U.S. Route 29 in Maryland

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U.S. Route 29
Colesville Road Columbia Pike
Length:	25.91 mi[1] (41.70 km)
Formed:	1934
South end:	US 29 at D.C. line near Silver Spring
Major junctions:	MD 410 in Silver Spring MD 97 in Silver Spring I-495 near Four Corners MD 193 in Four Corners MD 198 in Burtonsville MD 32 near Columbia MD 100 in Ellicott City US 40 in Ellicott City I-70 near Mount Hebron
North end:	MD 99 in Mount Hebron
Counties:	Montgomery Howard
Major cities:	Silver Spring Columbia Ellicott City
Highways in Maryland < MD 28 MD 30 > State highways - Minor - Former - Turnpikes

U.S. Route 29 in Maryland is a major highway that emerges from Washington D.C. and runs north into eastern Montgomery County. It serves the communities of Columbia and Ellicott City and provides the westernmost north-south route between Washington D.C. and Baltimore.

[edit] Counties traversed

• Montgomery County
• Howard County

[edit] Cities and towns

US 29 directly serves the following towns (bolded entries are control cities):

[edit] Route description

[edit] Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road

US 29 emerges from D.C. along Georgia Avenue. Running alongside the Jessup Blair Park it intersects MD 410, the East-West Highway, just outside the D.C. border. It then meets the northern terminus of MD 384 and the southern terminus of MD 97 at a four-way intersection in Silver Spring; US 29 subsequently becomes Colesville Rd., taking over from MD 384, while MD 97 continues as Georgia Ave.

Crossing Sligo Creek Park the highway intersects the Sligo Creek Parkway just to the south of Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway); a partial cloverleaf interchange between the highways prevents direct access from US 29 south to I-495 east and I-495 west to US 29 north. Now a divided highway, US 29 continues north, intersecting MD 193 just beyond the Capital Beltway; this highway provides access to I-495 that is not available at the aforementioned interchange.

[edit] Columbia Pike

After crossing the Northwest Branch Park the route is now known as Columbia Pike and becomes a four-lane divided expressway. It interchanges with MD 650 to the northwest of the Naval Surface Weapons Center. The route passes through Paint Branch Park, over the Paint Branch, before meeting Randolph Rd. at a recently constructed diamond interchange. Continuing northeast the route intersects Fairland Rd. before meeting Briggs Chaney Rd. at another recently constructed diamond interchange.

Running northwest of Fairland Regional Park US 29 reaches its first major freeway segment at Burtonsville, bypassing a former, heavily curved at-grade expressway portion through the town. The bypass incorporates the southern end of the former alignment and a diamond interchange with MD 198 within its southern endpoint; US 29 continues straight ahead through the combined interchange, meeting the northern end of the former alignment at a partial diamond interchange.

The route crosses the Rocky Gorge Reservoir and enters Howard County just beyond the northern end of the bypass. It intersects Old Columbia Rd. just beyond the reservoir and then upgrades into a six-lane grade-separated almost-freeway within its interchange with MD 216 at Scaggsville. Continuing as an almost-freeway it interchanges with Johns Hopkins Rd. after two miles, then intersects Rivers Edge Rd. at a half-signalled intersection (Rivers Edge Rd. intersects the southbound carriageway, which has the signals; the northbound carriageway has an unsignalled turn lane and an unsignalled acceleration lane, both within the median).

Next, US 29 encounters MD 32 at a symmetrical cloverleaf; for an extended period this interchange marked the southern end of US 29's grade separation, with the entire route south of there being an at-grade expressway. North of the interchange, US 29 intersects several major routes that serve the town of Columbia: Shaker Drive/Seneca Drive, Broken Land Parkway, MD 175, and MD 108. Between Broken Land Parkway and MD 175, US 29 has a right-in/right-out interchange between the southbound carriageway and S Entrance Rd; the northbound carriageway has two at-grade direct turnoffs to Gates Lane and Old Columbia Rd, with median crossovers provided for southbound traffic. Near the MD 108 interchange the northbound carriageway has another direct turnoff to Diamondback Drive.

