U.S. Route 1 in Maryland
U.S. Route 1 is the easternmost and longest of the major north-south routes of the older 1920s era United States Numbered Highway System, running from Key West, Florida, to Fort Kent, Maine. In the U.S. state of Maryland, it runs from the Washington, D.C. line to the Pennsylvania state line near the town of Rising Sun.
US 1 is paralleled by several major highways as it passes through Maryland, including Interstate 95, the Baltimore–Washington Parkway, US 29, and US 301. Thus, US 1 has lost its significance as a long distance route through the state. It is often congested, however, because it remains a major route in the individual towns it traverses.
Route description
Prince George's County
US 1 leaves the District of Columbia as Rhode Island Avenue NE and just simply becomes Rhode Island Avenue, a four-lane divided street with parking through a downtown-like commercial area, right after crossing the intersection of Eastern Avenue NE and entering the city of Mount Rainier in Prince George's County. US 1 then meets the intersections of 34th and Perry streets at a roundabout and then continues northeast through a densely populated residential area. The highway leaves Mount Rainier and enters Brentwood, where the highway meets Maryland Route 208. US 1 passes through North Brentwood as a four-lane divided highway without parking through a mix of residences and commercial establishments. The median widens as the highway crosses Northwest Branch Anacostia River and enters the city of Hyattsville. The highway begins to closely parallel CSX Transportation's Capital Subdivision railroad line and MARC Train's Camden Line as it reduces to a four-lane undivided highway, passing the District Court of Maryland for Prince George's County building. US 1 curves to the north, and the highway's name changes to Baltimore Avenue at Farragut Street, shortly before intersecting US 1 Alternate.US 1 continues north through downtown Hyattsville, gaining a center turn lane before entering the town of Riverdale Park, where the highway intersects MD 410. The highway enters a densely populated residential area, passing between Riverdale Park to the east and the town of University Park to the west. Shortly after the highway enters the city of College Park on the east, US 1 intersects Queens Chapel Road at a five-way intersection with the town of University Park still on the west side. Only busses may enter Queens Chapel Road from US 1. The highway fully enters College Park and enters the commercial area that makes up the downtown of the college town, expanding to a four-lane divided highway. After the intersection with College Avenue and Regents Drive, US 1 passes through the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park, including the historic Rossborough Inn and Fraternity Row. The highway leaves the campus after intersecting Campus Drive, which is unsigned MD 431, and crossing Paint Branch.
US 1 continues through the northern part of College Park as a five-lane road with center turn lane, passing through a suburban commercial area. The highway intersects Greenbelt Road, which is unsigned MD 430, before meeting MD 193 at a partial interchange. All movements not provided in the interchange require using Greenbelt Road to connect between US 1 and MD 193. After intersecting Cherry Hill Road, US 1 becomes a divided highway and meets I-95/I-495 at a partial cloverleaf interchange. North of the interchange, the highway expands to a six-lane divided highway, leaving the town of College Park and passing by businesses and through a swath of the Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, including the U.S. National Agricultural Library.
At Sunnyside Avenue, the highway reduces to a five-lane road with center turn lane and passes through a suburban commercial area in the unincorporated town of Beltsville. The highway meets Rhode Island Avenue at an oblique intersection and MD 212A at a more orthogonal intersection. Past this, the road curves north and parallels CSX Transportation's Capital Subdivision. The highway passes between a commercial strip on the southbound side of the highway and an industrial area on the east side of the railroad tracks. US 1 leaves Beltsville after crossing Indian Creek. The highway temporarily expands to a four-lane divided highway before returning to a five-lane road, passing between an industrial area to the east and office parks to the west. The road comes to an intersection with the official eastern terminus of MD 212. After Muirkirk Meadows Drive, which leads to Muirkirk Road, US 1 reduces to a four-lane undivided highway, passes under the latter highway, and intersects the eastern terminus of MD 200 and the ICC Trail before it enters a forested area.
US 1 gradually veers away from the railroad tracks as it approaches Laurel, passing Maryland National Memorial Park before entering a suburban commercial area ahead of Contee Road, where the center turn lane returns. At Cypress Street, the southbound direction gains a third lane through the intersection with Cherry Lane, where the northbound direction gains a third lane. After passing Towne Centre at Laurel and Laurel Shopping Center, US 1 splits into a one-way pair. The three to four northbound lanes veer northeast as Second Street, while the three to four southbound lanes take the name Washington Boulevard. The one-way pair intersects Bowie Road, the old alignment of MD 197, before intersecting MD 198, which takes the form of a one-way pair, eastbound Gorman Avenue and westbound Talbott Avenue. US 1 continues through the city of Laurel, intersecting Main Street just west of Laurel station before leaving Laurel by crossing the Patuxent River into Howard County.
