TOMORROW'S ROADS TODAY - Maryland State Highway ...
TOMORROW'S ROADS TODAY - Maryland State Highway ...
TOMORROW'S ROADS TODAY - Maryland State Highway ...
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7<br />
Until 1941, <strong>Maryland</strong> did not have a limited access highway law, nor were there<br />
sufficient funds in the <strong>State</strong>’s annual budget to adequately correct every unsafe highway<br />
problem. The limited access law would prohibit neighboring landowners from accessing any<br />
state highway directly from their properties, and the General Assembly passed it in 1941. Also<br />
in 1941, the SRC recommended a financing solution that would guarantee continued funding for<br />
road projects by increasing the gasoline taxes and vehicle registration fees and selling highway<br />
construction bonds. Although the SRC’s recommendation received then-Governor Herbert<br />
O’Conor’s approval, the start of World War II prevented any further action.<br />
During the war, the SRC continued to plan for the new highway system. The<br />
construction of crossings of the Chesapeake Bay and Baltimore Harbor by bridges and a new<br />
highway between Baltimore and Washington, DC were the most pressing problems confronting<br />
the SRC in 1946. The election of William Preston Lane, Jr. as Governor that year provided the<br />
impetus to begin highway and bridge construction under the Governor’s “Five Year Plan.” The<br />
“Five Year Plan” called for increases in the gasoline sales tax, the vehicle registration fees and<br />
sale of $100,000,000 of highway construction bonds in order to finance the Chesapeake Bay<br />
Bridge and Baltimore-Washington Parkway construction projects.<br />
Lane served one term as Governor, but was not returned to office in part because citizens<br />
were unhappy with the sales tax increases. Theodore R. McKeldin won the election in 1951 and<br />
in 1952 came into office as Governor proposing the “Twelve Year Program” which called for<br />
construction of new highways and bridges in every county by 1965. McKeldin also increased<br />
the gasoline sales tax, vehicle registration fees and additional highway construction bonds were<br />
sold in order to continue financing new construction projects. Important projects included<br />
construction of the Harrisburg Expressway (I-83), and the Baltimore and Washington Beltways<br />
(I-695 and I-495 respectively). Passage of the Federal <strong>Highway</strong> Act in 1956 began the interstate<br />
highway construction program, and some of the highways the SRC planned to construct were<br />
built using federal funds, instead of state monies.<br />
McKeldin served two terms, and in 1959, J. Millard Tawes became the Governor. He<br />
came from Crisfield on <strong>Maryland</strong>’s Eastern Shore, and his highway construction program<br />
became known as “The Go Roads Program,” which promised 100 miles of new highway<br />
construction every year until 1965. Many of the highways built during his tenure in office were<br />
on the Eastern Shore such as US 301, and US 50 Business in Salisbury but also included I-95<br />
between Baltimore and the Delaware <strong>State</strong> Line, which was dedicated to President John F.<br />
Kennedy as the Kennedy Memorial <strong>Highway</strong> following his assassination a week after opening<br />
the new highway in 1963.<br />
By 1965, the SRC built 3,452 miles of new highways and 557 bridges throughout the<br />
state. In order to construct the many new and dualized roads on the state system, the SRC<br />
incorporated standardization of highway and bridge elements to complete the design and<br />
construction jobs in a timely manner. Standardization of various components of a structure<br />
would reduce design and construction times because those items could be prefabricated off-site<br />
and sent directly to the construction site. The 485 metal girder bridges on the state’s highway<br />
from the 1948-1965 period demonstrates how the SRC made practical use of standardization.