Beyond the MD 108 interchange, US 29 upgrades again into a fully limited-access six-lane grade-separated freeway as it encounters the western terminus of MD 100. The heavy flows to and from MD 100 result in US 29 widening again to eight lanes within the interchange, which also incorporates a three-quarter diamond interchange with the western terminus of MD 103. The eight-lane segment narrows to six lanes again as it encounters the historic northern end of the US 29 expressway at U.S. Route 40 within Ellicott City.

[edit] 29th Infantry Division Memorial Highway

The entire route in Maryland is also known as the 29th Infantry Division Memorial Highway, and some trailblazer assemblies in the Ellicott City area are marked with the division's distinctive yin-yang symbol. At the US 40 interchange, a monument dedicating the highway to the division has been installed and can be seen from both carriageways.

Beyond US 40, US 29 interchanges with Interstate 70 at a modified directional cloverleaf, and finally terminates at an at-grade intersection with MD 99 near Mount Hebron.

[edit] Points of interest

• Jessup Blair Park
• Sligo Creek Park
• Northwest Branch Park
• Naval Surface Weapons Center
• Paint Branch Park
• Fairland Regional Park
• Rocky Gorge Reservoir
• Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
• The Mall in Columbia
• Lake Kittamaqundi
• Centennial Park
• Historic Ellicott City
• Montgomery Blair High School

[edit] Junction list

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
continues from Washington D.C.
Montgomery	Silver Spring	0.2		Maryland Route 410 / East-West Highway - Chevy Chase, Takoma Park
		0.7		Maryland Route 97 north / Georgia Ave. / Maryland Route 384 south / Colesville Rd. - Olney, Washington D.C.	turns onto Colesville Rd.; continues on Georgia Ave.
		1.4		Dale Dr. - Nolte Recreation Center	former route of
	Sligo Creek Park	1.6		Sligo Creek Parkway - to MD 650
	Four Corners	1.7		Franklin Ave. - to MD 193	former route of
		2.3		Interstate 495 / Capital Beltway - Rockville (to I-270), College Park (to I-95)	grade-separated interchange between routes
		2.6		Maryland Route 193 / University Blvd. - Chevy Chase View, University of Maryland
		3.8		Lockwood Dr. north - to MD 650	former route of
	White Oak	4.6		Maryland Route 650 / New Hampshire Ave. - Ashton, Takoma Park	grade-separated interchange between routes
		6.7		E Randolph Rd.-Cherry Hill Rd. - Paint Branch Park (to US 1)	new grade-separated interchange between routes; Randolph Rd. connects to former route of
				Fairland Rd. - Paint Branch Park
				Briggs Chaney Rd. - Fairland Regional Park (via Robey Rd.)	new grade-separated interchange between routes
				Greencastle Rd. - Fairland Regional Park
	Burtonsville	10.6		MD 198 / Sandy Spring Rd. / Old Columbia Pike north - Fairland, Laurel (to I-95)	west via Norbeck Rd. connects to ; southern terminus of former alignment of
				Dustin Rd.-Old Columbia Pike south	northern terminus of former alignment of
Howard				Old Columbia Rd. - to Harding Rd.
	Scaggsville	12.9	13	Maryland Route 216 / Scaggsville Rd. - Fulton, Laurel (to I-95)	upgrades into grade-separated almost-freeway
				Hammond Dr. - to Crest Rd.	direct turnoff from northbound carriageway
		14.9	15	Johns Hopkins Rd. - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
				Rivers Edge Rd.	signalled intersection with southbound carriageway; direct turnoff from northbound carriageway
		16.6	16	Maryland Route 32 / Patuxent Freeway - Clarksville, Fort Meade
		17.3	17	Seneca Dr.-Shaker Dr. - Atholton Park
	Columbia	18.3	18	Broken Land Parkway - The Mall in Columbia (to Snowden River Parkway)
				S Entrance Rd. - Lake Kittamaqundi	right-in/right-out interchange with southbound carriageway
				Gates Lane	direct turnoff from northbound carriageway; median crossover provided for southbound traffic
				Old Columbia Rd.
		20.0	20	Maryland Route 175 east / Little Patuxent Parkway-Rouse Parkway - The Mall in Columbia, Waterloo (to I-95)	runs east of
				Diamondback Dr.	direct turnoff from northbound carriageway
		21.2	21	Maryland Route 108 / Clarksville Pike-Old Annapolis Rd. - Clarksville	former route of west from interchange; becomes fully limited access north of interchange
	Ellicott City	22.4	22	Maryland Route 100 east / Baltimore Outer Beltway - Dorsey, Glen Burnie (to I-95)
		22.6	23	Maryland Route 103 east / St. Johns Lane-Montgomery Rd. - Elkridge	connects to former route of into Ellicott City (formerly designated )
		24.1	24	US 40 / Baltimore National Pike - West Friendship, Catonsville	former end of expressway; once turned east along
		25.5	25	Interstate 70 - Frederick, Baltimore	multiple accesses to provided
	Mount Hebron	25.9		Maryland Route 99 west / Old Frederick Rd.-Rogers Ave. - Alpha Ridge Park, Ellicott City	northern terminus of ; route ends in temporary configuration

