Maryland Route 256

Maryland Route 256 marker

Maryland Route 256

Maryland Route 256 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MDSHA
Length: 5.28 mi[1] (8.50 km)
Existed: 1927 – present
Major junctions
West end: MD 2 at Tracys Landing
  MD 258 in Deale
East end: MD 468 in Shady Side
Location
Counties: Anne Arundel
Highway system
← MD 255MD 257 →

Maryland Route 256 (MD 256) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The highway runs 5.28 miles (8.50 km) from MD 2 at Tracys Landing east to MD 468 in Shady Side. MD 256 connects the aforementioned communities with Deale on the shore of Herring Bay in southern Anne Arundel County. The highway was constructed at either end in the mid-1920s and completed through Deale in the early 1930s.

Route description

MD 256 begins at an intersection with MD 2 (Solomons Island Road) at Tracys Landing. The state highway heads east as two-lane Deale Road past Traceys Elementary School and Deale-Traceys Park. MD 256 enters the community of Deale, which features several marinas. The highway crosses Tracys Creek and curves north, then makes a right-angle turn east at Rockhold Creek Road and crosses Rockhold Creek. In the center of Deale, at Masons Beach Road, MD 256 turns north onto Deale Churchton Road. The highway meets the eastern end of MD 258 (Bay Front Road) at a roundabout. MD 256 continues through the hamlet of Churchton, where Franklin Manor Road splits east toward Franklin Manor-on-the-Bay. The state highway reaches its eastern terminus at MD 468 in Shady Side. That highway heads west as Muddy Creek Road toward Galesville and east as Shady Side Road into the center of the namesake community.[1][2]

History

The first segment of MD 256 was constructed as a 15-foot (4.6 m) wide gravel road from MD 2 east to the hamlet of Nutwell west of Deale, near the intersection with Franklin Gibson Road, in 1923.[3][4] A second segment of MD 256 was constructed as a gravel road of the same width from MD 255 (now MD 468) in Shady Side south through Churchton to Swamp Circle Road north of the center of Deale in 1926.[4][5] The gap through Deale was filled in 1932 and 1933.[6][7] By 1934, traffic was dense enough on the Deale–Shady Side road that the Maryland State Roads Commission recommended the highway be expanded from 15 to 20 feet (4.6 to 6.1 m) in width.[7] The roundabout at MD 256's junction with MD 258 was installed in 2007.[8]

Junction list

The entire route is in Anne Arundel County.

Locationmi
[1]		kmDestinationsNotes
Tracys Landing0.000.00 MD 2 (Solomons Island Road) – Annapolis, Prince FrederickWestern terminus
Deale3.515.65 MD 258 west (Bay Front Road) – BristolRoundabout
Shady Side5.288.50 MD 468 (Muddy Creek Road/Shady Side Road) – GalesvilleEastern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Highway Information Services Division (December 31, 2013). Highway Location Reference. Maryland State Highway Administration. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  2. ↑ Google (2013-01-06). "Maryland Route 256" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2013-01-06.
  3. ↑ Maryland Geological Survey (1923). Map of Maryland: Showing State Road System and State Aid Roads (Map). Baltimore: Maryland Geological Survey.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Mackall, John N.; Darnall, R. Bennett; Brown, W.W. (January 1927). "Annual Reports of the State Roads Commission of Maryland" (1924–1926 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. pp. 37, 66. Retrieved 2013-01-06.
  5. ↑ Maryland Geological Survey (1933). Map of Maryland Showing State Road System: State Aid Roads and Improved County Road Connections (Map). Baltimore: Maryland Geological Survey.
  6. ↑ Maryland Geological Survey (1933). Map of Maryland Showing State Road System: State Aid Roads and Improved County Road Connections (Map). Baltimore: Maryland Geological Survey.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Byron, William D.; Lacy, Robert (December 28, 1934). "Report of the State Roads Commission of Maryland" (1931–1934 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. pp. 22, 318. Retrieved 2013-01-06.
  8. ↑ Highway Information Services Division (December 31, 2007). Highway Location Reference. Maryland State Highway Administration. Retrieved 2013-01-06.

External links

Route map: Bing