U.S. Route 40 Scenic (US 40 Scenic) is a scenic route of US 40 in the U.S. state of Maryland. US 40 Scenic, which is known for most of its route as National Pike, is the old alignment of US 40 over Town Hill in eastern Allegany County and Sideling Hill in far western Washington County. The highway was originally constructed as part of a turnpike connecting Baltimore with the eastern end of the National Road at Cumberland in the early 19th century. The highway was paved as a modern road in the mid-1910s and designated US 40 in the late 1920s. US 40 was relocated over Sideling Hill in the early 1950s and over Town Hill in the mid-1960s. The US 40 Scenic designation was first applied to the old highway over Town Hill in 1965. Following the completion of Interstate 68 (I-68) at Sideling Hill, US 40 Scenic was extended east along old US 40's crossing of the mountain in the late 1980s. US 40 Scenic is the only scenic route in the U.S. Highway System; formerly, there was a second, US 412 Scenic in Oklahoma, but this has since been redesignated to a more conventional "Alternate" route.
The scenic route includes an officially-referenced and fully state-maintained section that runs 9.50 miles (15.29 km) from Fifteen Mile Creek Road in Green Ridge State Forest near Exit 62 of I-68 and US 40 to the Washington County line within eastern Allegany County. US 40 Scenic also includes an unofficial but signed section in western Washington County that has a concurrency with I-68 and has sections maintained by the Maryland State Highway Administration and Washington County. The solely signed section runs from the official section at High Germany Road near I-68 Exit 72 just west of the Allegany–Washington county line east to MD 144 near I-68 Exit 77 west of Hancock. The signed section between Fifteen Mile Creek Road and MD 144 is 16.1 miles (25.9 km) eastbound and 17.5 miles (28.2 km) westbound. The difference in mileage is due to the westbound scenic route following Mountain Road, which is unsigned MD 903, to its entrance to I-68.
Read more about U.S. Route 40 Scenic: Route Description, History, Junction List, See Also, References
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