Maryland Route 26

Route map:
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Old Main Streets Scenic Byway
Major junctions
West end US 15 in Frederick
Major intersections
East end MD 140 in Baltimore
Location
CountryUnited States
StateMaryland
CountiesFrederick, Carroll, Baltimore, City of Baltimore
Highway system
← MD 25→ MD 27

Maryland Route 26 (MD 26) is a

Baltimore City Department of Transportation
within the city.

MD 26 follows much of the course of three

divided highway. That divided highway was extended east to MD 194 in Ceresville
in the late 1990s.

Route description

MD 26 is a part of the National Highway System as a principal arterial in three separate sections: from US 15 in Frederick east to Israel Creek east of Ceresville; from Emerald Lane west of Eldersburg to Liberty Reservoir east of Eldersburg; and Lyons Mill Road in Randallstown east to MD 140 in Baltimore.[1][3]

Frederick to Eldersburg

MD 26 eastbound in Mount Pleasant

MD 26 begins at a partial

trumpet interchange with US 15 (Catoctin Mountain Highway) on the north side of the city of Frederick. There is no access from southbound US 15 to eastbound MD 26. MD 26 heads east as a four-lane divided highway through a mixed commercial and industrial area. The state highway has an intersection with Wormans Mill Road and Routzhan Way and a directional intersection with the northern end of Market Street that allows access to and from MD 26 east. The first intersection, which was formerly MD 355, provides the missing movements from the Market Street intersection. MD 26 intersects Monocacy Boulevard, a partial circumferential highway of Frederick, and passes between a pair of residential subdivisions before crossing the Monocacy River on a pair of dissimilar bridges, the westbound one a through truss bridge. East of the river, the state highway meets the southern end of MD 194 (Woodsboro Pike) at the hamlet of Ceresville. The divided highway continues north as MD 194 toward Woodsboro and MD 26 turns east onto a two-lane undivided road.[1][4]

MD 26 continues east through farmland where it crosses Israel Creek and passes through the village of Mount Pleasant. The state highway forms the main street of Libertytown, where the highway meets the southern end of MD 550 (Woodsboro Road), intersects MD 75 (Church Street), and intersects the western end of MD 31 (New Windsor Road) at the east end of the village. MD 26 crosses Dollyhyde Creek and several branches of the North Fork of Linganore Creek while passing to the north of Unionville and to the south of the historic Pearre-Metcalfe House. The state highway enters Carroll County at its intersection with Buffalo Road where the highway is paralleled by the first of many segments of Old Liberty Road, MD 850, to the south. MD 26 is paralleled by the second section of MD 850 as the highway enters the hamlet of Taylorsville, where it intersects MD 27 (Ridge Road). Two more segments of MD 850 parallel MD 26 through Winfield, which is the home of South Carroll High School.[1][4]

Eldersburg to Baltimore

At the west end of the expansive suburban area of Eldersburg, MD 26 is paralleled to the south by the easternmost section of MD 850 and the mainline highway has an interchange with

Shervettes Corner, which contains the final segment of Old Liberty Road and Branton Manor, before crossing the mainstem of Liberty Reservoir into Baltimore County.[1][4]

View west near the east end of MD 26 at MD 140 in Baltimore

MD 26 passes through the hamlet of Harrisonville and expands to a five-lane road with a center turn lane at Deer Park Road at the west end of Randallstown, where the highway passes the

MTA Maryland's Baltimore Metro SubwayLink, and Coppin State University— before reaching its eastern terminus at MD 140 (Reisterstown Road). Liberty Heights Avenue continues east as an unnumbered street to MD 129 (Auchentoroly Terrace) at Druid Hill Park. There is no left turn from eastbound MD 26 to northbound MD 140; that movement is made via Liberty Heights Avenue and MD 129 or by Druid Park Drive.[2][4]

History

Turnpikes and state roads

Much of Liberty Road in Baltimore and Frederick counties originated as a trio of turnpikes. The Frederick and Woodsboro Turnpike ran from its split with the Frederick and Emmitsburg Turnpike north of Frederick east to Ceresville. In Ceresville, the highway split into the Woodsboro and Frederick Turnpike, which headed toward Woodsboro, and the Liberty and Frederick Turnpike, which terminated in Libertytown. The Baltimore and Liberty Turnpike ran from the city of Baltimore west to the Patapsco River.[5] This turnpike was surveyed and reconstructed in 1861, at which time the turnpike's original bridge over Gwynns Falls was repaired. That bridge lasted until 1868 when it was destroyed by a flood and replaced by the turnpike company with a higher timber bridge.[6]

