U.S. Route 40 in Maryland

This article is about the section of U.S. Route 40 in Maryland. For the entire route, see U.S. Route 40.

U.S. Route 40
Route information
Maintained by MDSHA, Baltimore DOT, and MdTA
Length:	221.31 mi (356.16 km)
Existed:	1926 – present
Tourist routes:	Historic National Road Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Scenic Byway Antietam Campaign Scenic Byway Catoctin Mountain Scenic Byway
Major junctions
West end:	US 40 near Addison, PA
	I-68 / US 219 near Grantsville US 220 in Cumberland I-70 / US 522 in Hancock I-81 near Hagerstown US 15 / US 340 in Frederick I-70 / I-270 in Frederick US 29 near Ellicott City I-695 in Catonsville US 1 in Baltimore I-95 in Baltimore
East end:	US 40 near Glasgow, DE
Highway system
United States Numbered Highways List Bannered Divided Replaced Maryland highway system Interstate US State Scenic Byways ← MD 39 MD 41 →

U.S. Route 40 (US 40) in the U.S. state of Maryland runs from western Maryland to Cecil County in the state's northeastern corner. With a total length of over 200 miles (320 km), it is the longest numbered highway in Maryland. Almost half of the road overlaps with Interstate 68 or Interstate 70, while the old alignment is generally known as U.S. Route 40 Alternate, U.S. Route 40 Scenic, or Maryland Route 144. West of Baltimore, the portions where it does not overlap an Interstate highway are mostly two-lane roads. The portion east of Baltimore is a four-lane divided highway, known as the Pulaski Highway (named for Casimir Pulaski).

From Cumberland west to Pennsylvania, US 40 is the successor to the historic National Road. East of Cumberland, towards Baltimore, US 40 follows several former turnpikes, most notably the Cumberland Turnpike and Baltimore and Frederick-town Turnpike. The route from Baltimore northeast to the Delaware state line follows another historic corridor towards Philadelphia, including the old Baltimore and Havre-de-Grace Turnpike (now mostly bypassed as Maryland Route 7).

Route description

A 340-foot (100 m) deep cut in Sideling Hill makes room for the I-68/US 40 roadway.

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. Here it joins I-68, (built during 1971-73 as the "National Freeway") which it follows through to Allegany County and the 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 and passes into Washington County.

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.

The western end of the below-surface level expressway stub in Baltimore City intended for use by the canceled I-170 from the 1970s "Highway Wars". This expressway is now used to carry US 40.

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. It then passes through Carroll County and Howard County, where US 40 once again 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. After passing over the upper northern reaches of the Patapsco Rivervalley 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. The Highway 40 heads toward Baltimore, interchanging with first US 29 and then 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 is known as the "Baltimore National Pike" 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.

US 40 in Aberdeen.

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.

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 passes through Gunpowder Falls State Park near Joppa into Harford County and west of the Aberdeen Proving Ground, along the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. 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.

