Maryland Route 10 (MD 10) is a
state highway
A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...
in the U.S. state of
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
. Known as the Arundel Expressway, the highway runs from
MD 2 in
Pasadena
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
Its ...
north to
Interstate 695 (I-695) near
Glen Burnie
Glen Burnie is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Baltimore. The population of Glen Burnie was 67,639 at ...
. MD 10 is a four- to six-lane
freeway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...
that serves as a bypass of MD 2 through Pasadena and Glen Burnie in northeastern
Anne Arundel County
Anne Arundel County (; ), also notated as AA or A.A. County, is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 588,261, an increase of just under 10% since 2010. Its county seat is Annapolis, whi ...
. The Arundel Expressway was planned as a
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
–
Annapolis
Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...
freeway to provide relief to MD 2 between the cities as early as the 1950s. However, the portion of MD 10 south of Pasadena was removed from state plans when the
I-97 corridor was chosen for the intercity freeway in the 1970s. MD 10 was constructed from I-695 to
MD 710 in the early 1970s and continued south to
MD 648
Maryland Route 648 (MD 648) is a collection of state highways in the U.S. state of Maryland. These nine highways are current or former sections of the Baltimore–Annapolis Boulevard between Annapolis and Baltimore via Glen Burnie. There a ...
in the late 1970s. The freeway was extended south to
MD 100 and completed to MD 2 in the late 1980s and early 1990s, respectively.
Route description
MD 10 begins at an intersection with MD 2 (Governor Ritchie Highway) in Pasadena. The highway heads north as a four-lane freeway to a partial interchange with MD 100 (Paul T. Pitcher Memorial Highway). There is no access from northbound MD 10 to eastbound MD 100 or from westbound MD 100 to southbound MD 10. MD 10 and MD 100 briefly run concurrently northwest as an eight-lane freeway and diverge at another partial interchange; in both carriageways, traffic must move over two lanes to remain on the same route. Just north of the MD 100 split, MD 10 has a half-
diamond interchange
A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a controlled-access highway crosses a minor road.
Design
The freeway itself is grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge. Approaching the ...
with
MD 177 (Mountain Road). That interchange has ramps from southbound MD 10 to MD 177 and from MD 177 to northbound MD 10. Traffic from eastbound MD 100 to northbound MD 10 and from southbound MD 10 to westbound MD 100 uses MD 177 and MD 2 as intermediaries.
MD 10 continues north from MD 177 through the east side of Glen Burnie as a six-lane freeway. The highway crosses over Marley Creek and has a
partial cloverleaf interchange
A partial cloverleaf interchange or parclo is a modification of a cloverleaf interchange.
The design has been well received, and has since become one of the most popular freeway-to-arterial interchange designs in North America. It has also bee ...
with MD 648 (Baltimore–Annapolis Boulevard). MD 10 parallels
MD 270 (Furnace Branch Road) north then meets the latter highway at a partial cloverleaf interchange. The highway crosses Furnace Branch and has a partial cloverleaf interchange with MD 710 (Ordnance Road), where northbound MD 10 becomes two lanes wide. MD 10 reaches its northern terminus at a
trumpet interchange
In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, using ...
with I-695 (Baltimore Beltway). The sweeping ramp from MD 10 to westbound I-695 merges into a
collector-distributor lane that allows access from MD 10 to northbound MD 2 in
Brooklyn Park.
MD 10 is a part of the main
National Highway System for its entire length.
History
The Arundel Expressway was proposed as early as 1956 as a freeway connecting Baltimore and Annapolis to relieve congestion on MD 2.
By 1966, the highway was planned to begin at
MD 173 at the city limits of Baltimore, intersect a planned cross-
Patapsco section of the Baltimore Beltway, follow its current path to Pasadena, then continue paralleling MD 2 south to near
U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlanti ...
(US 50) and
US 301
U.S. Route 301 (US 301) is a spur of U.S. Route 1 running through the South Atlantic States. It runs from Biddles Corner, Delaware at Delaware Route 1 to Sarasota, Florida at U.S. Route 41. It passes through the states of Delaware, Mar ...
.
The portion of the Arundel Expressway inside the Beltway was removed from plans in 1967, with the Beltway instead serving to connect the expressway with highways into Baltimore.
The portion of the freeway south of Pasadena was planned to have intermediate interchanges at MD 648 in
Severna Park and Jones Station Road (now College Parkway) in
Arnold, and a toll plaza just south of the MD 100 interchange.
The portion of the Arundel Expressway south of MD 100 was removed from state plans by 1975.
Instead of a Baltimore–Annapolis freeway following the MD 2 corridor, in June 1979 the
Maryland State Highway Administration
The Maryland State Highway Administration (abbreviated MDOT SHA or simply SHA) is the state transportation business unit responsible for maintaining Maryland's numbered highways outside Baltimore City. Formed originally under authority of the Ge ...
announced it was constructing the freeway along the
MD 3 and
MD 178 corridors.
The first section of modern MD 10 to open was the portion of freeway shared with MD 100, which opened in November 1970 from MD 2 to its eastern terminus.
Work began on the Arundel Expressway proper in 1970 when the interchange between the expressway and the Baltimore Beltway was started in 1970.
MD 710 was relocated over much of its length to make way for the construction of the freeways in 1972.
The Arundel Expressway opened from the Beltway to MD 710 in December 1972 and was marked as MD 10 by 1974.
Construction on the extension south to MD 648 was underway by 1975.
MD 10 opened south to MD 270 in October 1977 and to MD 648 in March 1978.
The freeway was proposed to continue south to MD 100, but that freeway extension was removed from short-term plans by 1981.
Construction began in 1987 to extend MD 10, which was dubbed the "Road to Nowhere," from MD 648 to a more logical southern terminus.
The freeway opened from MD 648 to MD 100 in October 1988.
The final segment of MD 10, from MD 100 to MD 2, opened in March 1991.
The Arundel Expressway was planned to carry 75,000 as a complete Baltimore–Annapolis freeway.
However, , only 51,621 vehicles used the highway daily on its most traveled portion between MD 270 and MD 710.
MD 10 functions as a bypass of MD 2 north of Pasadena, but has not fulfilled its original purpose to relieve traffic congestion on MD 2 south to Annapolis. By the time of MD 10's completion in 1991, MD 2 was proposed to be expanded to six lanes south of MD 10.
, MD 2 has yet to be widened south of Pasadena.
Exit list
All exits are unnumbered.
See also
*
References
External links
{{Attached KML, display=inline,title
MDRoads: MD 10MD 10 at AARoads.comSteve Anderson's DCroads.net: Arundel Expressway (MD 10)
010
Freeways in the United States
Roads in Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Pasadena, Maryland
Glen Burnie, Maryland