Maryland Route 185 (MD 185) 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
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
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
Connecticut Avenue
Connecticut Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C., and suburban Montgomery County, Maryland. It is one of the diagonal avenues radiating from the White House, and the segment south of Florida Avenue was one ...
, the state highway runs from
Chevy Chase Circle
Chevy Chase Circle is a traffic circle (or roundabout) straddling the border of Chevy Chase, Washington, D.C. and Chevy Chase, Maryland. It sits upon the convergence of Western Avenue, Grafton Street, Magnolia Parkway, Chevy Chase Parkway NW, and ...
at the
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
border north to
MD 97 in
Aspen Hill. MD 185 serves as a major north-south commuter route in southern
Montgomery County, connecting the District of Columbia with the residential suburbs of
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...
,
Kensington
Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...
, and
Wheaton.
MD 185's history can be divided into two segments. The portion south of Kensington was included in the state highway system by 1927 as an extension of Connecticut Avenue out of the District of Columbia and was the westernmost stretch of MD 193. The Chevy Chase to Kensington stretch was expanded to a divided highway in the 1950s. The segment of MD 185 between Kensington and Aspen Hill was built as a
divided highway
A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...
on a new alignment in the 1960s and designated MD 185. The MD 185 designation was extended south of Kensington, replacing MD 193, in the 1970s. Construction projects in the 1980s and early 1990s completed MD 185 as a six-lane highway.
Route description
MD 185 begins at Chevy Chase Circle on the border of the District of Columbia. Connecticut Avenue continues south into the
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...
neighborhood of Washington, D.C. on the south side of the circle, while
Western Avenue intersects the east and west sides of the circle.
MD 185 heads north as a six-lane divided highway through an affluent residential area in
Chevy Chase Village
Chevy Chase Village is an incorporated municipality in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, bordering Washington, D.C. It is made up of sections 1, 1a, and 2 of Chevy Chase, as originally designated by The Chevy Chase Land Company. The pop ...
.
After passing
Chevy Chase Country Club to the west, the state highway intersects
MD 191 (Bradley Lane) and leaves Chevy Chase Village.
MD 185 continues due north, passing the headquarters of
4-H and intersecting
MD 410 (East–West Highway).
After crossing MD 410, the state highway passes
Columbia Country Club
The Columbia Country Club, located in Chevy Chase, Maryland, is the successor of the Columbia Golf Club, which was organized on September 29, 1898 by nine men. Originally there were twenty members. The golf course, which opened in 1911, was desig ...
.
MD 185 enters a commercial area where it crosses the
Capital Crescent Trail
The Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) is a , shared-use rail trail that runs from Georgetown in Washington, D.C., to Bethesda, Maryland. An extension of the trail from Bethesda to Silver Spring along a route formerly known as the Georgetown Branch ...
at-grade and intersects Manor Road. Manor Road fills the missing movements at the following five-way intersection with Jones Bridge Road and Kensington Parkway, where left turns are prohibited from both directions of MD 185 and westbound Jones Bridge Road.
After crossing Jones Bridge Road, MD 185 continues north through residential areas and intersects
Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway) at 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 ...
.
Immediately after the interchange, the state highway crosses
Rock Creek and intersects Beach Drive within
Rock Creek Park
Rock Creek Park is a large urban park that bisects the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. The park was created by an Act of Congress in 1890 and today is administered by the National Park Service. In addition to the park proper, the Rock Cr ...
.
MD 185 leaves the valley of Rock Creek and enters the town of
Chevy Chase View.
Upon entering Kensington and the
Kensington Historic District
The Kensington Historic District is a national historic district located at Kensington, Montgomery County, Maryland. The district includes the core of the original town that was incorporated in 1894. It is dominated by large late-19th and earl ...
, the state highway veers to the northwest and back to the north ahead of the intersection with
MD 547 (Knowles Avenue), where the highway enters a commercial area.
After crossing
CSX
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
's
Metropolitan Subdivision
The Metropolitan Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the District of Columbia and the U.S. state of Maryland. The 79-mile line runs from Washington, D.C., northwest to Weverton, Maryland, along the form ...
railroad line and
MARC Marc or MARC may refer to:
People
* Marc (given name), people with the first name
* Marc (surname), people with the family name
Acronyms
* MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging,
* MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...
