on this millions of times before, and even if not, I'm not sure if it is justified for me to create one, so I'm just posting this here, since this is technically in Maryland.


This is something that I had never realized before, until browsing the D.C. area on Google Maps today.

For some reason I was oblivious to the fact that the southern end of the I-95/I-495 interchange (in Maryland) marks the location of a Park and Ride facility. This is very interesting, since I-70's eastern terminus is at a Park and Ride in Baltimore (which I am well aware of), which is close by. I don't know the history, but is it possible that in some form, I-95 was possibly originally going to go through much of the District of Columbia? 

See here: https://tinyurl.com/yclbxk3c

Maybe the Park and Ride is there for no reason other than to simply exist in that particular chosen spot, but I'm willing to bet that it being there is possibly due to some rich highway history.

I do find this to be quite interesting, and I can't believe that I was unaware of it before. I suppose I had never looked very closely at the I-95/I-495 interchange before.

Long story short, I-95 was planned to go through northeast D.C(connecting to the current northern end of I-395) and I-70 was planned to go through Baltimore. Both plans were canceled to fierce neighborhood opposition. However, I believe both the I-95/I-495 and I-70/I-695 interchanges were built with the assumption that I-95 and I-70 would continue and thus after they're cancellation, the stub ends were converted into park and rides.

[davewiecking]

A map of the route:

[froggie]

^ One of two routings considered for I-95 inside the Beltway, the other followed the PEPCO line and tied into the North Central Freeway...then-proposed-I-70S (and not shown on the map)...near New Hamsphire Ave NE.  Also, this was before the North Leg proposal was switched to a tunnel under K St NW.

[tckma]

Disclaimer: I'm sure there's been threads on this millions of times before, and even if not, I'm not sure if it is justified for me to create one, so I'm just posting this here, since this is technically in Maryland.


This is something that I had never realized before, until browsing the D.C. area on Google Maps today.

For some reason I was oblivious to the fact that the southern end of the I-95/I-495 interchange (in Maryland) marks the location of a Park and Ride facility. This is very interesting, since I-70's eastern terminus is at a Park and Ride in Baltimore (which I am well aware of), which is close by. I don't know the history, but is it possible that in some form, I-95 was possibly originally going to go through much of the District of Columbia? 

See here: https://tinyurl.com/yclbxk3c

Maybe the Park and Ride is there for no reason other than to simply exist in that particular chosen spot, but I'm willing to bet that it being there is possibly due to some rich highway history.

I do find this to be quite interesting, and I can't believe that I was unaware of it before. I suppose I had never looked very closely at the I-95/I-495 interchange before.

Long story short, I-95 was planned to go through northeast D.C(connecting to the current northern end of I-395) and I-70 was planned to go through Baltimore. Both plans were canceled to fierce neighborhood opposition. However, I believe both the I-95/I-495 and I-70/I-695 interchanges were built with the assumption that I-95 and I-70 would continue and thus after they're cancellation, the stub ends were converted into park and rides.

Isn't the stub end of I-95 now a weigh station?  I don't recall there ever being a Park And Ride there, but then, I only moved to the DC / Baltimore area in 2008.

[BrianP]

They made the lane drop switch where I-270 joins the outer loop.  They must have done it Friday night since I saw the change on Saturday.

[cpzilliacus]

Isn't the stub end of I-95 now a weigh station?  I don't recall there ever being a Park And Ride there, but then, I only moved to the DC / Baltimore area in 2008.

It is both  park-and-ride and a truck weigh/inspection station.

[lepidopteran]

Long story short, I-95 was planned to go through northeast D.C(connecting to the current northern end of I-395) and I-70 was planned to go through Baltimore. Both plans were canceled to fierce neighborhood opposition. However, I believe both the I-95/I-495 and I-70/I-695 interchanges were built with the assumption that I-95 and I-70 would continue and thus after they're cancellation, the stub ends were converted into park and rides.

Actually, I-70 continues eastward for a mile or two past the I-695 interchange (the advance WB sign reading "I-70 ends at I-695" notwithstanding) before ending at a local road interchange and a park-and-ride.  The control city for that direction on I-695 is "Local Traffic", a town that I cannot seem to find on any map .  That stretch of roadway was supposedly going to be downgraded to a parkway/surface road as part of the Red Line light rail project, but that got cancelled, much to the dismay of many.

There are some artifacts of where I-70 was supposed to continue.  One is an isolated stretch of US-40 freeway in West Baltimore, that was originally supposed to be I-170 (and might still be signed as such on some maps).  The other is a ramp stub near I-95 NB off the Caton Ave. exit.  That exit is really long, considering it was originally to be C/D ramps for the end of I-70.  Up until some 20 years ago there was a huge ghost ramp ending in mid-air on the SB side; a fill pile and some lead-in roadway  to that ramp is still present.

[cpzilliacus]

Next City: Even With Wider Highways, Maryland Could Still Find Itself in a Jam

[jcn]

Here's some more high mast light trivia.  Back when the high mast lights at the I-95/I-695 interchange (the southern one), were lit up, did you know they were a mix of mercury vapor and HPS?

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Post: Hogan's idea to widen Washington-area highways to add toll lanes has hit barriers before

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan's proposal to add toll lanes to three of the most congested highways in the Washington suburbs reaches beyond similar proposals that stalled over the years after being deemed too expensive or disruptive to adjacent communities.

Hogan's $9 billion plan would add four toll lanes each to Maryland's portion of the Capital Beltway (I-495) and to I-270 from the Beltway to Frederick. It would also widen the Baltimore-Washington Parkway by four toll lanes.

The project would be built using a public-private partnership in what Hogan (R) has said would be the largest such deal for highways in North America.

