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U.S. Route 40 east - East Baltimore to Delaware line
U.S. Route 40 east - East Baltimore to Delaware line
Just past its eastern interchange with the Interstate 695 Baltimore Beltway in Rosedale, U.S. Route 40, known here as Pulaski Highway, passes through the crowded Golden Ring retail complex. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
The route now approaches Rossville Boulevard, which serves interests to the Essex campus of the Community College of Baltimore County and to Franklin Square hospital. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Just further ahead, US 40 crosses over a CSX freight line, which from here on runs along the north side of the highway. Pulaski Highway lasts from east Baltimore at Orleans Street all the way to U.S. Route 13 in New Castle, Delaware. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
This is followed by a ramp to Maryland Route 700, Martin Boulevard toward Eastern Boulevard (MD 150) in Middle River and the same-name Martin State Airport. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
MD 700 crosses over here. Pulaski Highway has multiple trumpet interchanges at which state routes terminate; these formerly included ones at routes 43 in White Marsh and 715 in Aberdeen, both featured and explained below. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Maryland Route 43, White Marsh Boulevard, sits three miles ahead; it is posted this far in advance because it is an important link between White Marsh and Middle River, and is one of the more heavily-traveled access points to Interstate 95 from US 40. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
The posted speed limit is now 55 miles per hour. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Coming up is a traffic signal at Middle River Road. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Middle River Road serves some of the more residential areas of the same-name CDP. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
The Harford County communities of Joppatowne and Aberdeen respectively sit 8 and 19 miles away from this point. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
US 40 then intersects Campbell Boulevard, which exists in two discontinous segments - this one connecting with MD 43 right around the White Marsh/Middle River line. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
The highway now forges northeastward, with the speed limit still 55. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
As a bike lane opens up, a forthcoming intersection with Reames Road is announced - the State Highway Administration loves to post signs like this with no indication of intersection type or in which direction the road goes. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
MD 43's interchange sits half a mile ahead. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
As mentioned above, I-95 is a quick jaunt west on MD 43 - since the 2014 opening of the first stage of I-95's express toll lanes, it has been an elaborate eight-ramp interchange with separate offramps for both the express and regular lanes, and can be seen as a modified version of I-95's current Beltway interchange one exit to the south. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
The White Marsh Town Center can be reached via MD 43 west to Honeygo Boulevard, the first signal after I-95. Also in that hub is an MTA commuter lot - the webmaster rode an MTA bus from there to Camden Yards for a 2001 Baltimore Orioles game. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
"Next right...". Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Here is the ramp to MD 43 from eastbound US 40. A traffic signal sits at the end of the opposite-direction ramp (43 to 40). Known as White Marsh Boulevard, MD 43 links the areas of Parkville at I-695 and Middle River at MD 150, next to the Martin Airport station. MD 43's eastern terminus was once here; the Middle River extension opened in the fall of 2006. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Each carriageway of MD 43 crosses US 40 here. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
The Hammerman area of Gunpowder Falls State Park is next right, on Ebenezer Road to Graces Quarters Road in the Chase area. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
An all-Harford County mileage sign follows the Ebenezer light - Joppatowne, Edgewood and Aberdeen are 5, 9 and 17 miles away. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Stevens Road is the next intersection on tap; it is a short connector which, via a right turn in this direction, leads to Days Cove. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Allender Road sits just beyond. This sign is situated across from the busy White Marsh Truck Stop. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
The Allender light. A left turn here leads you to a fork in the road at which you can either connect with what becomes Forge Road to reach U.S. Route 1 on the north side of Perry Hall, or bear right onto the remainder of Allender toward Maryland Route 7. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
US 40 reassurance follows. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Days Cove Road represents US 40's final traffic signal in Baltimore County; it leads to Loreley Road as well as the White Marsh facility of the Baltimore County landfill. Reports of Harford County's Scarboro landfill being shuttered and consolidated with the White Marsh landfill in the mid-2010s amounted to nothing. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
The Days Cove light, one of Maryland's newer-styled traffic signals. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Joppatowne and Aberdeen are now 4 and 15 miles ahead, Joppatowne's center via one county road. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Roadwork was being done on each Gunpowder Falls bridge at the time of these photos. This one is located amid US 40's downhill approach to the Baltimore-Harford county line. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
This particular work zone speed limit, on approach to the Big Gunpowder Falls bridge, is 50 miles per hour. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
