U.S. Route 220 in Maryland

U.S. Route 220 In Maryland

U.S. Route 220 (US 220) is a part of the U.S. Highway System that runs from Rockingham, North Carolina to Waverly, New York. In Maryland, the federal highway runs 27.35 miles (44.02 km) from the West Virginia state line at the Potomac River in McCoole north to the Pennsylvania state line in Dickens. Known as McMullen Highway for much of its length in Maryland, US 220 is the primary north–south route in central Allegany County, connecting Cumberland with its southern suburbs and Keyser, West Virginia to the south and Bedford, Pennsylvania to the north. The federal highway is part of the National Highway System between the West Virginia state line and Maryland Route 53 (MD 53) in Cresaptown and between Interstate 68 (I-68), with which it is concurrent through Cumberland, and the Pennsylvania state line.

The road to Bedford was paved within the city of Cumberland by 1910 and constructed north to Pennsylvania in the 1910s. This highway comprised the southernmost portion of US 220 when the U.S. Highway System was established in 1927. McMullen Highway was constructed starting from Cumberland and finishing in McCoole in the 1920s. When that highway was completed around 1930, US 220 was extended south into West Virginia. Both the northern and southern portions of the federal highway were reconstructed in the 1940s and 1950s, including a new bridge over the Potomac River. US 220 was rerouted within Cumberland multiple times before being placed on I-68 in the early 1980s to bypass downtown Cumberland. The bypass of Bedford Road between I-68 and the Pennsylvania state line opened in 2000. A new bridge over the Potomac River is currently under construction. In addition, relocation of the highway from I-68 south into West Virginia is under consideration.