TOMORROW'S ROADS TODAY - Maryland State Highway ...

22
Street as the connection to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway brought the highway into the City
without crossing the harbor; however, the connection did not mitigate traffic congestion in
Baltimore’s Central Business District (CBD). 30 Russell Street became a connecting road but
still retained its city street attributes of sidewalks and stoplights that characterize the area, much
like US 40 on Franklin and Mulberry streets. Before reaching the City’s CBD, portions of the
Parkway were also placed on overpasses since the highway crossed the Pennsylvania Railroad
tracks and roads that could not be elevated in an interchange.
Construction of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway also provided an opportunity for the
BPR to work with the SRC and Baltimore City. The southern portion of the route of the
Baltimore-Washington Parkway passed through federal lands at Greenbelt, the Beltsville
Agricultural Research Center, and Fort Meade but the government still required some additional
right-of-way. Since these lands were east of US 1, the federal section of the highway would
align with the recommended alignment in Baltimore City. However, the BPR assigned the
highway to the National Park Service to manage the highway and that dictated the design of the
eighteen-mile section of highway as a parkway, rather than an expressway. Ownership of
highways would remain in debate by the federal and state governments for the next twelve years.
Although the SRC anticipated starting $45,000,000 in construction projects once the war ended,
until the peace treaties were signed, materials and manpower remained dedicated to the war
effort through 1945.
30 Nathan L. Smith, Analysis of Traffic Conditions and Present and Post-War Highway Requirements, Chief
Engineer, Department of Public Works, to Theodore R. McKeldin, Mayor of Baltimore (May 21, 1945), Maryland
Department, Enoch Pratt Free Library.