Maryland Route 190
Maryland Route 190 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known as River Road, the highway runs from MD 112 near Seneca east to Western Avenue at the District of Columbia boundary in Bethesda. MD 190 parallels the Potomac River through the affluent southwestern Montgomery County communities of Potomac and Bethesda and connects those suburbs with Interstate 495. River Road was paved from Washington, D.C. west through part of Bethesda in the early 1910s. A second section of MD 190 was constructed through Potomac in the mid-1920s. The Bethesda and Potomac portions of the route were unified in the late 1920s. MD 190 was extended west toward Seneca in two steps in 1950 and the early 1970s. The highway was expanded to a four-lane divided highway through Bethesda in the early 1960s.
The westernmost of MD 190 are signed concurrently with the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Scenic Byway, a state tourist route.
Route description
MD 190 begins at a three-way intersection just east of the hamlet of Seneca near the mouth of Seneca Creek at the Potomac River. The east leg of the intersection is MD 112, which heads toward Darnestown. The west leg of the intersection is county-maintained River Road, which parallels the river through the Seneca Historic District and peters out beyond McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area south of Poolesville. MD 190 heads southeast as a two-lane undivided road that parallels the Potomac River from a distance. The road intersects several county highways that provide access to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. The highway crosses Muddy Branch within Blockhouse Point Park and continues through the Travilah area, where the highway intersects Travilah Road. MD 190 crosses Watts Branch west of Piney Meetinghouse Road, where the Potomac River curves south away from the highway. The route crosses Rock Run as it enters the village of Potomac, where the highway temporarily expands to four lanes and intersects Falls Road, which heads north as MD 189 and south toward Great Falls. MD 190 passes to the north of the TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm golf course and intersects Bradley Boulevard, which carries MD 191 north of MD 190, west of the entrance to Congressional Country Club.MD 190 crosses Cabin John Creek and expands to a four-lane divided highway just west of Seven Locks Road. The state highway has a partial cloverleaf interchange with I-495 that includes access to Cabin John Parkway. East of the Capital Beltway, the route becomes a partially controlled access highway, with adjacent properties accessed by service roads or intersecting streets. MD 190 passes to the south of the Burning Tree Club and the Holton-Arms School before crossing Booze Creek. The highway continues through the southern part of Bethesda, where the road intersects MD 188 and MD 614 ; between the two highways, the highway passes south of Walt Whitman High School. MD 190 loses access of control and becomes an undivided road with a center left-turn lane west of its underpass of the Capital Crescent Trail. The highway becomes an undivided four-lane road between its intersection with Little Falls Parkway and its crossing of Little Falls Branch. MD 190 reaches its eastern terminus at Western Avenue at the District of Columbia boundary. River Road continues into Washington, D.C. as a two-lane unnumbered street that ends at Wisconsin Avenue in Tenleytown.
MD 190 is a part of the National Highway System as a principal arterial from MD 189 in Potomac to its eastern terminus.