Maryland Route 355 - History

History

The Rockville Pike portion of MD 355 dates back to colonial times and was used as an escape route from Washington during the War of 1812 as well as a route for settlers to travel from Montgomery County to developing areas north and west. In the approved plan for the U.S. Highway System in 1926, U.S. Route 240 was planned to go from Washington, D.C. to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, running along Wisconsin Avenue and the present-day alignment of Maryland Route 355 between Washington and Frederick, and along US 15 between Frederick and Harrisburg. By 1927, US 240 was designated along the proposed 1926 route south of Frederick with the US 15 designation given to the road north of Frederick. In 1947, plans were made to construct a freeway, the Washington National Pike (now I-270), parallel to US 240. This road was completed in 1953, and the US 240 designation was moved to it. Following the creation of the Interstate Highway System in 1956, Interstate 70S was designated along the US 240 freeway. The bypassed portion of the original US 240, north of the current interchange between I-495 and I-270, was designated as MD 355 by 1960. The US 240 designation was removed from the U.S. Highway System by 1975, with MD 355 being extended south along the former US 240 to the Washington, D.C. border. In 2006, the northern terminus of MD 355 at an interchange with US 15 in Frederick was truncated to a dead end a short distance south of that route.

A four-lane divided bypass of Urbana was constructed for MD 355 in the 2000s. The primary reason for constructing the bypass was to relieve traffic heading through the community brought on by the construction of numerous shopping centers in the area, and the costs for constructing the bypass were entirely paid for by the developers of an area shopping center. The proposal for the bypass called for two roundabouts to control traffic. The first portion of the road, which was funded by opened in late 2005 from MD 355 south to a roundabout at Sugarloaf Parkway. On October 30, 2008, construction began to build the connection of the bypass to MD 355 south of MD 80. The realignment of MD 355 onto the bypass was completed by January 2009, with the original alignment becoming Maryland Route 355 Business. In 2009, the portion of MD 355 north of the I-70 overpass was transferred to the city of Frederick, with the MD 355 designation officially being removed from this stretch. In 2010, an interchange was completed at Montrose Parkway.