Interstate 170 (Maryland)

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Interstate 170 Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System
Maintained by Baltimore Department of Public Works[1]
Length:	2.3 mi (3.7 km) extrapolated from cancellation info[2]
Existed:	1969 – 1983
West end:	I-70 at Gwynns Falls Park
Major junctions:	US 1
East end:	US 40 at MLK Blvd.
Highways in Maryland < MD 169 MD 170 > State highways - Minor - Former - Turnpikes

Interstate 170 (abbreviated I-170) is the former designation for a 1.39-mile freeway in Baltimore, Maryland, that is now designated as part of US 40. The highway was originally envisioned as the eastern terminus of the Maryland portion of Interstate 70, a major transcontinental route, and was later envisioned as a direct link between the Interstate and the western edge of the central business district of Baltimore. However, with the loss of Interstate 70 in Baltimore, the route was deleted as an Interstate.

[edit] Route description

Ten streets cross over the former I-170 on either roadway or footpath bridges. In west-to-east order, they are: Monroe Street (US 1 South), Fulton Avenue (US 1 North), Mount Street, Gilmor Street, Stricker Street, Calhoun Street, Carey Street, Carrollton Avenue, Arlington Avenue and Schroeder Street. Only Stricker and Carrollton use the footpath bridges, thus rendering them discontinuous. Where the freeway emerges from below street level, three more streets run discontinuously (i.e. they do not cross the freeway at all, nor do they exist between Mulberry and Franklin): Payson Street at the western end; and Poppleton and Fremont Streets at the eastern end.

A notable feature exists at the former I-170's western end facing Pulaski Street. Two ramp stubs would have connected the freeway to U.S. Route 1 (Monroe Street/Fulton Avenue), as well as US 40, which was routed on Mulberry and Franklin Streets at the time of I-170's completion. The freeway itself would have continued westward onto a rather long viaduct and eventually paralleled a series of railroad tracks that are currently used for commuter and Amtrak long-distance rail service. A mural has been painted onto the wall that would have been the eastern end of the unbuilt viaduct. The unused section of I-170 is marked by unlit streetlights and two sign bridges. The westbound sign bridge is empty, but the one on the vacant eastbound exit ramp has signs for Monroe Street and Fulton Avenue (both part of US 1).

The freeway does not have an official name^[1] (like the Jones Falls Expressway for Interstate 83 and the Baltimore Beltway for Interstate 695). A few maps of the city label the freeway as "Pierce Street",^{[citation needed]} which is actually an alley-style street located entirely within the downtown area that runs between Mulberry and Franklin Streets. Officially, since 1983, it has merely been a portion of US 40.

[edit] History

Under the proposed routing of the Interstate highways through Baltimore, Interstate 70 would have been routed through West Baltimore to join Interstate 95, and Interstate 170 would have been a spur from Interstate 70 into central Baltimore. However, the spur was left stranded from the rest of the interstate system by the cancellation of Interstate 70 within the city limits of Baltimore.

[edit] Planning

Several proposals were made during the 1940s and 1950s for an East-West Expressway through Baltimore. After nine different proposals were floated, in 1960 the city's Department of Planning published a proposal of its own. The route in the proposal would have begun in the western edge of the city, passing through Leakin Park and Gwynns Falls Park. It would have then curved south in the direction of Edmonson Avenue, then turned east and followed the Franklin St.-Mulberry St. corridor. It would have then curved south into the Pratt St. corridor and crossed the city to the north of the Inner Harbor on an elevated viaduct within the central business district, junctioning I-83 and I-95 in the southeast edge of the CBD. This routing was eventually further refined and modified and eventually became part of the Baltimore 10-D Interstate System, approved in 1962.^[3]

By 1969, the Design Concept Team, a multi-discipline group assembled in 1966 by the city government to help design freeway routings that would not disrupt the city's fabric, had replaced the 10-D System with the Baltimore 3-A Interstate and Boulevard System. In the 3-A system, I-170 was brought into existence, and was planned as a freeway spur from I-70 through the Franklin St.-Mulberry St. corridor formerly followed by the East-West Expressway to the west edge of the central business district, connecting to a new route named Harbor City Boulevard (now known as Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard). The 3-A System's result was that I-170 would provide direct access to the central business district.^[3] Curiously, I-170's three-way semi-directional interchange with I-70 was planned to be partially integrated with I-70's interchange with Hilton Parkway; diagrams of the interchange show that the ramp from eastbound I-70 to eastbound I-170 would have diverged within the latter interchange and run alongside I-70's eastbound carriageway to the western terminus of I-170, where it would diverge.^[4]

[edit] Construction

Construction began on I-170 in 1975 and was finished in 1979. The completed section runs mainly below street level, rising above it at both ends. The wide median space was originally reserved for a once-proposed branch of the Baltimore Metro Subway system; this rail line was never built, but current plans for the Red Line, a proposed light rail or bus rapid transit corridor to be built by 2012, makes use of the median.

[edit] Cancellation

I-170's future was left in doubt after extended protest from environmental groups led to the cancellation of the segment of Interstate 70 between Security Boulevard (Exit 94) and I-170 (future Exit 96^{[citation needed]}) on September 3, 1981. As a result of this cancellation, it was proposed to connect the existing I-170 to I-95 via the southern portion of the original proposed I-70 expansion, with the entire spur redesignated Interstate 595; however, this segment was canceled on July 22, 1983 in the face of further opposition.^[5] "Interstate 595" was later assigned to a different highway in Maryland (it now exists as a secret route for US 50 between the Capital Beltway and Annapolis). With I-170's connection to the Interstate system removed, it was promptly deleted. US 40 was rerouted onto the stub freeway in its place.

[edit] Exit list

Had I-170 been completed in its entirety, it would have run as follows from I-70:

Mile	Destinations	Notes
0.00	Interstate 70 west - Ellicott City, Frederick (to I-695)	western terminus of
0.00	Interstate 70 east - Washington D.C., New York City (to I-95)
0.90	US 1 / N. Monroe St.-N. Fulton Ave. / US 40 / W. Franklin St.-W. Mulberry St.	originally followed Franklin St. (west) and Mulberry St. (east)
2.16	Martin Luther King Blvd. - to US 1 and I-395	eastbound exit and westbound entrance
2.30	US 40 / W. Franklin St.-W. Mulberry St. / N. Greene St. (south) - to MD 295	eastbound exit and westbound entrance; eastern terminus of

[edit] Miscellanea

• Near the former I-170's eastern end, signs on Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard show a faded imprint of an Interstate shield, where "I-170" was once displayed.
• Various proposals for the isolated highway stub have been floated: in addition to the proposed use of its public transit right of way, it has also been suggested that the road be dismantled, with land filled for new homes to replace the ones that had been demolished for the freeway's construction.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• I-170 @ MDRoads.com
• Monumental City.net: The Ghosts of Baltimore
• AARoadtrips.com: Terminated Interstate 170
• Good map of the existing and proposed aspects of Baltimore's highway systems

v • d • e Auxiliary routes of Interstate 70 Colorado: 270 • 470 (former) — Kansas: 470 • 670 — Missouri: 170 • 270 • 470 • 670 — Illinois: 270 — Ohio: 270 • 470 • 670 — West Virginia: 470 — Maryland: 170 (former) • 270 • 370