Portal:Maryland roads/Selected article/February 2015

Maryland Route 5 (MD 5) is a 74.34 mi long state highway that runs north–south in the U.S. state of Maryland. The highway runs from Point Lookout north to the Washington, D.C. border in Suitland. MD 5 begins as the two-lane undivided road which runs from Point Lookout, St. Mary's County, to an intersection with MD 235 in the northern part of the county, passing through Leonardtown. After the MD 235 intersection, the route becomes a four-lane divided highway and serves Hughesville and Waldorf. The route merges onto U.S. Route 301 (US 301, Crain Highway) in Waldorf, splitting from US 301 at an interchange in Brandywine. From here, MD 5 continues north on Branch Avenue, running through suburban areas, before becoming a freeway as it passes Andrews Air Force Base and interchanges with Interstate 95 (I-95)/I-495 (Capital Beltway). Past the Capital Beltway, the route runs through Hillcrest Heights and Suitland before reaching the D.C. border, where Branch Avenue continues toward Pennsylvania Avenue. MD 5 was designated in 1927 to run from Point Lookout to the Washington, D.C. border in Suitland. The route was realigned to follow Naylor Road to the Washington, D.C. line in 1939, while MD 637 was designated along the portion of Branch Avenue leading to the border. MD 5 was realigned to head to the Washington, D.C. border along Branch Avenue in 1950. During the course of the 1950s and 1960s, most of MD 5 between the MD 235 intersection and the Washington, D.C. border was widened into a divided highway. In 1993, the route bypassed Leonardtown. In 1997, MD 5 was realigned to bypass Waldorf to the east along what had been designated as MD 205 in 1989. In Prince George's County, multiple interchanges were built along MD 5 between MD 223 and the Capital Beltway in the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2007, a four-lane, divided bypass of Hughesville was completed, alleviating the traffic bottleneck within that town at the intersection of MD 231. (more...)

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