Junction list

County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Garrett	​	0.00	0.00		US 40 west (National Pike) – Uniontown	Western terminus of US 40 in Maryland; Pennsylvania state line
	Keyser's Ridge	3.41	5.49		US 40 Alt. east (National Pike) – Grantsville
		3.74	6.02	14	I-68 west (National Freeway) / US 219 south (Garrett Highway) – Morgantown, Oakland	Split into exits 14A (US 219) and 14B (US 40); west end of concurrencies with I-68 and US 219
	Grantsville	9.12	14.68	19	MD 495 (Bittinger Road) – Grantsville, Swanton
	​	12.18	19.60	22	US 219 north (Chestnut Ridge Road) – Meyersdale, PA	East end of concurrency with US 219
	​	13.90	22.37	24	Lower New Germany Road
	Finzel	19.70	31.70	29	MD 546 (Finzel Road) – Finzel
Allegany	Frostburg	23.24	37.40	34	Midlothian Road – Frostburg	Midlothian Road north is unsigned MD 736
		24.93	40.12	36	MD 36 (New Georges Creek Road) – Frostburg, Westernport
	La Vale	29.12	46.86	39	US 40 Alt. (National Highway) – La Vale	No exit eastbound; eastbound entrance ramp is from MD 53
		29.85	48.04	40	US 220 Truck south (Vocke Road)	No entrance westbound; Vocke Road is unsigned MD 658
	Cumberland	31.46	50.63	41	MD 49 (Braddock Road) / Seton Drive	Westbound exit only
		32.24	51.89	42	US 220 south (McMullen Highway) / Greene Street north – McCoole, Keyser, WV	West end of concurrency with US 220
		33.51	53.93	43A	To WV 28 Alt. / Johnson Street / Beall Street – Ridgeley	Right-in/right-out interchange with Johnson Street eastbound; ramps to and from Beall Street westbound
		33.80	54.40	43B	MD 51 south (Industrial Boulevard) – Airport
		33.82	54.43	43C	Downtown
		34.14	54.94	43D	Maryland Avenue	Right-in/right-out interchanges
		34.77	55.96	44	US 40 Alt. west (Baltimore Avenue) / MD 639 south (Willowbrook Road)
		35.69	57.44	45	Hillcrest Drive	Right-in/right-out interchanges with Rannells Road eastbound and Hillcrest Drive westbound, which are unsigned MD 952 and MD 952A, respectively
		36.39	58.56	46	MD 144 (Naves Cross Road)	Westbound exit and entrance
		37.09	59.69	47	US 220 north / MD 144 (National Pike) – Bedford	Signed as exit 46 eastbound; east end of concurrency with US 220
	​	41.18	66.27	50	Pleasant Valley Road – Rocky Gap State Park	Unsigned MD 948D
	​	42.42	68.27	52	MD 144 east (National Pike)	Eastbound exit, westbound entrance
	Flintstone	45.87	73.82	56	MD 144 (National Pike) – Flintstone	Westbound ramps are with MD 948AM
	​	52.84	85.04	62	US 40 Scenic (Fifteen Mile Creek Road)
	​	54.11	87.08	64	M.V. Smith Road	Unsigned MD 948AL
	​	58.64	94.37	68	Orleans Road
	​	61.56	99.07	72	US 40 Scenic (National Pike) / High Germany Road / Swain Road	West end of concurrency with US 40 Scenic; High Germany Road is unsigned MD 948Y
Washington	​	63.51	102.21	74	US 40 Scenic east (National Pike) / Mountain Road	Eastbound exit, westbound entrance; Mountain Road is unsigned MD 903; east end of concurrency with US 40 Scenic
	​	67.07	107.94	77	US 40 Scenic west (National Pike) / MD 144 east (Western Pike) / Woodmont Road
	Hancock	71.01	114.28	82 1	I-70 (Eisenhower Memorial Highway) / US 522 – Breezewood, Hancock, Winchester	Split into exits 82A (US 522), 82B (I-70 / US 40), and 82C (I-70 / US 522) eastbound; split into exits 1A (I-68 / US 40) and 1B (US 522 south) westbound; eastern terminus of I-68; west end of concurrency with I-70
		73.50	118.29	3	MD 144 (Main Street) – Hancock	No westbound entrance
	​	74.40	119.74	5	MD 615 (Millstone Road)	Eastbound exit, westbound entrance