[edit] History

On January 10, 1810, the Columbia Turnpike Road Company was chartered by the General Assembly of Maryland to "make a turnpike road from where the road leading from Montgomery courthouse to Baltimore intersects the Baltimore and Frederick turnpike road near Ellicott's lower mills, in a direction towards Georgetown, until it intersects the line of the district of Columbia, and so that it shall cross Rock creek at not less than three miles above Georgetown"^[2] The road later came to be known as the Columbia Pike.^[3]

In 1933, the Maryland state government and the D.C. government approached AASHO and the Virginia state government about the possible northern extension of US 29 from its original northern terminus in Culpepper, Virginia on US 15. After much deliberation, AASHO and Virginia assented to the modifications, and US 29 was extended from Culpepper along US 15 and US 211 into D.C. and thence into Maryland. ^[4]

[edit] MD 27 and MD 29

US 29 as Colesville Road in Silver Spring

US 29 as Colesville Road in Silver Spring

US 29 arrived in Maryland in 1934, a year after the initial creation of the Maryland highway numbering scheme. US 29 followed a route initially designated as Maryland Route 27, while today's MD 27 was designated as Maryland Route 29. The first MD 27 emerged from Washington D.C. along Colesville Rd., then followed US 29's existing route as far as White Oak, where it turned north along MD 650 and followed its alignment as far as Ashton. This route had previously been the Washington, Colesville and Ashton Turnpike. At Ashton, MD 27 then turned east along MD 108 and followed its alignment through Clarksville (overlapping MD 32 before 1996) until it reached an intersection with Columbia Rd., just to the west of MD 108's current interchange with US 29's current route. Then, MD 27 turned north and followed Columbia Rd. (formerly designated MD 982), becoming Old Columbia Pike (formerly designated as MD 987) after crossing MD 103 and continuing north until reaching Main St. (old US 40) in old Ellicott City, where it ended.

After US 29's arrival in 1934, MD 27 and MD 29 swapped numbers; today's MD 27 received its current designation and did not physically change, while the original MD 27 was re-designated MD 29, and then immediately promoted to US 29, thus removing a conflict between the US highway number and the state highway number system, which did not permit duplication between the two systems. US 29 followed MD 29's route all the way into Ellicott City, where it then turned east and overlapped US 40 through Catonsville all the way into Baltimore, where it ended at US 1 Monroe St. in southwestern Baltimore. Today, the Baltimore County portion of this route is part of MD 144.

[edit] U.S. 29 Alternate

On November 11, 1954, the state of Maryland gained AASHO's consent to divert US 29 to a more direct alignment, paralleling the now-defunct MD 196 between MD 650 and MD 198, and then continuing onward to Ellicott City via Scaggsville. ^[4]

The diversion of the route necessitated the construction of a divided highway between the site of US 29's current interchange with MD 650 in White Oak and an intersection with MD 198 in Burtonsville, and a two-lane highway between Burtonsville, across the Patuxent River at the site of the future Rocky Gorge Reservoir, through Scaggsville and Columbia (then a small village east of today's US 29/MD 108 interchange) to a point south of Ellicott City, where the new route merged with the original route near the site of the US 29/MD 103 interchange and continued as normal. It is unclear if the new route was immediately signed as US 29 or as an extension of MD 196, but an undated GULF map of the state of Maryland shows no highway designation for the route between White Oak and Columbia. ^[4] The first new segment of the current route of US 29 opened on November 30, 1959 ^[5], and by 1964 MD 196 had been retracted to Burtonsville and US 29 had been rerouted to its current route.

