Maryland Route 4 - History

History

MD 4 in Prince George's County was originally the Washington and Marlborough Turnpike, which exited the District of Columbia on Bowen Road, headed east to Forestville, south to Meadows, then east through Upper Marlboro to Hills Bridge on the Patuxent River. An unnamed road continued east to Solomons Island Road in Lothian. When the Maryland State Roads Commission was established in 1908, this route became one of the original state roads. In 1910, the highway was paved from the D.C. border to what is today District Heights, as well as from Hills Bridge to Waysons Corner, where MD 4 meets MD 408 today. Marlboro Pike from the D.C. line to Hills Bridge and Mt. Zion Road between Hills Bridge and Lothian was fully paved by 1927, which was the same year MD 4 was assigned to the two named roads. Southern Maryland Boulevard was built between Waysons Corner and MD 2 in Sunderland in 1929 and 1930, and was designated MD 416 by 1933.

Pennsylvania Avenue was extended east out of D.C. to Meadows as a controlled access four-lane divided highway in 1959 and 1960 and was designated MD 4. Marlboro Pike was assigned MD 4 Business, a designation that was gone by 1970. Also in 1960, the MD 416 designation was extended south along MD 2 to Solomons. By 1970, the MD 4 freeway between Meadows and Hills Bridge was complete. In addition, MD 4 replaced MD 416 down Southern Maryland Boulevard and Solomons Island Road to Solomons, and the divided highway was extended south from Hills Bridge to MD 263. In turn, MD 408 was placed on what was previously MD 4 between Upper Marlboro and Lothian. The western extent of MD 408 was rolled back to Waysons Corner by 1980. MD 2-4 was also expanded to a divided highway south to Port Republic by 1980.

The next major change in the routing of MD 4 came in 1977, when the Governor Thomas Johnson Bridge was completed. The St. Mary's County side of the bridge unloaded onto county highways until 1982, when the modern, controlled access Patuxent Beach Road was completed to MD 235. MD 4 was then extended west from Solomons along Patuxent Beach Road and St. Andrew's Church Road to its present southern terminus in Leonardtown. MD 2-4 bypassed Port Republic and St. Leonard along a new alignment in 1984. The bypass of the old alignment between Lusby and Solomons was completed in 1985. The MD 4 freeway was extended to Bristol in 1993 and the interchange at MD 260 was completed in 2003.

In 2012, Maryland Route 4 between Bristol and Upper Marlboro was renamed the Stephanie Roper Highway. After the murder of Stephanie Roper, her parents Roberta and Vincent Roper became national leaders regarding victims' rights and services including as founders of the Maryland Crime Victims' Resource Center, Inc.