MD 26 eastbound viewed from I-695 in Lochearn

In 1909, Liberty Road was marked for improvement between Baltimore and Eldersburg as one of the original state roads by the Maryland State Roads Commission.[7] The first section of the highway improved was in Baltimore County from the existing city limit of Baltimore near what is now Grenada Avenue west to what is now Rogers Avenue; that section was constructed as a 16-to-18-foot (4.9 to 5.5 m) wide tarred macadam road in 1911.[6][8] The portion of Liberty Heights Avenue from the city line east to Callaway Avenue was reconstructed in 1915 as a 50-foot (15 m) wide street with vitrified brick and sheet asphalt surface.[6] The section between Callaway Avenue and Reisterstown Road was underway by 1914 and completed shortly after 1916; this section included a bridge over the Western Maryland Railway with a roadway width of 40 feet (12 m).[6][9]

Construction on Liberty Road outside of Baltimore continued in 1914, when a new concrete arch span was constructed over Gwynns Falls as part of the 14-foot (4.3 m) wide macadam section from Rogers Avenue west to Old Court Road completed in 1915. Another 14-foot (4.3 m) wide macadam road was built from Eldersburg to the Patapsco River, with a new reinforced concrete bridge over the river, in 1915.[6] The state road from Baltimore to Eldersburg was completed shortly after 1916 with the addition of a 3-mile (4.8 km) concrete road from the Patapsco River to the west end of Randallstown and macadam resurfacing of the old turnpike through Randallstown to Old Court Road.[9][10]

At the west end of Liberty Road, the highway from Frederick to Libertytown was paved in macadam by 1921.[10] This highway was originally marked as MD 31 when the Maryland State Roads Commission first numbered state highways in 1927.[11] The portion of MD 31 west of Libertytown became an extension of MD 26 by 1933.[12] The gap between Eldersburg and Libertytown was gradually constructed as a concrete road. The highway was constructed from Eldersburg to Dorsey Crossroads, the site of the modern MD 97 junction, by 1923.[13] MD 26 was extended through Winfield in 1924 and 1925.[11][14] The concrete road was extended to just east of Taylorsville in 1928, the same year a new section of the highway was paved through Unionville.[15] The road to Taylorsville was completed and the Unionville concrete road was extended east in 1930.[16][17] The final sections of MD 26 between Baltimore and Frederick were completed in 1933, the same year a steel through truss bridge was constructed over the Monocacy River to replace the vulnerable old bridge at Ceresville.[12][18]

20th century improvements

MD 26 eastbound in Frederick

Widening of MD 26 began shortly after the first sections were built. Liberty Heights Avenue was widened with 3-foot (0.91 m) concrete shoulders starting in 1918.[9] Concrete shoulders were added to Liberty Road through Baltimore County and west to Eldersburg by 1926; the highway's macadam surface was also widened from US 15 to Ceresville in that time span.[14] MD 26 from Baltimore to Randallstown had been widened again, to 20 feet (6.1 m), by 1930, and was recommended to be widened again to 30 feet (9.1 m) in 1934.[16][18] The highway was widened to 22 feet (6.7 m) in width in 1945.[19] MD 26 received a new steel beam bridge with a 26-foot (7.9 m) wide roadway over the Patapsco River at North Branch in 1938.[20] That bridge was replaced in 1954 when Liberty Reservoir was filled; the highway was also widened and resurfaced from Randallstown to the bridge in 1952.[21][22]

Modernization of MD 26 in Frederick County began in 1949 with a pair of projects on either side of Libertytown.[23] The highway was rebuilt with relocations through Mount Pleasant in 1950 and a bypass of Unionville, replacing what is now Unionville Road, was completed in 1951.[24] MD 26 was widened and resurfaced through Libertytown starting in 1954.[21] Reconstruction work continued into Carroll County when the highway was rebuilt from Liberty Reservoir west to Eldersburg starting in 1954 and from the eastern end of the Unionville relocation to Taylorsville beginning in 1956.[25] In 1957, work began on relocating, widening, and resurfacing MD 26 through Eldersburg and between Taylorsville and Winfield.[26] The final section of MD 26 in Carroll County to be placed in its modern form was from Winfield to Eldersburg, which was completed in 1962 with grade separation and interchange ramps at the MD 97 junction.[27] Sections of the old Liberty Road became segments of MD 850 as they were bypassed.