Initially, the AASHO Executive Committee, meeting in Seattle, Washington, designated US 29's original route via Ashton as U.S. Route 29 Alternate, which would be signed upon the originally scheduled completion of the direct route in late 1955. ^[4] US 29 Alternate has since vanished, being replaced with a northward extension of MD 650 through Ashton (replacing MD 116 north of Ashton) and an eastward extension of MD 108 as far as MD 175 Waterloo Road (now itself part of MD 108).

[edit] The new Columbia Pike

US 29 north ofBurtonsville

US 29 in Burtonsville

The 1966 expansion of the tiny village of Columbia into a massive planned community under the auspices of the Rouse Company led to the construction of the modern Columbia Pike. By the early 1970s, with the completion of the new Columbia Pike, a four-lane divided at-grade highway, between Burtonsville and US 40, US 29 had assumed its current shape. In 1968, the terminus of US 29 was diverted away from Baltimore; it was retracted to US 40 in Ellicott City and then moved north two miles to MD 99, and an interchange similar to the one in place between US 29 and US 40 was built to connect the route with Interstate 70 (then designated I-70N). ^[4]

[edit] U.S. 29 Freeway

US 29A in Burtonsville

Initially, the northernmost 2 miles of US 29 were the only grade-separated limited-access segment of that route in Maryland; however, gradual construction of interchanges south of US 40, starting with Howard County's segment in the late 1980s and continuing to this decade in Montgomery County, has resulted in a full freeway between MD 99/I-70 and MD 108, an almost-freeway between MD 108 and MD 216, and a partially grade-separated expressway between MD 216 and MD 650, with interchanges at Johns Hopkins Rd., and MD 216 completed in the early 2000s. Interchanges were completed in 2004 at MD 198, in 2005 at Randolph Road / Cherry Hill Road, and at Briggs Chaney Road in 2007. With the completion of the interchange at MD 198, US 29 was realigned further to the east. The former alignment is now designated as US 29A.

[edit] Baltimore Outer Beltway

The four miles of the US 29 freeway between MD 100 and I-70 is part of the Baltimore Outer Beltway. The Outer Beltway was a 3/4 circular beltway designed to provide a route parallel to the Baltimore Beltway. MD 100 represents the major portion that was built; the aforementioned four miles of US 29 is another portion. The Outer Beltway was projected beyond MD 99 to run through Howard and Baltimore Counties and intersect MD 140, Interstate 83, U.S. Route 1, and Interstate 95 before terminating at U.S. Highway 40 northeast of Baltimore.

[edit] See also

• Maryland Route 32
• Maryland Route 99
• Maryland Route 100
• Maryland Route 103
• U.S. Route 40 in Maryland

[edit] References

1. ^ Pruett, Mike. US 29 @ MDRoads.com URL accessed 14:03, 21 January 2007.
2. ^ Facsimile of act creating the Columbia Turnpike Road Company
3. ^ Davis, Joseph Stancliffe (2006). Essays In The Earlier History Of American Corporations. The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.. ISBN 1584774274. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d e} Federal Highway Administration. U.S. 29 Maryland to Florida URL accessed 15:05, 21 January 2007.
5. ^ Washington Post, 11/11/1959 & 12/1/1959, page B1

[edit] Gallery

US 29 as Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring	US 29 as Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring	US 29 as Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring	Construction of the interchange with Briggs Chaney Road, Sept 2006
Construction of the interchange with Briggs Chaney Road, Sept 2006	Construction of the interchange with Briggs Chaney Road, Jan 2007	Construction of the interchange with Briggs Chaney Road, Jan 2007	Construction of the interchange with Briggs Chaney Road, April 2007
Construction of the interchange with Briggs Chaney Road, May 2007

Preceded by Washington D.C.

U.S. Route 29 Maryland

Succeeded by Terminus