Maryland Route 17 - Route Description

Route Description

MD 17 begins at the Virginia state line at the Potomac River in the city of Brunswick. The roadway continues into Loudoun County, Virginia as SR 287 (Berlin Pike), which heads south toward Lovettsville. MD 17 crosses the river on the Brunswick Bridge, a two-lane steel girder bridge that also passes over the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, CSX's Metropolitan Subdivision, Walnut Street, Virginia Avenue, and Potomac Street. The bridge's northern end lands just south of a roundabout that connects MD 17 with Petersville Road, Maryland Avenue, and both directions of B Street. Petersville Road, the old alignment of MD 17, heads south into the Brunswick Historic District and becomes Maple Avenue, which provides access to Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park and the historic Brunswick train station, which is served by MARC's Brunswick Line.

MD 17 heads north from the Brunswick Roundabout as two-lane Petersville Road, which climbs out of the narrow Potomac River valley. At the top of the hill, the state highway leaves the city of Brunswick and enters the village of Rosemont, where the highway intersects MD 79 and MD 464 (Souder Road). Petersville Road continues north as MD 79 while MD 17 turns northwest onto Burkittsville Road. The state highway leaves the village of Rosemont and intersects the western end of Rosemont Drive, the old alignment of MD 17 that is unsigned MD 871G. MD 17 intersects MD 180 (Jefferson Pike) at a roundabout before meeting US 340 (Jefferson National Pike) at a diamond interchange. North of US 340, the state highway runs mostly straight through farmland parallel to the upper reaches of Little Catoctin Creek and South Mountain to the hamlet of Coatsville, where the highway passes through a pair of right-angle curves.

MD 17 curves to the northeast and enters the town of Burkittsville, where the highway's name becomes Potomac Street. Within the Burkittsville Historic District, the state highway intersects Main Street, which heads west to Crampton's Gap, a low point in South Mountain that contains Gathland State Park. MD 17 leaves Burkittsville and crosses Broad Run in the hamlet of Arnoldtown, then meets the northern end of MD 383 (Broad Run Road) and the west end of Bennies Hill Road, which leads to the Bennies Hill Road Bridge and historic Shafer's Mill. The state highway continues across Middle Creek and parallels Catoctin Creek before crossing the latter stream on a through truss bridge. MD 17 enters the town of Middletown just south of its intersection with Jefferson Street and Old Middletown Road. The state highway passes through town as Church Street and meets US 40 Business (Main Street) in the center of the Middletown Historic District.

MD 17 leaves Middletown as Myersville Middletown Road, which heads northeast then curves northwest to parallel I-70 (Eisenhower Memorial Highway). The two highways cross Little Catoctin Creek—this creek being a tributary of Catoctin Creek rather than the Potomac River-feeding creek near Brunswick—near the state highway's intersection with Harmony Road, then MD 17 veers west away from the Interstate. The state highway intersects Old Hagerstown Road at an oblique angle and crosses Catoctin Creek again before veering north and temporarily expanding to a four-lane divided highway for its diamond interchange with I-70 at the town limit of Myersville. After reducing to two lanes, MD 17 continues as Main Street toward the center of town, where the state highway turns east onto Wolfsville Road. The state highway crosses Catoctin Creek just north of its confluence with Middle Creek and intersects US 40 (Baltimore National Pike) at the Myersville town limits.

MD 17 heads north into a mountainous area with a mix of farmland and forest at the northern end of the Middletown Valley. The state highway parallels Middle Creek, which it crosses twice, the second time at the hamlet of Ellerton, where the highway intersects Harmony Road, crosses the creek, then immediately turns east to remain on Wolfsville Road at its intersection with Harp Hill Road. Harp Hill Road is a straighter but much steeper alternate route between Ellerton and Wolfsville compared to MD 17, which parallels Middle Creek and crosses the creek thrice as it winds through the communities of Crossnickel and Middlepoint and passes the historic Peter of P. Grossnickel Farm. The state highway meets the northern end of Harp Mill Road and intersects Pleasant Walk Road and Stottlemeyer Road in Wolfsville. MD 17 leaves Middle Creek and ascends South Mountain to its northern terminus at its intersection with Garfield Road and Loy Wolfe Road at the Frederick–Washington county line. Wolfsville Road continues north as a county highway that descends South Mountain to MD 77 (Foxville Road) in Smithsburg on the eastern edge of the Hagerstown Valley.