History
MD 543 follows or has followed the courses of MD 158, MD 634, and MD 646 in addition to its own number. The earliest predecessor highway of MD 543 was MD 158 (Belcamp Road), which ran from the community of Belcamp on the Bush River a short distance west of MD 543's present southern terminus north to Creswell Road just north of I-95. Belcamp Road was constructed under state aid as a 12-foot (3.7 m) wide macadam road by 1915. MD 543 itself was constructed in four sections between 1930 and 1933: US 1 in Hickory to Deer Creek, Deer Creek to MD 440 in Ady, MD 440 to the MD 646 intersection at Emory Church, and along modern MD 646 from Emory Church to just north of Mill Green. MD 646 was originally assigned to the highway from Emory Church to Pylesville that was constructed around 1938. Another predecessor highway, MD 634, was under construction by 1936 and completed by 1938 from Creswell to Fountain Green.
By 1946, MD 543 and MD 646 had swapped to their present routes north from Emory Church toward Pylesville and Mill Green, respectively. Fountain Green Road was reconstructed from Fountain Green to Hickory between 1950 and 1952, at which time MD 543 was extended south to Fountain Green. By 1954, MD 543 assumed the course of MD 634 from Fountain Green to Creswell. Creswell Road was constructed as a modern highway in 1950; MD 543 was extended southeast from Creswell to MD 7 a short distance east of the present MD 7–MD 543 intersection in 1956, the same year MD 158 was removed from the state highway system.
When I-95 was constructed in 1963, Creswell Road was cut in two near MD 543's southern terminus. MD 543 was rerouted onto Belcamp Road, which did cross over I-95, south to its intersection with MD 7. MD 543 was moved to its present alignment from its intersection with the county-maintained portion of Creswell Road south to MD 7 in Riverside when the highway's interchange with I-95 was completed in 1991. Riverside Parkway's bridge over CSX's Philadelphia Subdivision and US 40 was completed in 1995. MD 543 was extended south over Riverside Parkway from MD 7 to its present terminus at US 40 around 1997.
Read more about this topic: Maryland Route 543
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