Maryland Route 700 (MD 700) 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 Martin Boulevard, the state highway runs from
MD 150 in
Middle River north to
U.S. Route 40 (US 40) in
Rossville. MD 700 was constructed as a defense access road in 1941 to improve access to the aircraft manufacturing plant of the
Glenn L. Martin Company, one of the predecessor companies of the site's present owner,
Lockheed Martin
The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...
.
Route description
MD 700 begins at a
cloverleaf interchange
A cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange in which all turns are handled by slip roads. To go left (in right-hand traffic; reverse directions in left-driving regions), vehicles first continue as one road passes over or under the ...
with MD 150 (Eastern Boulevard) in Middle River. The four-lane
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 ...
continues south as Chesapeake Park Place, which leads into Lockheed Martin's Middle River Complex, a facility of the company's
Mission Systems & Sensors business segment.
After the southbound direction has a right-in/right-out interchange with Old Eastern Avenue, MD 700 passes under
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
's
Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, a ...
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 of ...
's
Penn Line
The Penn Line is a MARC commuter rail service running from Union Station in Washington, D.C., to Perryville, Maryland, along the far southern leg of the Northeast Corridor. However, the great majority of trains terminate at Baltimore's Penn St ...
. The state highway veers west and intersects Riverton Road and Middle River Road and passes Martin Plaza Shopping Center. MD 700 gently curves to the northwest and crosses Compass Road and Kelso Drive before reaching its northern terminus at a modified
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 US 40 (Pulaski Highway).
History
The predecessor highway to MD 700 was MD 493, which was a state-maintained portion of Orems Road constructed around 1933. MD 493 began at a creek crossing due south of Martin Plaza Shopping Plaza, headed east along Orems Road and present-day Old Orems Road to an at-grade railroad crossing of the
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
, then continued east on present-day Baker Avenue to Eastern Avenue just west of the Baker Avenue
right-in/right-out
Right-in/right-out (RIRO) and left-in/left-out (LILO) refer to a type of three-way road intersection where turning movements of vehicles are restricted. A RIRO permits only right turns and a LILO permits only left turns. "Right-in" and "left-in" r ...
junction with MD 700.
Prior to construction of MD 700, the only highway connection to the Glenn L. Martin Company aircraft manufacturing plant in Middle River, which was established in 1929, was MD 150.
However, upcoming war conditions as a result of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
required improved connections to military reservations and manufacturers critical to the war effort. A four-lane divided highway with interchanges at US 40 and MD 150 and an underpass of what was then the Pennsylvania Railroad was included in a list of access roads prepared by the
Maryland State Roads Commission
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 ...
for the
United States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...
in 1940.
MD 700 was constructed in 1941 before federal funding specifically for defense access roads was authorized by the Defense Highway Act of 1941.
The state highway, which has only seen minor improvements since 1941, was designated MD 700 by 1946.
MD 493 was removed from the state highway system by 1946 and the at-grade railroad crossing was gone by 1949.
Junction list
See also
*
References
External links
{{Attached KML, display=title,inline
MDRoads: MD 700MD 700 at AARoads.com
700
The denomination 700 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Events
By place Byzantine Empire
* Avar and Slavic tribes conq ...
Maryland Route 700