MD 26 was extended west as a divided highway from Market Street in Frederick to modern US 15 when that highway was completed in 1959.[28] MD 26 was reconstructed as a divided highway from Market Street (then part of MD 355) in Frederick to Ceresville between 1997 and 1999.[29][30] This work involved the construction of a parallel bridge across the Monocacy River to complement the old truss bridge.[31] Also, the MD 26– MD 194 intersections were reconfigured so the primary movement through the intersection is between MD 26 to the west and MD 194 to the north; the southernmost portion of MD 194 became an extension of the MD 26 divided highway.[30] This configuration was chosen because two-thirds of traffic passing through the intersection was between Frederick and Woodsboro.[30]

Junction list

CountyLocationmi
[1][2]		kmDestinationsNotes
FrederickFrederick0.000.00 US 15 (Catoctin Mountain Highway) – Frederick, ThurmontWestern terminus; US 15 Exit 17; no access from southbound US 15 to eastbound MD 26
Ceresville2.203.54
 MD 194 north (Woodsboro Pike) – Woodsboro		Southern terminus of MD 194
Libertytown9.3515.05
 MD 550 north (Woodsboro Road) – Woodsboro		Southern terminus of MD 550
9.6915.59 MD 75 (Church Street) – New Market, Union Bridge
10.1116.27
 MD 31 east (New Windsor Road) – New Windsor		Western terminus of MD 31
CarrollTaylorsville18.3229.48 MD 27 (Ridge Road) – Mount Airy, Westminster
Eldersburg23.0437.08 MD 97 (New Washington Road) – Westminster, OlneyInterchange
26.6242.84 MD 32 (Sykesville Road) – Sykesville, Westminster
BaltimoreRandallstown36.6759.01Old Court Road – Pikesville
Rolling Road – Woodlawn
Lochearn38.6462.19 I-695 (Baltimore Beltway) – Towson, Glen BurnieI-695 Exit 18
Baltimore City40.7665.60Northern Parkway eastWestern terminus of Northern Parkway
44.1070.97 MD 140 (Reisterstown Road) / Liberty Heights Avenue eastEastern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Auxiliary routes

  • MD 26A is the designation for the 0.02-mile (0.032 km) connector between MD 26 and MD 850I on the westbound side of MD 26 east of Winfield.[1][32]
  • MD 26C is the designation for a 0.02-mile (0.032 km) connector between MD 26 and MD 850J. The route was designated in 2013.[1]
  • MD 26D is the designation for a 0.02-mile (0.032 km) connector between MD 26 and MD 850J. The route was designated in 2013.[1]
  • MD 26E is the designation for a 0.02-mile (0.032 km) connector between MD 26 and MD 850E. The route was designated in 2013.[1]
  • MD 26F is the designation for a 0.02-mile (0.032 km) connector between MD 26 and MD 850E. The route was designated in 2013.[1]