	​	75.85	122.07	5	MD 615 (Millstone Road)	Westbound exit, eastbound entrance
	Indian Springs	79.17	127.41	9	I-70 east (Eisenhower Memorial Highway) – Hagerstown	Eastbound exit from and westbound entrance to I-70; east end of concurrency with I-70
	Clear Spring	86.57	139.32		MD 68 east (Mill Street) – Williamsport
	​	88.97	143.18		MD 57 north (St. Paul Road)
	Huyett	93.51	150.49		MD 63 (Greencastle Pike) – Williamsport, Cearfoss
	Hagerstown	94.75	152.49		MD 144 east (Washington Street)
		96.23	154.87		I-81 (Maryland Veterans Memorial Highway) – Roanoke, Harrisburg	I-81 Exit 6
		96.61	155.48		MD 910 south (Western Maryland Parkway)	Officially MD 910C
		97.63	157.12		US 11 (Burhans Boulevard)
		98.68	158.81		MD 64 east (Cleveland Avenue) – Smithsburg
		101.72	163.70		I-70 (Eisenhower Memorial Highway) – Hancock, Frederick	I-70 Exit 32
	Beaver Creek	104.53	168.22		MD 66 (Mapleville Road) – Boonsboro, Smithsburg
Frederick	Myersville	111.03	178.69		MD 17 (Wolfsville Road) – Middletown
	Braddock Heights	118.41	190.56		I-70 west (Eisenhower Memorial Highway) – Hagerstown	I-70 Exit 48; westbound exit, eastbound entrance
	Frederick	119.68	192.61		US 40 Alt. west (Old National Pike) – Braddock Heights, Middletown	No direct access from eastbound US 40 to westbound US 40 Alternate or from eastbound US 40 Alternate to westbound US 40
		121.09	194.88		US 15 north (Frederick Freeway) / Patrick Street east – Gettysburg	US 15 Exit 13; split into exits 13A (Patrick Street) and 13B (US 40 west); west end of concurrency with US 15
		121.82	196.05		US 15 south / US 340 west (Jefferson National Pike) / Jefferson Avenue east – Leesburg, Charles Town	US 15 Exit 12; east end of concurrency with US 15
		122.44	197.05	53	I-70 west / I-270 south (Eisenhower Memorial Highway) – Hagerstown, Washington	Split into exits 53A (I-270) and 53B (US 40 west); west end of concurrency with I-70
		123.60	198.91	54	MD 85 (Buckeystown Pike) to MD 355 / Market Street	Single-point urban interchange
		124.15	199.80	55	South Street	Westbound ramps are with Monocacy Boulevard
		124.68	200.65	56	MD 144 (Patrick Street)	No westbound entrance
	Bartonsville	128.04	206.06	59	MD 144 west (Old National Pike)	Westbound exit, eastbound entrance
	New Market	131.75	212.03	62	MD 75 (Green Valley Road) – Libertytown, Hyattstown
Carroll	Mount Airy	137.19	220.79	68	MD 27 (Ridge Road) – Mount Airy, Damascus
Howard	Lisbon	142.58	229.46	73	MD 94 (Woodbine Road) – Lisbon, Woodbine
	Cooksville	145.75	234.56	76	MD 97 (Hoods Mill Road) – Westminster, Olney
	West Friendship	149.42	240.47	80	MD 32 (Sykesville Road) – Sykesville, Clarksville
		151.54	243.88	82	I-70 east – Baltimore	Eastbound exit from and westbound entrance to I-70; east end of concurrency with I-70
	Ellicott City	154.13	248.05		MD 144 west (Frederick Road)
		157.10	252.83		US 29 (Columbia Pike) to I-70 – Columbia, Frederick	US 29 Exit 24
		159.25	256.29		Patapsco Valley State Park	Right-in/right-out interchanges in both directions
Baltimore	Catonsville	162.28	261.16		I-695 (Baltimore Beltway) – Glen Burnie, Towson	I-695 Exit 15
City of Baltimore		165.93	267.04		US 40 Truck east (Hilton Parkway) / Hilton Parkway south	Cloverleaf interchange
		167.31	269.26		Mulberry Street east to US 1 (Monroe Street/Fulton Avenue)	Eastbound exit, westbound entrance (from Franklin Street)
		168.36	270.95		Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard	Diamond interchange
		168.57	271.29		MD 295 south (Greene Street)	MD 295 is unsigned; Greene Street is one-way southbound
