page_title: Maryland Route 355
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Maryland Route 355 / History
caption_attribution_description: English: View south along Maryland State Route 355 (Hungerford Drive) at Mannakee Lane in Rockville, Montgomery County, Maryland
context_page_description: Maryland Route 355 is a 36.75-mile north–south road in western central Maryland in the United States. The southern terminus of the route, Wisconsin Avenue, is located in the Bethesda CDP, at the Washington, D.C. border. It continues south into Washington, D.C. as Wisconsin Avenue NW. The northern terminus is just north of an overpass with Interstate 70 and U.S. Route 40 in the city of Frederick in Frederick County, where the road continues north as Market Street through Frederick towards MD 26.
  MD 355 serves as a major thoroughfare through Frederick and Montgomery counties, passing through Bethesda, Rockville, Gaithersburg, Germantown, Clarksburg, Hyattstown, Urbana, and Frederick, roughly parallel to I-270. The southern portion of the route from the D.C. border to Germantown is a suburban four–to–six–lane divided highway lined with many businesses. North of Germantown, the route is predominantly a two lane rural road until it reaches Frederick, where it passes through commercial areas in the southern part of the city.
context_section_description: The Rockville Pike portion of MD 355 dates back to colonial times and was used as an escape route from Washington during the War of 1812 as well as a route for settlers to travel from Montgomery County to developing areas north and west. In 1911, a small portion of state highway leading northwest out of Rockville was completed, with the remainder between Rockville and Gaithersburg under contract. A state highway was proposed between Gaithersburg and Germantown. The state road between Gaithersburg and Germantown was finished by 1915. By 1921, the portions of state highway between the Washington, D.C. border and Rockville, to the northwest of Germantown, and between northwest of Urbana and Frederick were completed. At this time, a state highway was proposed between northwest of Germantown and northwest of Urbana. The state road was completed between Germantown and Clarksburg and through Urbana to a point southeast of the community by 1923. The entire length of the state road connecting Washington, D.C. and Frederick was completed by 1927. In the approved plan for the U.S. Highway System in 1926, US 240 was planned to run from Washington, D.C. to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania via Frederick. In 1927, US 240 was designated along the proposed 1926 route south of US 15/US 40 in Frederick with the US 15 designation given to the road north of Frederick. In 1950, US 240 was widened into a divided highway between the Washington, D.C. border and Bethesda.
  In 1947, plans were made to construct a freeway, the Washington National Pike (now I-270), parallel to US 240. In 1953, the US 240 freeway was completed between MD 121 in Clarksburg and US 15 (now MD 85) in Frederick. The former alignment of US 240 between Clarksburg and Frederick was designated as US 240 Alt. A year later, the freeway was extended down to MD 118 in Germantown. At this time, the original alignment between Germantown and Frederick was designated MD 355, replacing what was US 240 between Germantown and Clarksburg and the entire length of US 240 Alt. between Clarksburg and Frederick. The US 240 freeway was extended south to MD 28 in Rockville in 1956, and MD 355 was subsequently extended south along the former alignment to the MD 28 intersection in Rockville. Also, the US 240 freeway was completed from US 15 north to US 40. In 1957, US 240 was upgraded to a divided highway between Bethesda and Rockville. The US 240 freeway was extended south to Montrose Road in 1958, resulting in MD 355 being extended south along the former alignment to Montrose Road. I-70S was designated onto the US 240 freeway in 1959. In addition, MD 355 was extended north to US 15 north of Frederick, passing through the city on Market Street, the one-way pair of Market Street northbound and Bentz Street southbound in the downtown area, and Market Street to the north of downtown. The route replaced US 15/US 240 south of downtown Fredrick and US 15 north of downtown Frederick, with US 15 shifted to a bypass west of the city. In 1960, I-70S/US 240 was extended south to the Capital Beltway, and MD 355 was extended south along former US 240 between Montrose Road and the Capital Beltway.
  In 1972, the American Association of State Highway Officials approved for the US 240 designation to be removed. As a result, MD 355 was extended south along the former US 240 alignment to the Washington, D.C. border. MD 355 was widened into a divided highway between Rockville and Gaithersburg in 1977. The divided highway was extended north from Gaithersburg to Germantown by 1997. In 2006, the northern terminus of MD 355 at the interchange with US 15 in Frederick was truncated to a dead end a short distance south of that route.  In 2009, the portion of MD 355 north of the I-70 overpass was transferred to the city of Frederick, with the MD 355 designation officially being removed from this stretch. In 2010, an interchange was completed at Montrose Parkway.
  In Frederick County, the two bridges which carry portions of MD 355 have been subject to infrastructure status concerns, and receive annual inspections, as part of the Feder
caption: MD 355 southbound in Rockville
exif: {"Image Make": "Apple", "Image Model": "iPhone X", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "11.2", "Image DateTime": "2019:06:19 15:12:58", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "204", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "N", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[39, 5, 1148/25]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "W", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[77, 9, 239/20]", "GPS GPSAltitudeRef": "0", "GPS GPSAltitude": "86095/597", "GPS GPSTimeStamp": "[19, 12, 58]", "GPS GPSSpeedRef": "K", "GPS GPSSpeed": "121/100", "GPS GPSImgDirectionRef": "T", "GPS GPSImgDirection": "46007/310", "GPS GPSDestBearingRef": "T", "GPS GPSDestBearing": "46007/310", "GPS GPSDate": "2019:06:19", "GPS Tag 0x001F": "10", "Image GPSInfo": "1746", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "2150", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "10443", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1621", "EXIF FNumber": "9/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "20", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2019:06:19 15:12:58", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2019:06:19 15:12:58", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "9255/868", "EXIF ApertureValue": "2159/1273", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "9659/971", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "4", "EXIF SubjectArea": "[2015, 1511, 2217, 1330]", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "612", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "612", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4032", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3024", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "28", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[4, 6, 9/5, 12/5]", "EXIF LensMake": "Apple", "EXIF LensModel": "iPhone X back dual camera 4mm f/1.8"}