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Maryland Route 45 (MD 45) 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 t ...
. Known for most of its length as York Road, the state highway runs from
U.S. Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making ...
(US 1) and US 40 Truck in
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
north to the
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
state line in
Maryland Line The "Maryland Line" was a formation within the Continental Army, formed and authorized by the Second Continental Congress, meeting in the "Old Pennsylvania State House" (later known as "Independence Hall") in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in June ...
, where the highway continues as State Route 3001 (SR 3001). MD 45 is the primary highway between
Downtown Baltimore Downtown Baltimore is the central business district of the city of Baltimore traditionally bounded by Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard to the west, Franklin Street to the north, President Street to the east and the Inner Harbor area to the ...
and
Towson Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincorp ...
, the
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...
of
Baltimore County Baltimore County ( , locally: or ) is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland and is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area. Baltimore County (which partially surrounds, though does not include, the independent City ...
. North of Interstate 695 (I-695), the state highway parallels
I-83 Interstate 83 (I-83) is an Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its southern terminus is at a signalized intersection with Fayette Street in Baltimore, Maryland; its northern terminus is at I-81 near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Mo ...
and serves the suburban communities of
Lutherville Lutherville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 6,504. Prior to 2010 the area was part of the Lutherville-Timonium CDP. Within its borders lies the Luther ...
,
Timonium Timonium is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 9,926. Prior to 2010 the area was part of the Lutherville-Timonium CDP. The Maryland State Fair is held in Ti ...
,
Cockeysville Cockeysville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 20,776 at the 2010 census. History Cockeysville was named after the Cockey family who helped establish the town. Thomas Cockey (1676� ...
, and Hunt Valley. MD 45 also connects the northern Baltimore County communities of
Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester, England, Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. ...
and Parkton. The state highway is maintained by 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 ...
in Baltimore County and by the
Baltimore City Department of Transportation Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore wa ...
in the city, where the highway also follows Greenmount Avenue. York Road, which follows the path of an 18th-century wagon road and 19th century
turnpike Turnpike often refers to: * A type of gate, another word for a turnstile * In the United States, a toll road Turnpike may also refer to: Roads United Kingdom * A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powe ...
, was one of the original state roads marked for improvement by the Maryland State Roads Commission in 1909. The state highway was constructed as an all-weather road in the mid-1910s from Baltimore to Hereford. The remainder of York Road to Maryland Line was built in the late 1910s and early 1920s. York Road was designated as part of US 111 in 1927 and widened to handle the increasing traffic load in the late 1920s. York Road became a secondary route when a freeway was constructed from Baltimore to
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
and
Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in ...
in the 1950s. US 111 was moved to this freeway as sections opened; the old road became MD 45. MD 45 fully replaced US 111 on York Road when the U.S. Highway was replaced by I-83 in the early 1960s.