The success of Hogan's plan hinges, in part, on whether the private companies can figure out what state planners haven't been able to: how to add four cost-effective toll lanes without having to demolish dozens, and potentially hundreds, of homes and businesses.

[cl94]

The success of Hogan's plan hinges, in part, on whether the private companies can figure out what state planners haven't been able to: how to add four cost-effective toll lanes without having to demolish dozens, and potentially hundreds, of homes and businesses.

Good luck with that. The Parkway generally has the ROW south of I-695, but the Beltway and I-270 are already tight. They're going to have trouble fitting one more lane per direction on the Beltway and 270 without major land acquisitions.

[cpzilliacus]

Baltimore Sun: Hogan announces $50 million signal upgrade on Maryland highways to improve traffic flow

Drivers in 14 state highway corridors in Maryland will see their travel times cut over the next year as a result of a $50 million upgrade to traffic signals, Gov. Larry Hogan said Wednesday.

The new system, billed as the second phase of Hogan's program to relieve highway traffic congestion, will use artificial intelligence to better synchronize signals and improve traffic flow, officials said. The governor said the adaptive signal control system replaces technology that is more than 20 years old.

[kj3400]

I wanna point out the corridor in Brooklyn Park mentioned in the article consists of 4 signals. Just 4.
While this is a good idea, I'd appreciate it if the governor would consider the rest of Ritchie Hwy.

[cpzilliacus]

I wanna point out the corridor in Brooklyn Park mentioned in the article consists of 4 signals. Just 4.
While this is a good idea, I'd appreciate it if the governor would consider the rest of Ritchie Hwy.

The ones mentioned on the Solomons  Island Road section of MD-2 (Annapolis Harbour Center Drive to Tarragon Lane) is only 3 signals, but it's still a section of road that is extremely congested (usually north in AM and south in PM) by  Anne Arundel County standards.

[MASTERNC]

They also failed to include either US 1 or White Marsh Blvd (MD 43) north of Baltimore.  The latter is really bad because of the retail complex.  At the very least they could synchronize the lights at Honeygo & Perry Hall Boulevards.

[cpzilliacus]

The success of Hogan's plan hinges, in part, on whether the private companies can figure out what state planners haven't been able to: how to add four cost-effective toll lanes without having to demolish dozens, and potentially hundreds, of homes and businesses.

Good luck with that. The Parkway generally has the ROW south of I-695, but the Beltway and I-270 are already tight. They're going to have trouble fitting one more lane per direction on the Beltway and 270 without major land acquisitions.

There are places where the Baltimore-Washington Parkway right-of-way is tight, and even if the federal government is willing to agree to deed the National Park Service (NPS) part of the parkway to Maryland, there will still be several places where Section 4(f) lands adjoin the right-of-way. Sale or giveaway of land belonging to NPS also requires approval by Congress, and has traditionally not been granted.

Speaking of right-of-way, I am not sure if it is even legally defined in places where the parkway runs through federal or state lands, a lot of which is presumably subject to Section 4(f) restrictions and limitations (including land controlled by the National Park Service; the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission; NASA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Department of Homeland Security, the Fish and Wildlife Service; the U.S. Army (or maybe the Department of Defense) and the Maryland Aviation Administration).

[adventurernumber1]

I am incredibly sorry for having such a late reply, regarding the answers to my question in this thread (see Reply # 1305), but I was waiting until everyone who was going to respond to do so, before I replied again, so that I could put my response all into one post. I actually meant to do this a couple of weeks ago, but school temporarily got super busy super quick, and my plans were halted. But anyway, time to cease my boring disclaimer. 


Thank you everyone for letting me know the history of Interstate 95 in and near Washington, D.C. I now know that I-95 in the District of Columbia had a similar fate as I-70 in Baltimore, which I did not realize before. Thanks once again for the interesting information, insight, and maps, and I am now a little bit more knowledgeable on the intriguing history of this nation's roads! 

[Beltway]

Speaking of right-of-way, I am not sure if it is even legally defined in places where the parkway runs through federal or state lands, a lot of which is presumably subject to Section 4(f) restrictions and limitations (including land controlled by the National Park Service; the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission; NASA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Department of Homeland Security, the Fish and Wildlife Service; the U.S. Army (or maybe the Department of Defense) and the Maryland Aviation Administration).

When I rode thru the I-64 widening projects a few days ago, I could see the limited access right-of-way fences along U.S. Army property, and small signs on the fence stating that it is U.S. government land.  I have seen this in other places such as at Fort Lee and Fort A.P. Hill.

[ixnay]

The ribbon was cut yesterday on MD 404's newest dualized segment.  Four-oh-four is now dualized from US. 50 to just east of where MD 16, coming up from Cambridge, meets it for a brief multiplex before MD 16 shoots off towards Greenwood, DE.

http://www.myeasternshoremd.com/kent_county_news/spotlight/article_1b213ad2-c5c9-587f-be1b-949ea0cff3ee.html

ixnay

[Beltway]

The ribbon was cut yesterday on MD 404's newest dualized segment.  Four-oh-four is now dualized from US. 50 to just east of where MD 16, coming up from Cambridge, meets it for a brief multiplex before MD 16 shoots off towards Greenwood, DE.
http://www.myeasternshoremd.com/kent_county_news/spotlight/article_1b213ad2-c5c9-587f-be1b-949ea0cff3ee.html
ixnay

This will increase the utility of the Route 404 corridor as an alternate to following US-50 in its entirety to Ocean City.  Route 404 connects to US-13 and US-113 which can be utilized to connect back to US-50.

Are there any plans to widen other sections of MD-404 and DE-404?