's
Brunswick Line
The Brunswick Line is a MARC commuter rail line between Washington, D.C., and Martinsburg, West Virginia, with a branch to Frederick, Maryland. It primarily serves the northern and western suburbs of Washington. The line, MARC's second longest ...
, MD 185 crosses
MD 192 (Plyers Mill Road).
As the road turns northeast, the state highway meets MD 193 (University Boulevard). While MD 193 continues northeast toward Wheaton, MD 185 veers left to continue due north. The next intersection, Perry Avenue, is used to complete the movements between MD 185 north and MD 193 east.
After leaving the town limits of Kensington, MD 185 becomes a six-lane divided highway with
partial control of access, passing between residential subdivisions.
After crossing a tributary of Rock Creek, the state highway intersects
MD 586 at an acute intersection.
MD 185 then becomes lined with
service roads
A frontage road (also known as an access road, outer road, service road, feeder road, or parallel road) is a local road running parallel to a higher-speed, limited-access road. A frontage road is often used to provide access to private drive ...
ahead of and after the intersection with
Randolph Road
Randolph Road is a county highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The highway is the major component of a mostly four- to six-lane highway spanning southern Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County and northwestern Prince George's County, Ma ...
.
Beyond Weller Road, the state highway crosses Turkey Branch and then a bridge over
Matthew Henson State Park
Matthew Henson State Park is a publicly owned greenway with recreational features that runs along Turkey Branch, a tributary of Rock Creek, in Montgomery County, Maryland. The state park is managed by Montgomery County under an agreement with t ...
.
MD 185 then enters Aspen Hill and intersects Aspen Hill Road within a commercial area.
The state highway meets its northern terminus at MD 97 (
Georgia Avenue
Georgia Avenue is a major north-south artery in Northwest Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland. Within the District of Columbia and a short distance in Silver Spring, Maryland, Georgia Avenue is also U.S. Route 29. Both Howard Univers ...
). Connecticut Avenue continues as a county-maintained highway north across Bel Pre Road into
Rossmoor, home of the Leisure World retirement community.
MD 185 is a part of the
National Highway System as a principal arterial for its entire length.
History
MD 185 was constructed and designated on two different segments of the current state highway at different times. The first section to be built was between Chevy Chase and Kensington as an extension of Connecticut Avenue into Montgomery County, which was designated MD 193.
The section between Bradley Lane and Kensington was paved by 1927.
The segment south of Bradley Lane was paved as a county road by 1930.
By 1936, the segment of Connecticut Avenue south of Bradley Lane had come under state control.
The grade crossing of the railroad tracks in Kensington was eliminated by the construction of a bypass and bridge in 1936 as well.
The section of MD 193 south of MD 410 was marked as
US 240 Alternate by 1946, a designation it retained until the 1960s.
The segment from the D.C. line to north of MD 410 in Chevy Chase was expanded to a multi-lane divided highway in 1950.
The remainder of the route to Kensington was expanded to a divided highway between 1957 and 1960.
The section of highway between Kensington and Aspen Hill was built on a new alignment as a four-lane divided highway in stages in the 1960s and given the designation of MD 185. The highway was completed from Kensington to MD 586 in 1963.
The remaining section north to Aspen Hill was completed in 1969.
Immediately north of the crossing of Turkey Branch is a bridge that was to be MD 185's overpass of the
Washington Outer Beltway
The Washington Outer Beltway was a proposed freeway that would have extended further out than the Capital Beltway and encircled Washington, D.C. through the states of Maryland and Virginia. Most of the route was canceled in the 1980s. Parts of it ...
. Ramp stubs exist next to the bridge for the partial cloverleaf interchange with this cancelled freeway.
By 1980, the MD 185 designation was extended south from Kensington south to the D.C. line.
The state highway was expanded to six lanes to Beach Drive in 1986 and through Kensington in 1991.
Junction list
See also
*
References
External links
MD 185 @ MDRoads.com{{Chevy Chase
Maryland Route 185
185