Interstate 81 in Maryland

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Interstate 81
Main route of the Interstate Highway System

Maryland Veterans Memorial Highway

Length:

12.08 mi [1] (19.44 km)

Formed:

1956 (completed 1960s)

South end:

I-81 at WV state line near Hagerstown, MD

Major
junctions:

US 11 in Williamsport

I-70 in Halfway

US 40 in Hagerstown

North end:

I-81 at PA state line in Hagerstown Airpt.

Highways in Maryland
< MD 80		MD 81 >
State highways - Minor - Decommissioned

Interstate 81 in Maryland is an 11-mile highway running through Washington County in Western Maryland. It passes to the west of Hagerstown and serves as a major north-south corridor for local and through traffic alike.

It is known throughout as the Maryland Veterans Memorial Highway.

1 Cities and towns
2 Route description
3 Exit list
4 Future work
5 History
6 Trivia
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

[edit] Cities and towns

I-81 directly serves the following cities and towns (bolded entries are control cities):

[edit] Route description

I-81 crosses the Potomac River and enters Maryland from West Virginia, a few miles south of Hagerstown. After crossing River Bottom Park the route curves to the north, bypassing Williamsport and interchanging with US 11 northeast of the town. In Halfway at mile marker 4, I-81 meets I-70 at a full cloverleaf interchange. Both Interstates widen into 1-2-2-1 configurations through the interchange, which has collector-distributor lanes to segregate ramp traffic from through traffic.

Beyond I-70, I-81 interchanges with Halfway Blvd. next to Valley Mall, on the outskirts of Hagerstown. Beyond Halfway Blvd., I-81 enters the city of Hagerstown at mile marker 6, passing to the west of the downtown area. At exit 6, I-81 has direct access to US 40 near Hellane Park and Cedar Lawn Memorial Park. Immediately beyond US 40, I-81 interchanges with MD 58 and Maugansville Road, offering further access to downtown Hagerstown.

Turning to the north, I-81 enters Maugansville, interchanging with Maugans Avenue and Showalter Road east of the town. At mile marker 11, I-81 passes by Hagerstown Regional Airport, located a mile south of the Pennsylvania border; the Interstate forms the airport's western boundary. At mile marker 12, Interstate 81 interchanges with PA 163, located squarely on the Mason-Dixon Line, leaves the state of Maryland and enters the state of Pennsylvania.

[edit] Exit list

Exits are numbered south to north, in accordance with AASHTO guidelines.

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
continues from West Virginia over the Potomac River
Washington	Williamsport	0.88	1	Maryland Route 63 / Maryland Route 68 / Lappans Rd. - Smithsburg, Clear Spring (to I-70)	use to for Antietam National Battlefield
	Williamsport	2.37	2	US 11 - Hagerstown
	Halfway	3.63	3	Interstate 70 east and west - Frederick, Hancock	to I-68 west.
	Halfway	4.63	4	Halfway Blvd - Hagerstown
	Hagerstown	6.85	6	US 40 / National Pike - Huyett
		7.70	7	Maryland Route 58 / Salem Ave - Cearfoss
		8.08	8	Maugans Avenue	northbound entrance and southbound exit
	Maugansville	9.59	9	Maugans Ave.
	Maugansville	10.42	10	Showalter Road - Hagerstown Regional Airport
		12.00	1	Pennsylvania Route 163 / Mason-Dixon Rd. - State Line PA (to US 11 and PA 63)	interchange lies on Mason-Dixon line
continues into Pennsylvania

[edit] Future work

This article contains information about a planned or expected future road.
It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the road's construction and/or completion approaches and more information becomes available.

The increasing congestion and heavy use of Interstate 95 along the Atlantic seaboard has led to a major increase in the use of I-81 as a through freight route from the South and Midwest to the Northeast. As a result, I-81 is severely congested through Maryland, as it remains in its original four-lane configuration. Similarly, the I-70/I-81 cloverleaf is highly deficient and in need of upgrade.

Several alternative plans exist for addressing the problems of I-81 in Maryland:

The first alternative is to rebuild most or all of I-81's interchanges, to address their deficiencies and improve their efficiency. The highway itself would not be widened.
The second alternative is to rebuild the interchanges and install additional collector-distributor lanes in the I-70 and Halfway Blvd. interchanges to remove weaving movements.
The third alternative is to rebuild the interchanges and widen the highway to six lanes in a 3-3 configuration, with full Interstate-grade shoulders.

No plans currently exist to construct any of these alternatives.

[edit] History

The first segment of I-81 to be started by the state of Maryland was the segment north of US 40, which was under construction by 1959 and completed by 1962. The southern segment, from US 40 to the state line, was begun in that year and eventually completed in the late 1960s, allowing through traffic to bypass Hagerstown and US 11.

This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it.

[edit] Trivia

I-81's length in Maryland (12.08 miles) is not only the shortest segment of two-digit Interstate in Maryland, but also the shortest segment of two-digit Interstate in any of the six states that the route passes through.