Maryland Route 355

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MD 355

Market Street, Urbana Pike, Frederick Rd, Rockville Pike, Wisconsin Ave

Length:

41.04 mi (66.05 km)

Decomd.:

N/A

From:

District of Columbia line

Major
junctions:

*(District of Columbia line)

MD 191
MD 410
MD 187 (south)
I-495
MD 547
MD 187 (north)
MD 911
MD 660
MD 28
I-370
MD 117
MD 124
MD 118
MD 27
MD 121
MD 109
MD 75
MD 80
MD 85
I-70
MD 144
MD 26
US 15

To:

Frederick

Highways in Maryland
State highways - Minor - Decommissioned

Maryland Route 355 is a north-south road in western central Maryland. MD 355 is the original route of U.S. Route 240. This route served as the primary connector linking Frederick and points west to Washington, D.C., prior to construction of current Interstate 270. Beginning in the early 1950s, as sections of the new freeway were completed, the routing of US 240 was moved over to sections then open, and the old sections were redesignated MD 355.

Today, the route serves as a major thoroughfare through Frederick and Montgomery counties.

1 Cities and towns
2 Route description
3 Points of interest
4 Major junctions
5 History
6 Notes
7 Related routes
8 See also
9 External links

[edit] Cities and towns

Route 355 passes through the following areas:

[edit] Route description

From the north, MD 355 begins at U.S. Route 15 north of Frederick. It runs briefly as a two-lane undivided highway, before entering Frederick proper. Here it takes on the name Market Street and becomes an urban two-way street. For a short stretch Maryland 355 is carried by a two-way pair, sharing the designation with Bentz Street. Then Market Street, again a two-way street, takes the Maryland 355 designation out of the Frederick downtown area.

The Market Street appelation ends at the Interstate 70 interchange. Here Maryland 355 becomes a divided highway called Urbana Pike. After passing through the retail and big box district in southern Frederick, Urbana Pike leaves Frederick and passes through Urbana. In Urbana, a project to reroute the road is currently underway as of 2007. When finished, the route will be redirected into the Villages of Urbana subdivision, allowing access to shopping centers and a wider flow of traffic. The current route, the historic main street in Urbana, is to be signed as Business MD 355. After leaving Urbana, the route takes on a more rural appearance as it heads for Montgomery County.

Crossing the county line, MD 355 takes the name Frederick Road. It is a two-lane divided highway through northern Hyattstown and Clarksburg. Beyond Clarksburg, towards Germantown, Gaithersburg, and eventually Rockville, the look of the route changes dramatically. The name changes to Hungerford Drive and then to Rockville Pike. Rockville Pike serves as the primary arterial road through Rockville, which is the county seat of Montgomery County. This part of MD 355 is home to many strip malls and is notorious for its congestion.

From Rockville, 355 enters Bethesda, where it becomes known as Wisconsin Avenue. It is one of the main streets of downtown Bethesda. Southbound traffic on Wisconsin Avenue can bypass downtown Bethesda by taking Woodmont Avenue. The segment of Wisconsin Avenue through Friendship Heights is nicknamed "Rodeo Drive East" because of its high-end shopping.

The Maryland 355 designation officially ends at the border of Washington D.C. Wisconsin Avenue continues into the district, where it terminates in Georgetown just north of the Potomac River, at an intersection with K Street under the Whitehurst Freeway.

[edit] Points of interest

Monocacy National Battlefield, site of the Battle of Monocacy Junction in the American Civil War fought on July 9, 1864 is located a few miles southeast of Frederick

[edit] Major junctions

[edit] History

Maryland Route 355 runs along the former original routing of U.S. Route 240. U.S. 240 was at one time a major route between Frederick, Maryland and Washington D.C.. In the early fifties, the process was started to convert the route to a limited access highway. It would become one of the oldest sections of freeway in Maryland, with the first piece in place by 1953, predating the Interstate system. Maps from 1953 show it complete between MD 109 and U.S. 15 (now MD 85 ). The freeway became the new U.S. 240, and the designation I-70S was added when the Interstate system began in 1956. The original routing of U.S. 240 was renamed MD 355. The freeway routing of U.S. 240 was decommissioned entirely in 1971, having since been redignated I-270.