Howard County
Immediately after crossing the Patuxent River, both directions of US 1 pass entrances to Laurel Park. The highway continues through North Laurel, with the one-way pair coming together shortly before the intersection with Whiskey Bottom Road. US 1 continues north as a five-lane road with center turn lane, crossing Hammond Branch. As the highway passes through a commercial area in Savage, the road becomes a divided highway. After Gorman Road, the roadways temporarily diverge to cross the Little Patuxent River, then come together again at the full cloverleaf interchange with MD 32. US 1 becomes undivided and intersects Guilford Road and crosses over the Columbia Branch from CSX Transportation's Capital Subdivision to the east. The highway passes several industrial parks, crossing Dorsey Run twice before intersecting MD 175 in Jessup.North of Jessup, US 1 crosses Deep Run and passes more industrial parks. The highway intersects MD 103 and passes Meadow Ridge Memorial Park before a partial cloverleaf interchange with MD 100 near Dorsey. Continuing northeast past Bealmear Branch, Old Washington Road splits to the northeast to pass through the center of Elkridge shortly before US 1 intersects the old alignment of MD 103, Montgomery Road. The highway passes through a shallow S-curve before receiving the other end of Old Washington Road and passes under the Capital Subdivision. US 1's two directions become divided by a Jersey barrier as the highway passes through the commercial strip in Elkridge, passing ramps to and from I-895 immediately before crossing the upper Patapsco River into Baltimore County.
Baltimore City and County
After passing under I-895, US 1 intersects South Street, which provides access to St. Denis and Relay, and passes through its interchange with I-195. The undivided highway crosses over CSX Transportation's Baltimore Terminal Subdivision railroad line before reaching the partial interchange with US 1 Alt. Washington Boulevard continues straight northeast as US 1 Alt. through Halethorpe, while US 1 exits onto Southwestern Boulevard to head north through Arbutus. The three-lane road with center turn lane and extra-wide shoulders parallels Amtrak's Northeast Corridor railroad line and MARC Train's Penn Line. After crossing Herbert Run, US 1 parallels the long, linear parking lot of Halethorpe station. The highway leaves the station after passing under Francis Avenue. US 1 expands to a five-lane road with center turn lane as it crosses under I-95. US 1 passes under Sulphur Spring Road and I-695 as the highway heads out of Arbutus. The only connection with I-695 is a single ramp, exit 12A, from I-695 east to US 1 south. Inside the beltway, US 1 is paralleled by Leeds Avenue, which intersects the federal highway just before entering the city of Baltimore.US 1 continues north as a four-lane divided street through a densely populated urban residential area. A short distance north of the city line, US 1 curves to the east onto Wilkens Avenue, which continues west as MD 372. The highway crosses Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and reduces to an undivided highway, intersecting US 1 Alt. as it passes through a curve. US 1 crosses Gwynns Falls and CSX Transportation's Hanover Subdivision railroad line, expanding to a divided highway before passing the Deck of Cards rowhouses between Brunswick Street and Millington Avenue. A short distance to the east, US 1 turns north onto a one-way pair, Monroe Street southbound and Fulton Avenue northbound, to pass through a densely populated urban residential area on the west side of central Baltimore. US 1 meets the eastern terminus of MD 144 at another one-way pair, Pratt and Lombard streets. The highway passes over the US 40 freeway, which is accessed by the one-way pair adjacent to the freeway, Mulberry and Franklin streets. At Edmondson Avenue, Fulton Avenue becomes two-way; however, southbound US 1 remains on Monroe Street. Shortly after passing over Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, US 1 reaches North Avenue. The Fulton Avenue/Monroe Street one-way pair continues north as MD 140, while both directions of US 1 turn east onto North Avenue.
North Avenue heads east as a four-lane undivided highway through the junction with MD 129, which follows southbound Druid Hill Avenue and northbound McCulloh Street. US 1 continues east as a four-lane divided highway with parking lanes. The highway meets I-83 and Mount Royal Avenue next to North Avenue station of Maryland Transit Administration's Baltimore Light RailLink. US 1 expands to six lanes and crosses over the light rail tracks, Jones Falls, MD 25, and CSX Transportation's Baltimore Terminal Subdivision. Due north of Downtown Baltimore, North Avenue intersects Charles Street, St. Paul and Calvert streets, and Greenmount Avenue, after which North Avenue passes along the north side of Green Mount Cemetery. North Avenue reduces to a four-lane undivided street east of MD 45. Shortly after intersecting MD 147 and Broadway, US 1 turns northeast onto Bel Air Road.
Now a four-lane undivided road, US 1 crosses the Baltimore Terminal Subdivision again and passes Clifton Park before reaching Erdman Avenue, which heads southeast as MD 151. The highway crosses Herring Run before intersecting Moravia Road, where Bel Air Road transitions from passing through densely populated residential neighborhoods to being the center of a commercial strip. US 1 intersects Frankford and Hamilton avenues before leaving the city of Baltimore at Fleetwood Avenue, which forms the eastbound component of a one-way pair with Northern Parkway at the latter street's eastern terminus. US 1 passes through the inner suburb of Overlea, crossing Stemmers Run before meeting I-695 at a cloverleaf interchange.
US 1 continues northeast from the beltway as a six-lane divided highway. The highway intersects Rossville Boulevard and Putty Hill Road, then crosses MD 43. US 1 accesses MD 43 via two quadrant ramps with a right-in/right-out interchange southbound and an intersection with Dunfield Road northbound. North of MD 43, US 1 reduces to a four-lane undivided highway as it passes through Perry Hall, intersecting Silver Spring, Joppa, and Ebenezer roads in the midst of a commercial strip. After the intersection with Honeygo Boulevard, US 1 descends into a steep valley to cross Gunpowder Falls, passing southeast of a park-and-ride lot before the bridge. The highway continues north through a mix of farmland and residential subdivisions, heading through Kingsville before passing through Gunpowder Falls State Park and leaving Baltimore County by crossing Little Gunpowder Falls.