Interstate 70 in Maryland

This article is about the section of Interstate 70 in Maryland. For the entire route, see Interstate 70.

Interstate 70 marker
Interstate 70
Map
I-70 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MDSHA
Length91.85 mi[1][2] (147.82 km)
Existed1962–present
Tourist
routes		 Historic National Road
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Scenic Byway
NHSEntire route
Major junctions
West end I-70 / US 522 at Pennsylvania border near Hancock
Major intersections
East end I-695 / MD 570 in Woodlawn
Location
CountryUnited States
StateMaryland
CountiesWashington, Frederick, Carroll, Howard, Baltimore
Highway system
← MD 68→ MD 70
← MD 568MD 570→ MD 575

Interstate 70 (I-70) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs from Cove Fort, Utah, to Woodlawn just outside of Baltimore, Maryland. In Maryland, the Interstate Highway runs 91.85 miles (147.82 km) from the Pennsylvania state line in Hancock east to the Interstate's eastern terminus at its junction with I-695. I-70 is the primary east–west Interstate in Maryland; the Interstate Highway connects Baltimore—and Washington, D.C., via I-270—with Western Maryland. The Interstate serves Frederick and Hagerstown directly and provides access to Cumberland via its junction with I-68 at Hancock. I-70 runs concurrently with its predecessor highway, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), from Hancock to Indian Springs in Washington County and from Frederick to West Friendship in Howard County.

I-70's route from Frederick to West Friendship was constructed as a divided highway relocation of US 40 in the early to mid-1950s and a freeway bypass of Frederick in the late 1950s. The first section of the Interstate to be marked as I-70 was an upgrade of US 40 near Hancock in the early 1960s. The remainder of the Interstate highway in Maryland west of Frederick was built on a new alignment in the mid- to late 1960s. I-70 was constructed from West Friendship to its present terminus in Baltimore in the late 1960s. The highway from Bartonsville in Frederick County to West Friendship was upgraded to Interstate standards in the mid-1970s. The final non-limited access portion of I-70 between Frederick and Bartonsville was eliminated in the mid-1980s. The Interstate has been upgraded through Frederick in a series of projects that began in the late 1990s.[citation needed]

I-70 was intended to enter Baltimore as an east–west freeway that had been proposed since the 1940s. Around 1960, I-70 was planned passing through a pair of parks and several neighborhoods in West Baltimore to end at an interchange with I-95 and I-83 at the Inner Harbor in Downtown Baltimore. A subsequent proposal based on a review of the 1960 plan moved I-70 to a new alignment that triggered community opposition, which resulted in a new design process in the late 1960s. A new plan was introduced around 1970 that would have moved I-70's eastern terminus to Sowebo (South West Baltimore). Community opposition to the Interstate's planned route through the city parks, however, resulted in I-70 being removed from city plans in the early 1980s.[citation needed]

  1. ^ Highway Information Services Division (December 31, 2022). Highway Location Reference. Maryland State Highway Administration. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
  2. ^ Highway Information Services Division (December 31, 2005). Highway Location Reference. Maryland State Highway Administration. Retrieved October 26, 2011.