See also

  •  
    Maryland Roads portal

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Highway Information Services Division (December 31, 2013). Highway Location Reference. Maryland State Highway Administration. Retrieved 2002-02-18.
  2. ^ a b c Highway Information Services Division (December 31, 2005). Highway Location Reference. Maryland State Highway Administration. Retrieved 2002-02-18.
  3. ^ National Highway System: Maryland (PDF) (Map). Federal Highway Administration. October 1, 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2014-08-27.
  4. ^ a b c d e Google (2012-02-18). "Maryland Route 26" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
  5. ^ Clark, William Bullock (1899). Report on the Highways of Maryland. Baltimore: Maryland Geological Survey. pp. 218, 224. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  6. ^ a b c d e Weller, O.E.; Parran, Thomas; Miller, W.B.; Perry, John M.; Ramsay, Andrew; Smith, J. Frank (May 1916). Annual Reports of the State Roads Commission of Maryland (1912–1915 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. pp. 50–51, 58–58, 67, 116, 122, 128. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  7. ^ Maryland Geological Survey (1910). Map of Maryland (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland Geological Survey.
  8. ^ Maryland Geological Survey (1911). Map of Maryland: Showing State Road System and State Aid Roads Completed or Under Construction December 31, 1911 (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland Geological Survey.
  9. ^ a b c Zouck, Frank H.; Uhl, G. Clinton; Mudd, John F. (January 1920). Annual Reports of the State Roads Commission of Maryland (1916–1919 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. pp. 37, 72, 75. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  10. ^ a b Maryland Geological Survey (1921). Map of Maryland: Showing State Road System and State Aid Roads (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland Geological Survey.
  11. ^ a b Maryland Geological Survey (1927). Map of Maryland: Showing State Road System and State Aid Roads (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland Geological Survey.
  12. ^ a b Maryland Geological Survey (1933). Map of Maryland Showing State Road System: State Aid Roads and Improved County Road Connections (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland Geological Survey.
  13. ^ Maryland Geological Survey (1923). Map of Maryland: Showing State Road System and State Aid Roads (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland Geological Survey.
  14. ^ a b Mackall, John N.; Darnall, R. Bennett; Brown, W.W. (January 1927). Annual Reports of the State Roads Commission of Maryland (1924–1926 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. pp. 46–47, 49, 73. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  15. ^ Maryland Geological Survey (1928). Map of Maryland: Showing State Road System and State Aid Roads (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland Geological Survey.
  16. ^ a b Uhl, G. Clinton; Bruce, Howard; Shaw, John K. (October 1, 1930). Report of the State Roads Commission of Maryland (1927–1930 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. pp. 82, 202. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  17. ^ Maryland Geological Survey (1930). Map of Maryland Showing State Road System: State Aid Roads and Improved County Road Connections (Map). Baltimore: Maryland Geological Survey.
  18. ^ a b Byron, William D.; Lacy, Robert (December 28, 1934). Report of the State Roads Commission of Maryland (1931–1934 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. pp. 20, 28, 32, 44, 326, 334. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  19. ^ Reindollar, Robert M.; Webb, P. Watson; McCain, Russell H. (February 1, 1947). Report of the State Roads Commission of Maryland (1945–1946 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. p. 98. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  20. ^ Beall, J. Glenn; Jarboe, Elmer R.; Obrecht, George F., Sr. (March 4, 1939). Report of the State Roads Commission of Maryland (1937–1938 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. p. 83. Retrieved 2012-10-07.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ a b McCain, Russell H.; Bennett, Edgar T.; Kelly, Bramwell (November 12, 1954). Report of the State Roads Commission of Maryland (1953–1954 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. pp. 179, 219. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  22. ^ Federal Highway Administration (2012). "NBI Structure Number: 100000060002010". National Bridge Inventory. Federal Highway Administration.
  23. ^ Reindollar, Robert M.; George, Joseph M.; McCain, Russell H. (December 20, 1950). Report of the State Roads Commission of Maryland (1949–1950 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. p. 173. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  24. ^ McCain, Russell H.; Hall, Avery W.; Nichols, David M. (December 15, 1952). Report of the State Roads Commission of Maryland (1951–1952 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. pp. 191, 198. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  25. ^ Bonnell, Robert O.; Bennett, Edgar T.; McMullen, John J. (November 2, 1956). Report of the State Roads Commission of Maryland (1955–1956 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. p. 205. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  26. ^ Bonnell, Robert O.; Bennett, Edgar T.; McMullen, John J. (December 15, 1958). Report of the State Roads Commission of Maryland (1957–1958 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. p. 91. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  27. ^ Federal Highway Administration (2012). "NBI Structure Number: 100000060054010". National Bridge Inventory. Federal Highway Administration.
  28. ^ Maryland State Roads Commission (1959). Maryland: Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission.
  29. ^ Maryland State Highway Administration (1997). Maryland: Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland State Highway Administration.
  30. ^ a b c Highway Information Services Division (December 31, 1999). Highway Location Reference. Maryland State Highway Administration. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  31. ^ Federal Highway Administration (2012). "NBI Structure Number: 100000100025013". National Bridge Inventory. Federal Highway Administration.
  32. ^ Google (2012-10-07). "Maryland Route 26A" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2012-10-07.

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