		168.64	271.40		MD 129 north (Paca Street)	MD 129 is unsigned; Paca Street is one-way northbound
		169.02	272.01		Charles Street north	Charles Street is one-way northbound
		169.09	272.12		MD 2 (St. Paul Street)
		171.86	276.58		MD 150 east (Haven Street)
		172.59	277.76		MD 151 (Erdman Avenue) / US 40 Truck west / I-895 south (Harbor Tunnel Thruway)	Cloverleaf interchange; movements from eastbound US 40 to northbound MD 151 and from northbound MD 151 to eastbound US 40 made via Armistead Way; I-895 Exit 13
		173.58	279.35		Moravia Road to I-895 / I-95 north	No eastbound entrance
		173.76	279.64		I-95 south – Washington	I-95 Exit 61; ramps from westbound US 40 to southbound I-95 and northbound I-95 to eastbound US 40
Baltimore	Rosedale	174.12	280.22		MD 7 east (Philadelphia Road)
		176.63	284.26		I-695 (Baltimore Beltway) / Golden Ring Road north – Essex, Towson	I-695 Exit 35
	Middle River	177.96	286.40		MD 700 south (Martin Boulevard)	Trumpet interchange
	White Marsh	180.84	291.03		MD 43 (White Marsh Boulevard) to I-95	Two-way ramp between US 40 and MD 43 plus a ramp from westbound US 40 to westbound MD 43
Harford	Joppatowne	187.54	301.82		MD 152 (Magnolia Road/Mountain Road) – Fallston, Aberdeen Proving Ground
	Edgewood	189.21	304.50		MD 755 south (Edgewood Road) / Edgewood Road north
		189.78	305.42		To MD 24 (Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway) – Bel Air, Aberdeen Proving Ground	Two-way ramp between US 40 and MD 24 is MD 24D (Otter Creek Ramp)
	Riverside	193.93	312.10		MD 543 north (Riverside Parkway)
	Aberdeen	196.13	315.64		MD 7 west / MD 159 south (Old Philadelphia Road) – Perryman
		196.94	316.94		MD 715 east (Short Lane) – Aberdeen Proving Ground, Visitors/Deliveries	Trumpet interchange
		198.52	319.49		MD 132 (Bel Air Avenue)	Officially MD 132B
		13.61	21.90		MD 22 (Aberdeen Thruway) to I-95 – Aberdeen Proving Ground, Bel Air	Partial cloverleaf interchange
	Havre de Grace	200.28	322.32		MD 132 west (Oakington Road)
		201.72	324.64		MD 7 east (Revolution Street) – Havre de Grace	Officially MD 7A
		203.10	326.86		MD 7 west (Otsego Street) / MD 155 west (Ohio Street) to I-95 / Otsego Street west – Havre de Grace, Churchville	Officially MD 7A
Susquehanna River		203.41– 204.90	327.36– 329.75	Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge
Cecil	Perryville	205.02	329.95	Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge Toll Plaza (eastbound)
		205.21	330.25		MD 222 (Perryville Road/Aiken Avenue) to I-95 – Port Deposit, Perryville, VA Hospital
	​	207.98	334.71		MD 7 west (Principio Furnace Road) – Perryville	Officially MD 7B
	​	208.45	335.47		MD 7 east (Old Philadelphia Road) – Charlestown, North East	Officially MD 7C
	North East	212.33	341.71		MD 272 (Mauldin Avenue/North East Road) to I-95 – Cecil College, Bay View, North East
	Elkton	217.43	349.92		MD 7 west (Old Philadelphia Road) / MD 279 north (Elkton Road) to I-95 – North East, Newark	Officially MD 7C
		218.91	352.30		MD 213 (Bridge Street/Augustine Herman Highway) – Elkton, Chesapeake City
		220.25	354.46		MD 7 west (Delaware Avenue)	Officially MD 7D
		221.08	355.79		MD 781 north (Delancy Road)
		221.31	356.16		US 40 east (Pulaski Highway) – Glasgow	Eastern terminus of US 40 in Maryland; Delaware state line
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

• Maryland Roads portal

External links

• MDRoads: US 40

U.S. Route 40
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