U.S. Route 220 in Maryland - History

History

Bedford Street was paved in the city of Cumberland from downtown to Naves Cross Road by 1910. Bedford Road was paved between Naves Cross Road and roughly the present intersection of US 220 and Bedford Road by 1915, with the final segment to the Pennsylvania state line completed shortly thereafter. When the U.S. Highway System was organized in 1926, Bedford Road and Bedford Street were designated the southernmost portion of US 220. The first section of McMullen Highway—named for Hugh A. McMullen, an Allegany County miner, merchant, and banker who was Comptroller of Maryland from 1916 to 1920—was completed between Cumberland and Cresaptown in 1920. The highway was extended to Rawlings by 1927 and to Dawson in 1928. McMullen Highway was completed to McCoole by 1930. The US 220 designation was extended south of Cumberland into West Virginia at the same time. Within Cumberland, US 220 followed Greene Street north and east to Wills Creek. The federal highway crossed Wills Creek via Baltimore Street, which the highway followed east to Henderson Avenue. US 220 was concurrent with US 40 on Henderson Avenue before turning northeast onto Bedford Street. In McCoole, US 220 followed a twisty route down to the Potomac River. The federal highway followed what is today MD 135A to MD 135, then turned east on the present MD 135 and past the present bridge to Parkland Drive, where the highway crossed the river on a bridge in line with Main Street in Keyser.

The first round of improvements to US 220 began around 1936 when the highway was widened from McMullen to Amcelle. The widened highway was extended south through Cresaptown by 1938 and to McCoole by 1942, making all of McMullen Highway at least 20 feet (6.1 m) wide. A second round of widening occurred during World War II as a military access project; the highway was expanded to at least 24 feet (7.3 m) in width from Cumberland to Pinto to improve access to the many wartime manufacturing centers along the highway, including the Allegany Ordnance Plant in West Virginia across the Potomac River from Pinto.

Improvements to US 220 continued after the war. Bedford Road was rebuilt between 1946 and 1950. McMullen Highway from Cumberland to Cresaptown was widened a third time in a project completed in 1950. The present bridge between McCoole and Keyser was completed in 1951, with the approach road on the Maryland side completed in 1952. Reconstruction of US 220 between Cresaptown and Rawlings occurred between 1952 and 1954. The final segment of McMullen Highway to be rebuilt, from Rawlings to McCoole, was completed in 1956.

The first rerouting of US 220 within Cumberland occurred in 1956, when Frederick Street was reconstructed and became the northbound direction of a one-way pair in conjunction with Bedford Street. By 1964, the federal highway followed Mechanic Street north to the Frederick/Bedford pair instead of Henderson Avenue. In 1977, a viaduct was completed to carry US 220 over the railroad tracks and US 40 ALT. US 220 was moved off of surface streets in downtown Cumberland when the highway was placed on the Cumberland Thruway (now I-68) between McMullen Highway and Naves Cross Road in 1982. The highway used Naves Cross Road to reconnect with Bedford Road, which was designated MD 807 between Naves Cross Road and the Cumberland city line. In 2000, the two-lane, limited-access bypass of Bedford Road was completed northeast of Cumberland; MD 807 was extended north along the bypassed part of Bedford Road. The portion of US 220 between the southern city limit of Cumberland and I-68 was transferred from municipal maintenance to state maintenance in 2010.