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

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Theodore R. McKeldin’s Twelve-Year Program, 1952-1959
Theodore Roosevelt McKeldin understood the need for better highways due to his tenure
as Baltimore’s Mayor between 1943 and 1947. As mayor he had received a 1944 proposal from
New York City Planning Director and consultant Robert Moses to demolish blighted areas near
the Central Business District (CBD) in order to construct a new expressway through the City.
The area that Moses proposed for the new expressway was on the north side of the CBD in
Baltimore City near the Mount Vernon District. The proposal would displace a number of
residents, including business elites. The Mount Vernon residents opposed the plan, and it was
dropped from consideration. 43
As Mayor, McKeldin also made the final decision on the location for the Baltimore-
Washington Parkway entrance to the City. The City Public Works Department extended Russell
Street south to meet the Baltimore-Washington Parkway at the City-Baltimore County boundary.
As with other portions of the highway, at-grade intersections were made into interchanges while
other portions were made into bridges to avoid railroads (Figure 8). During this highway
initiative McKeldin ran against Governor William Lane and won the 1951 election for Governor.
Subsequently, McKeldin’s concern for highways now included the entire state of Maryland.
Figure 8: Waterview Avenue over MD 295 Interchange (Source: SHA Photo Archive)
As McKeldin began his first term in 1951, the SRC completed a new report, Proposed
12-Year Program for Road Construction and Reconstruction, 1954-1965, and submitted it to the
Governor for his consideration. 44 The SRC’s report stated that the funds from Lane’s Five Year
Program would be spent or committed by 1953, and that funds to construct and reconstruct
additional highways would be necessary. The report noted that while Maryland had 4,736 miles
of highway, it was an old system with many rehabilitated roads. The older roads had varying
widths because the SRC had not been able to bring all of its highways to a single approved
standard before World War II (Figure 9). The Twelve Year Program identified roads which
would be built or improved during three four-year intervals: 1954-1957, 1958-1961 and 1962-
1965. The SRC focused first on the Primary Highway system, which included all of the
43 Robert Moses to Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, “Study of Arterial Roads in Baltimore,” October 9, 1944,
on file Maryland Department, Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, MD
44 State Roads Commission of Maryland, Proposed 12-Year Program for Road Construction and Reconstruction,
1954-1965, October 26, 1952, p. 1