Route 281
MD 281 connects Downtown Elkton with Iron Hill, Delaware along a 2.12 mile long course. The state route follows Main Street east to Big Elk Creek, and Red Hill Road between the Club at Patriots Glen golf course community and Washington Woods subdivision to Delancy Road (MD 781) south. The state route connects with Old Baltimore Pike through suburban areas between Newark and Glasgow.
The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) recorded 6,380 vehicles per day (vpd) along MD 281 between MD 7 (Delaware Avenue) and MD 781 (Delancy Road) in 2016. Improving safety, a $3.1 million project underway from August 2017 to October 30, 2017 replaced the T-intersection with Muddy Lane with a roundabout.1,2
East
MD 281 (Red Hill Road) rises from Big Elk Creek onto Grays Hill ahead of MD 781 (Delancy Road).
05/21/07
MD 781 links Red Hill Road with U.S. 40 (Pulaski Highway) along a 1.01 mile course.
05/21/07
Delancy Road serves a number of apartment complexes, town home communities, and the Buckhill Farms and Chapel Run subdivisions between MD 281 and the commercial strip along U.S. 40.
05/21/07
West
Old Baltimore Pike (Road 26) travels 2.5 miles west from SR 896 to become (Red Hill Road) at the state line. Old Baltimore Pike, MD 281, and nearby Otts Chapel Road provide alternate routes between Newark, DE and Elkton, MD.
12/26/17
MD 281 (Red Hill Road) advances 0.34 miles west to the intersection with MD 781 (Delancy Road) south. The mast arm traffic lights at Delancy Road were added in the mid 1990s.
12/26/17
Linking MD 281 with U.S. 40 (Pulaski Highway), MD 781 (Delancy Road) siphons a substantial amount of traffic from Red Hill Road. Delancy Road travels 1.01 mile south to a commercialized intersection with U.S. 40.
12/26/17
Reassurance marker posted after MD 781 (Delancy Road). 1.78 miles of MD 281 west remain.
12/29/17
Motorists on Red Hill Road westbound next approach the roundabout with Muddy Lane north and Kemp Lane south.
12/29/17
Muddy Lane heads 1.4 miles north from MD 281 (Red Hill Road) to Belle Hill Road adjacent to the interchange joining MD 279 (Elkton Road) with Interstate 95.
12/29/17
A nearly two month closure of the MD 281 intersection with Muddy Lane allowed crews to complete the $3.1 million roundabout by October 30, 2017. Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) officials previously anticipated the project extending to Summer 2018.2
12/29/17
Continuing from Muddy Lane, MD 281 runs along the north side of Grays Hill and the Washington Woods subdivision.
12/29/17
MD 281 lowers 138 feet in elevation from Patriots Way, entrance for the Club at Patriots Glen neighborhood, to the bridge across Big Elk Creek.
12/29/17
MD 281 (Main Street) crosses Big Elk Creek between Cox Lane and Cow Poind.
12/29/17
MD 7 (Delaware Avenue) angles 1.25 miles northwest from U.S. 40 (Pulaski Highway) and the Village of Elkton Shopping Center to connect with East Main Street by Meadow Park.
12/29/17
MD 7 (Main Street) continues from MD 281 just 0.20 miles west to South Street. The remainder of the route along Main Street through Downtown was to the town of Elkton in 2012.
12/26/17
References:
- "MD 281 Roundabout Construction Begins in Elkton." Maryland Department of Transportation, news release. August 4, 2017.
- "Muddy Lane intersection set to reopen Monday." Cecil Whig (Elkton, MD), October 27, 2017.
Photo Credits:
- Alex Nitzman: 05/21/07, 12/26/17, 12/29/17
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Page Updated Wednesday December 12, 2018.