Maryland Route 346


Maryland Route 346 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The state highway runs from U.S. Route 50 Business in Salisbury east to US 50 in Berlin. MD 346 is the old alignment of US 50 between Salisbury and Berlin, connecting those cities with Parsonsburg, Pittsville, and Willards in eastern Wicomico County and Whaleyville in northern Worcester County. Much of what is now MD 346 was built as the original state road between Salisbury and Ocean City in the mid-1910s. The highway was designated US 213 in 1927 and changed to US 50 in 1949. MD 346 was first applied to Church Street in Salisbury in the 1940s; this designation was removed in 1954. MD 346 was reassigned in the mid-1960s to the old alignments of US 50 left behind after US 50's bypass of Berlin opened in the late 1950s and the US 50 divided highway was completed between Salisbury and Berlin in the mid-1960s.

Route description

MD 346 begins at an intersection with US 50 Business in Salisbury. Main Street continues west into downtown Salisbury on the other side of US 50 Business. MD 346 heads northeast as Main Street, a two-lane undivided road maintained by the city of Salisbury. The state highway veers east at Church Street. At the city limit of Salisbury, state maintenance begins and the name of the highway changes to Old Ocean City Road. MD 346 passes under the Salisbury Bypass without access and continues east through a mix of farmland and scattered residences, crossing Beaverdam Creek. MD 346 passes through the unincorporated community of Parsonsburg and along the edge of the town of Pittsville, where the highway intersects MD 353. The state highway next passes through Willards, where the highway meets the northern end of MD 354. After crossing Burnt Mill Branch, MD 346 crosses the Pocomoke River and enters Worcester County.
MD 346 continues east as Old Ocean City Boulevard, passing along the southern edge of Whaleyville, where the highway intersects MD 610. The state highway curves southeast and crosses over MD 90 with no access, then turns south through the hamlet of St. Martin before intersecting US 50. MD 346 turns southeast, paralleling US 50 for a while before turning south toward the center of Berlin. Upon entering the town limits of Berlin, the state highway curves east to intersect MD 818. MD 346 has a grade crossing of the Maryland and Delaware Railroad's Snow Hill Line track, then intersects the northern terminus of MD 377 immediately before an intersection with US 113. The state highway passes south of Atlantic General Hospital and veers northeast to its eastern terminus at a tangent intersection with US 50.

History

The original highway between Salisbury and Ocean City, which followed much of which is now MD 346, was marked for improvement as a state road by the Maryland State Roads Commission in 1909. This highway was paved from Salisbury to Berlin in 1914 and from Berlin toward Ocean City in 1915. The road followed present-day MD 346 with two exceptions: the highway exited Salisbury on Church Street; and in Berlin, the state road followed Main Street south to the downtown area, then northeast toward Ocean City on Williams Street before rejoining MD 346's course. Main Street in Salisbury was extended east from the downtown area to its present intersection with Church Street in 1925 and 1926. In Berlin, the cut-off between Main Street and Williams Street was completed by 1927. US 213 was assigned to the Salisbury - Ocean City road in 1927. The U.S. Highway originally followed Church Street out of downtown Salisbury, while Main Street was also a state highway. In 1940, the two highways swapped streets, with US 213 following Main Street and the other highway using Church Street from US 13 to the intersection of Main Street and Church Street on the east side of Salisbury. That other highway was marked MD 346 by 1946 at the latest. MD 346 was removed from Church Street in Salisbury in 1954. US 50 replaced US 213 from Wye Mills to Ocean City in 1949. US 50's bypass of Berlin was completed in 1958. Salisbury Parkway from MD 349 to Main Street was completed by 1964 and US 50's four-lane divided highway between MD 346's western terminus and the US 50-MD 346 intersection west of Berlin opened in 1965. MD 346 was assigned to the old alignment of US 50 from Salisbury to west of Berlin in 1966 and through Berlin in 1967.