Route description

MD 45 begins at an intersection with US 1 and US 40 Truck (North Avenue) at the northwest corner of
Green Mount Cemetery Green Mount Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Established on March 15, 1838, and dedicated on July 13, 1839, it is noted for the large number of historical figures interred in its grounds as well as man ...
in Baltimore. Greenmount Avenue continues south as a city street to Forrest Street and Monument Street east of
Downtown Baltimore Downtown Baltimore is the central business district of the city of Baltimore traditionally bounded by Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard to the west, Franklin Street to the north, President Street to the east and the Inner Harbor area to the ...
. MD 45 heads north as a four-lane undivided street between the Barclay and East Baltimore Midway neighborhoods and crosses over
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 trac ...
's
Baltimore Terminal Subdivision The Baltimore Terminal Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of Maryland. The line runs from Baltimore to Halethorpe along the original Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) line, one of the old ...
railroad line. The state highway continues north through Waverly, where the street passes St. John's Episcopal Church and intersects 33rd Street. MD 45 is paralleled to the east by Old York Road through Waverly and Pen Lucy. At 43rd Street, MD 45's name changes to York Road. The name change occurs where the highway exited the city limits of Baltimore between 1888 and 1917. MD 45 continues north as a five-lane road with a
center left-turn lane A reversible lane (British English: tidal flow) is a lane in which traffic may travel in either direction, depending on certain conditions. Typically, it is meant to improve traffic flow during rush hours, by having overhead traffic lights and li ...
. Between
Cold Spring Lane This is a list of notable streets in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. A B C D E F G H Heath St. Route 64. (MTA Maryland) K L M N O P R Ramsay st S U W Y Numbered streets In Balt ...
and Northern Parkway, the state highway passes through Mid-Govans, which is home to the
Senator Theater The Senator Theatre is a historic Art Deco movie theater on York Road in the Govans section of Baltimore, Maryland. It is the oldest operating movie theater in central Maryland and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a ...
and loses the center left-turn lane. MD 45 leaves the city limits and passes through the Baltimore County community of
Rodgers Forge Rodgers Forge is a national historic district southwest of the unincorporated Towson area and county seat of Baltimore County, Maryland, United States, just north of the Baltimore City/ County line. It is mostly a residential area, with rowhous ...
. The state highway passes along the eastern margin of
Towson University Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its founding, the university h ...
before reaching the southern edge of downtown Towson, where MD 45 Bypass splits to the northwest along Burke Avenue. In the center of the county seat adjacent to the
Towson Town Center Towson Town Center is a large indoor shopping mall located in Towson, Maryland. It was the largest indoor shopping mall in Maryland prior to the completion of Arundel Mills in late 2000 in Hanover and the 2007 expansion of Westfield Annapolis. ...
shopping mall, MD 45 passes through the racetrack-shaped Towson Roundabout, where the state highway meets the southern end of MD 146 (Dulaney Valley Road) and east–west
Joppa Road Joppa Road is a county highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The highway extends from Maryland Route 25 (MD 25) in Brooklandville east to MD 7 near White Marsh. Joppa Road has three main segments separated by very short breaks on its course ...
. On either side of the
roundabout A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford Eng ...
, the state highway narrows to two lanes for on-street parking. MD 45 heads northwest from the roundabout, becoming four lanes again, and meets the northern end of MD 45 Bypass (Bosley Avenue) before it gains a center left-turn lane and passes east of the
George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology, also known just as the Carver Center is a Baltimore County-wide public magnet high school originally established in 1992 as one of three geographically spread technology high schools, (othe ...
. The route 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 be ...
with I-695 (Baltimore Beltway), at which point it is a 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 ...
. The state highway continues north through the densely populated suburban area of Lutherville as a five-lane road with a center left-turn lane, where the highway intersects Seminary Road, which heads west as MD 131. The west side of MD 45 is lined with commercial and industrial parks as it passes through Timonium. Between Timonium Road and Padonia Road, both of which head west to interchanges with I-83, the state highway passes along the eastern edge of the Timonium Fairgrounds, home of the
Maryland State Fair The Maryland State Fair is the annual state fair for the state of Maryland. It is held at the Maryland State Fairgrounds located near the intersection of York and Timonium roads in Timonium. As of 2006, the fair is an 11-day event, customaril ...
and the Baltimore County 4-H Fair. The industrial parks continue past Warren Road in Cockeysville, where the highway crosses Beaver Dam Run. MD 45 meets the western end of MD 145 (Ashland Road) before arriving in Hunt Valley, where the highway intersects Shawan Road at Hunt Valley Town Center, a residential and retail center. North of Shawan Road, MD 45 becomes a two-lane undivided road that crosses Western Run and curves northeast before resuming its northward course through the community of Sparks, where the highway has an intersection with Belfast Road and passes several industrial parks. The state highway continues through the village of Hereford, which contains the western terminus of MD 138 (Monkton Road) and the eastern terminus of MD 137 (Mount Carmel Road) one block apart. North of Hereford, MD 45 passes west of Hereford High School and descends into the valley of
Gunpowder Falls The Gunpowder River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tidal inlet on the western side of Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, United States. It is formed by the jo ...
, where the highway closely parallels I-83. The two highways separate, with the state highway passing by the Half-Way House, a preserved toll house from the 19th-century turnpike that is halfway between Baltimore and York. In Parkton, MD 45 intersects Middletown Road and passes over the
Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail The Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail (TCB), the official name of the Northern Central Railroad (NCR) Trail, is a rail trail that runs along an abandoned railroad corridor where the Northern Central Railway once operated. The trail extends 19.7 miles f ...
and Little Gunpowder Falls. North of the village, the state highway crosses to the west side of I-83 at a
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 the Interstate. The state highway intersects MD 439 (Old York Road) and Freeland Road in the community of Maryland Line before reaching its northern terminus at the Pennsylvania state line. The roadway continues north as SR 3001 (
Susquehanna Trail The Susquehanna Trail was an auto trail in the United States linking Washington, D.C. with Niagara Falls, New York. It passed through Baltimore, Maryland; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Williamsport, Pennsylvania; and Buffalo, New York. In relativel ...
), an unsigned
quadrant route In the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, state highways are generally maintained by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT). Each is assigned a four-digit State Route (SR) number in the present Location Referencing System. Traffic Routes ...
, toward the borough of
Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
. MD 45 is a part of the National Highway System as a principal arterial from US 1 in Baltimore to Shawan Road in Hunt Valley except for the short stretch between MD 146 and the northern junction with MD 45 Bypass in Towson.


