Maryland Route 704

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Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

District of Columbia boundary in Seat Pleasant
Major intersections
East end MD 450 in Lanham
Location
CountryUnited States
StateMaryland
CountiesPrince George's
Highway system
←
MD 703
→ MD 707

Maryland Route 704 (MD 704) is a

divided highway that connects the northern Prince George's County communities of Seat Pleasant, Landover, Glenarden, and Lanham. The highway was constructed along the right of way of the abandoned Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway (WB&A) in the early 1940s. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, MD 704 served as a temporary routing of U.S. Route 50 (US 50) while the U.S. Highway's freeway was under construction from Washington
to Lanham. The route was expanded to a divided highway between Seat Pleasant and US 50 in the late 1960s and early 1970s. MD 704 was completed as a divided highway when the portion east of US 50 was expanded in the late 1990s.

Route description

View east along MD 704 (Martin Luther King Jr. Highway) in Seat Pleasant

MD 704 begins at an intersection with Eastern Avenue near the eastern corner of the District of Columbia. The highway continues south as 63rd Street, which heads south toward

Baltimore; the ramp to westbound US 50 is used to access southbound I-95/I-495 toward Richmond. MD 704 continues northeast as a six-lane highway across Bald Hill Branch and veers east before reaching its eastern terminus at MD 450 (Annapolis Road) in Lanham.[1][2]

MD 704 is a part of the National Highway System as a principal arterial from US 50 to MD 450 in Lanham.[1][3]

View east along MD 704 from I-595/US 50 in Lanham

History

MD 704 follows the abandoned right of way of the defunct WB&A Railway, an

MD 389 and is now Addison Road across the railroad, was removed; the junction was regraded as an intersection with the new highway.[6][7] In 1944, the War Production Board authorized the replacement of MD 202's bridge across the abandoned railroad as one of the few non–war-effort highway projects federally funded during World War II.[6] Construction on the new steel-and-concrete bridge began in late 1944 and was completed by 1946.[6][8] Access between the grade-separated highways at the MD 202–MD 704 junction was via a pair of two-way ramps.[9]

MD 704 was named for George N. Palmer, a banker and community leader in Seat Pleasant, by 1951.

Constitution Avenue to reconnect with US 50 at 2nd Street in Capitol Hill. US 50 remained along Defense Highway (now MD 450) from Bowie to Bladensburg and on Bladensburg Road and Maryland Avenue within the city until 1962, when the U.S. Highway was placed along the newly completed John Hanson Highway from Bowie to Washington and Temporary US 50 was removed from MD 704.[15]

MD 704 was expanded to a divided highway from the District of Columbia boundary to Addison Road in Seat Pleasant in 1962.[15] The segment of divided highway at the US 50 interchange was extended west to Ardwick Ardmore Road in Glenarden in 1969.[16] MD 704's modern cloverleaf interchange with MD 202 was completed in 1971, the same year the former highway was expanded to a divided highway from Seat Pleasant to just north of the latter highway.[17] The divided highway was extended southwest through Glenarden from Ardwick Ardmore Road to Glenarden Parkway in 1972 and to MD 202 in 1973.[18][19] MD 704 was renamed for civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., in 1987.[20] The highway's interchange with US 50 was rebuilt in 1991 in conjunction with the overhaul of the US 50–Capital Beltway interchange immediately to the west; two of the interchange's loop ramps with westbound MD 704 were removed.[21] The MD 704 divided highway was extended east from the US 50 interchange to Forbes Boulevard in 1997 and Lottsford Vista Road in 1999.[22][23] MD 704 and MD 450 were relocated at their junction to make MD 704 part of the east–west axis of a more orthogonal intersection in 2000. This project was part of the expansion of the final segment of MD 704 and the adjacent portion of MD 450 to a divided highway.[24]

Junction list

The entire route is in Prince George's County.

Locationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
District of Columbia
boundary; western terminus
Landover3.024.86 MD 202 (Landover Road) – Cheverly, Upper MarlboroCloverleaf interchange
I-595
6.5310.51 MD 450 (Annapolis Road) – New Carrollton, BowieEastern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Auxiliary route

MD 704A was the designation for an unnamed 0.15-mile (0.24 km) segment of old alignment of MD 704 at its junction with MD 450. The designation was assigned in 2000 when MD 704 and MD 450 were relocated.[24] The MD 704A designation and the road itself were removed in 2004; the Vista Gardens shopping center now sits on the highway's general location.[25]

See also

  •  
    Maryland Roads portal

References

  1. ^ a b c d Highway Information Services Division (December 31, 2013). Highway Location Reference. Maryland State Highway Administration. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  2. ^ Google (2010-05-23). "Maryland Route 704" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  3. ^ National Highway System: Washington, DC-VA-MD (PDF) (Map). Federal Highway Administration. October 1, 2012.
  4. ^ Hilton, George Woodman; Due, John Fitzgerald (1960). The Electric Interurban Railways in America. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. pp. 326–327. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  5. ^ Whitman, Ezra B.; Webb, P. Watson; Thomas, W. Frank (March 15, 1943). Report of the State Roads Commission of Maryland (1941–1942 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. p. 95. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  6. ^ a b c d Whitman, Ezra B.; Webb, P. Watson; Thomas, W. Frank (March 1, 1945). Report of the State Roads Commission of Maryland (1943–1944 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. pp. 4, 49, 96. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  7. ^ a b Maryland State Roads Commission (1946). Maryland: Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map) (1946–1947 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission.
  8. ^ 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. 102. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  9. ^ Lanham, MD quadrangle (Map) (1944 ed.). 1:31,860. 7 1/2 Minute Series (Topographic). United States Geological Survey.
  10. ^ Washington East, DC quadrangle (Map) (1951 ed.). 1:24,000. 7 1/2 Minute Series (Topographic). United States Geological Survey.
  11. ^ Staff. "Seat Pleasant History". City of Seat Pleasant, Maryland. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  12. ^ 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. 152. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  13. ^ Maryland State Roads Commission (1957). Maryland: Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission.
  14. ^ a b Lanham, MD quadrangle (Map) (1957 ed.). 1:24,000. 7 1/2 Minute Series (Topographic). United States Geological Survey.
  15. ^ a b Maryland State Roads Commission (1962). Maryland: Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission.
  16. ^ Maryland State Roads Commission (1969). Maryland: Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission.
  17. ^ Maryland State Roads Commission (1971). Maryland: Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission.
  18. ^ Maryland State Highway Administration (1972). Maryland: Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland State Highway Administration.
  19. ^ Maryland State Highway Administration (1973). Maryland: Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland State Highway Administration.
  20. ^ Maryland State Highway Administration (1987). Maryland: Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland State Highway Administration.
  21. ^ Maryland State Highway Administration (1991). Maryland: Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland State Highway Administration.
  22. ^ Maryland State Highway Administration (1997). Maryland: Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Baltimore: Maryland State Highway Administration.
  23. ^ Highway Information Services Division (December 31, 1999). Highway Location Reference. Maryland State Highway Administration. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  24. ^ a b Highway Information Services Division (December 31, 2000). Highway Location Reference. Maryland State Highway Administration. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  25. ^ Highway Information Services Division (December 31, 2004). Highway Location Reference. Maryland State Highway Administration. Retrieved 2013-04-14.

External links

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