Baltimore-Washington Parkway Widening Feasibility Study

House Report 110-238 which accompanied the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008, directed the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Federal Lands Highways to work with the National Park Service (NPS) and the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) to examine the feasibility of “adding a third northbound and a third southbound travel lane for Maryland Route 295/Baltimore Washington Parkway from the intersection with Interstate 695 to New York Avenue in the District of Columbia.” The FY 2008 House Report also directed that the study “include an assessment of the impact of the Base Realignment and Closure process on traffic throughout the Maryland Route 295 corridor between Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C.” Funding for the conduct of this feasibility study was identified in House Report 111-366, which accompanied the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 (Public Law 111-117) which included the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010. Opened in 1954, the Baltimore-Washington (B-W) Parkway is a 29-mile scenic highway that connects Baltimore, Maryland, with Washington, DC. Within the study area, the B-W Parkway is divided into two distinct sections. The NPS owns and operates a 19-mile section to the south between MD 175 and the New York Avenue/U.S. Route 50 split at the Prince George’s County/District of Columbia border. The Maryland SHA owns and operates a 10-mile section of the B-W Parkway between I-695 and MD 175. The B-W Parkway was legislated by Congress in 1950 as an extension of the park system of the District of Columbia, to be managed by the NPS. Additionally, this protected parkway was to link key regional defense facilities including Fort George G. Meade. In 1991, in recognition of its historical importance and cultural significance as an element of the Parkways of the National Capital Region, the B-W Parkway was designated as an Historic District and listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). To help determine the feasibility of widening the Parkway, the following factors were assessed: traffic and transportation, physical constraints, preliminary capital cost estimates, environmental analysis and effects, public and political considerations, and facility ownership and management. Additionally, the study considered the potential impairment of the B-W Parkway, as impairment of the Parkway could change the ownership and management of the facility.

• Record URL:
  • https://highways.dot.gov/sites/fhwa.dot.gov/files/docs/federal-lands/flpp/transportation-studies/28491/bwp-supporting-documentation.pdf
• Record URL:
  • https://highways.dot.gov/sites/fhwa.dot.gov/files/docs/federal-lands/programs/federal-lands-planning-program/8451/bwp-full-report.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • The appendices are presented in a separate document as Supporting Technical Documentation (522p).
• Corporate Authors:

  National Park Service

  1201 I Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20005

  Maryland State Highway Administration

  707 North Calvert Street
  Baltimore, MD  United States  21202

  Federal Highway Administration

  Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division, 21400 Ridgetop Circle
  Sterling, VA  United States  22170
• Publication Date: 2012-11

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Maps; Photos; Tables;
• Pagination: 82p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cost estimating; Environmental impacts; Feasibility analysis; Impact studies; Management; Ownership; Pavement widening; Political factors
• Identifier Terms: Baltimore-Washington Parkway; National Register of Historic Places
• Subject Areas: Highways; Planning and Forecasting;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01889279
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, ATRI, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jul 29 2023 4:29PM