History

York Road was first constructed as a wagon road in the early 1740s to connect the new settlement of York with the port of Baltimore. In the 19th century, this road became part of the Baltimore and Yorktown Turnpike. When the Maryland State Roads Commission put together a state road system in 1909, York Road from North Avenue in Baltimore to Parkton was designated one of the original state roads to be improved. The first section of the old turnpike to be resurfaced with a wide macadam surface was from Washington Avenue just north of the center of Towson and the hamlet of Texas south of Cockeysville in 1913. The highway from the contemporary northern city limit of Baltimore near 42nd Street to Washington Avenue just north of the center of Towson was surfaced with bituminous concrete in 1914. York Road from Texas to Glencoe was resurfaced in 1914 and from there to the hamlet of Verona south of Hereford in 1915. The improved macadam road was extended to Parkton by 1919. York Road from Parkton to the Pennsylvania state line was paved in concrete in two sections completed in 1921 and 1923. Greenmount Avenue was reconstructed from 42nd Street to its southern end by 1924. In 1927, York Road and Greenmount Avenue north of North Avenue became part of US 111. Early improvements to York Road included the construction of new bridges over Western Run and Gunpowder Falls in 1918 and 1924; these bridges remain in use. Other bridges included grade separations at the crossings of the Northern Central Railway at Cockeysville and Parkton built around 1930. US 111 was widened with concrete shoulders in much of Baltimore County in the mid- to late 1920s. York Road and Greenmount Avenue were widened and reconstructed in Baltimore in 1929 and 1930. By 1930, US 111 had a width of from inside Baltimore to Towson, from Towson to Parkton, and from Parkton to the Pennsylvania state line. By 1934, the Maryland State Roads Commission recommended widening the U.S. Highway to from Towson to Cockeysville and to from Parkton to the Pennsylvania state line. The latter stretch was widened to in 1946 and 1947. Further widening of US 111 was not planned because York Road was to be bypassed by a freeway between Baltimore and Harrisburg. Construction on the Baltimore– Harrisburg Expressway got underway in 1948 between Timonium and Hunt Valley. The first portion of the freeway opened from Towson to Belfast Road north of Hunt Valley in December 1955, concurrent with the opening of the portion of the Baltimore Beltway between Falls Road and York Road. US 111 was moved to the freeway when the Baltimore– Harrisburg Expressway was completed to the north of Hereford in 1957; MD 45 was assigned to York Road between the Beltway and the northern end of the freeway. A second, disjoint portion of MD 45 was assigned from north of Parkton to the Pennsylvania state line when the Baltimore– Harrisburg Expressway was completed between Parkton and the York area in 1959. When the final section of the US 111 freeway was completed between Hereford and Parkton in 1960, MD 45 was assigned to the stretch of York Road between those communities. US 111 and I-83 were co-signed on the freeway between Towson and Harrisburg until US 111 was decommissioned in 1963; the MD 45 designation was extended south into Baltimore to US 1 at that time.


Junction list


Related routes


Towson bypass route

Maryland Route 45 Bypass (MD 45 Bypass) is a county-maintained, signed bypass route of MD 45 in Towson. The four- to six-lane divided highway runs along the west side of downtown Towson. MD 45 Bypass begins south of downtown at MD 45's intersection with Burke Avenue. At Towsontown Boulevard on the north edge of the Towson University campus, the bypass route curves north and its name changes to Bosley Avenue. MD 45 Bypass follows Bosley Avenue north past Joppa Road to MD 45 north of the Towson Roundabout. Bosley Avenue continues northeast beyond MD 45 to Fairmount Avenue. MD 45 Bypass is a part of the National Highway System as a principal arterial for its entire length.


Auxiliary routes

MD 45 has five unsigned auxiliary routes. MD 45A is in Towson; MD 45B through MD 45E are in Cockeysville. *MD 45A is the designation for the section of West Road between MD 45 and a pair of ramps to and from eastbound I-695. *MD 45B is the designation for the segment of Cockeysville Road immediately west of MD 45. *MD 45C is the designation for the section of Railroad Avenue immediately west of MD 45. *MD 45D is the designation for the segment of Sherwood Road between MD 45 and Cedar Knoll Road. *MD 45E is the designation for the section of Beaver Run Lane immediately east of MD 45.


See also

*


References


External links

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MDRoads: MD 45MD 45 at AARoads.comMaryland Roads - MD 45
045 Maryland Route 045 Maryland Route 045