John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway
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The John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway (also known as JFK Memorial Highway) is a 50-mile section of Interstate 95 traversing northeastern Maryland from the northern Baltimore City line to the Delaware State line, where it meets the Delaware Turnpike.
Completed in 1963, the new highway and the adjoining 11-mile-long Delaware Turnpike were dedicated by U.S. President John F. Kennedy on Thursday, November 14, 1963, at a ceremony at the Mason-Dixon Line. The roads were renamed as a memorial to him after his assassination in Dallas, Texas, eight days later, on November 22, 1963.
The John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway has six traffic lanes of traffic from the Delaware line south to the Maryland Route 24 interchange, and eight traffic lanes from MD 24 south to the interchange with the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel Thruway (Interstate 895) near the Fort McHenry Tunnel.
The highway crosses the Susquehanna River on the Millard E. Tydings Memorial Bridge, named for a long-time political figure in Maryland who died in 1961. The bridge crosses between bluffs high above the river valley, and is posted with warning signs "Subject to Crosswinds."
Between 1963 and 1993, the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway was a tolled facility for the entire length of the roadway in both directions. The mainline toll plaza is situated just north of the Tydings Bridge, but the southbound direction had its toll removed in 1991. Tolls are still collected for northbound traffic at this location. Additionally, ramp tolls were collected at many of the interchanges until they were abolished in the mid-1970s. The highway and bridge are maintained by the Maryland Transportation Authority.
Exits on the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway were originally numbered consecutively, beginning with exit 1. As a result, Interstate 95 in Maryland had multiple conflicting sequences of exit numbers. In the mid-1980s, the exits were re-numbered according to a statewide, mileage-based numbering system, so that they now range from Exit 2 on the Capital Beltway to Exit 109 on the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway.
There are two travel plazas along the JFK Memorial Highway -- the Maryland House in Harford County and the Chesapeake House in Cecil County. The former is the busiest travel plaza in the United States. Each plaza is located in the median of I-95 and serves both northbound and southbound traffic.
Contents |
[edit] Fast Facts
- Construction Dates: January, 1962 - November, 1963
- Annual Traffic: 29 million vehicles (both directions)
[edit] John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway Exit List
- Exit 62 - I-895/Harbor Tunnel Thruway (Southbound only)
- Exit 64 - I-695/Baltimore Beltway/Essex/Towson
- Exit 67 - MD 43/White Marsh Boulevard
- Exit 74 - MD 152/Mountain Road/Joppatowne/Fallston
- Exit 77 - MD 24/Edgewood/Bel Air
- Exit 80 - MD 543/Riverside
- Exit 85 - MD 22/Aberdeen/Churchville
- Exit 89 - MD 155/Havre de Grace
(MILLARD E. TYDINGS MEMORIAL BRIDGE/TOLL PLAZA)
- Exit 93 - MD 222/Perryville/Port Deposit
- Exit 100 - MD 272/North East/Rising Sun
- Exit 109 - MD 279/Elkton/Newark, DE
(Delaware State Line; I-95 continues as the Delaware Turnpike)
[edit] See also
[edit] External links/references
- Maryland Transportation Authority - John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway webpage
- Steve Anderson's DCroads.net: John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway (I-95)
| Maryland Transportation Authority facilities | |
|---|---|
| Bridges | Chesapeake Bay | Hatem (Susquehanna) | Key (Outer Harbor) | Nice (Potomac) | Tydings |
| Tunnels | Baltimore Harbor | Fort McHenry |
| Highways | Harbor Tunnel Thruway | JFK Memorial Highway | I-95 in Baltimore | I-395 |