At the Big Gunpowder bridge, one lane in each direction of the highway was blocked off by a concrete barrier as part of the roadwork. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
This is followed by a lane shift as more work lies just ahead. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Past this work area - at the Little Gunpowder Falls bridge, which marks US 40's entry into Harford County - movements return to normal. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
These usually-broken lane lines, next to the Joppa Market Place shopping center, are temporarily painted solid owing to this segment of US 40's construction zone status. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
US 40's first traffic signal in Harford County is at Joppa Farm Road - a right turn here takes you into Joppatowne, a post-World War II bedroom community whose development increased following the emergence of Columbia to the southwest. "Joppa" and "Joppatowne" are often used interchangeably locally, but "Joppatowne" more specifically refers to that residential area, whereas "Joppa" more accurately comprises the rural areas to the north of it, and is the mailing address for the ZIP code, 21085, which covers both areas. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Past Joppa Farm, the highway climbs slightly uphill and curves rightward, as a landscaped, stone-edged median appears. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Joppa Road, not to be confused with the same-name Baltimore County thoroughfare, follows; at that intersection is a displaced Sheetz station. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Following that light, the median becomes a more narrow, traditional concrete one. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
The route intersects Maryland Route 152 - Magnolia Road to the right, and Mountain Road left - just ahead. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
A different area of the Gunpowder Falls State Park, this one the Jerusalem Village and accompanying recreation fields, can be reached through MD 152 northbound. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
MD 152 north leads to I-95, toward US 1 and the Fallston area. On the near-right corner of the intersection going in this direction sits what is now a location of Hip Hop Fish and Chicken, a popular urban local food spot in the Baltimore metro. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Just past that intersection, US 40 transitions from Joppa into Edgewood, and the southern precinct of the Harford County Sheriff's Office sits to the right. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Woodbridge Center Way and Business Center Way intersect ahead, at the bottom of a preceding hill. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Meanwhile, a junction with Maryland Route 755, which leads into the designated center of Edgewood, is a mile ahead, Aberdeen 9 miles and, in its first inclusion on a sign, Philadelphia is indirectly a 78-mile drive away. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Woodbridge Center Way leads to the shopping center of the same name, which has been without a proper anchor since the 2015 closure of the Mars grocery store. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
The next signal serves Paul Martin Drive and Tree Top Drive - two residential streets, the former leading into the Harford Village mobile home park, not affiliated with the two apartment complexes on the north side of Bel Air. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
The light in question. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Next up is Edgewood Road. The northern terminus of Maryland Route 755 is at that intersection; it leads south toward the center of Edgewood, the Edgewood MARC train station, and the Aberdeen Proving Ground's Edgewood Arsenal. It is also one of two ways to get to Maryland Route 24, which leads south toward the Arsenal and north to Harford County seat Bel Air; there is also a separate ramp from US 40 to MD 24 on the other side of MD 24's crossing of US 40. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Past the MD 24 overpass and light, US 40 crosses over the Otter Point Creek. Just upstream, it becomes known as Haha Branch. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Traffic coming from MD 24 merges onto eastbound US 40 to the left. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Now leaving Edgewood, US 40 intersections Maryland routes 7 and 159 in six miles; downtown Aberdeen is seven miles away, and Philadelphia 76 miles via US 13, I-495 and I-95. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
The next traffic light is at West Shore Drive. US 40 is now headed toward the southern fringe of Abingdon and toward Belcamp-Riverside. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
US 40's speed limit is once again 55 miles per hour, and it goes slightly downhill, with the tidal portion of Otter Point Creek right next to the eastbound lanes. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
The highway passes through a heavily-wooded area, dipping downward and back upward. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
After climbing uphill, the highway has a light at Abingdon Road northbound and Otter Point Road southbound; the latter leads to the Anita C. Leight Estuary Center. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Past that light, Searay Court branches off here to the right, while B&O Road on the other side leads back to Abingdon Road. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
The highway then intersects Long Bar Harbor Road, leading to the Bush River Yacht Club, at this traffic light. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
US 40 intersects Maryland Route 543, Riverside Parkway leading north to Interstate 95, a mile ahead. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Before MD 543, US 40 has a traffic signal at Bata Boulevard, which once led to a now-demolished branch of the Bata shoe company, and now serves the Water's Edge Corporate Campus. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
The MD 543 light is just ahead. MD 543 crosses over US 40 here and then loops back around to intersect US 40, that intersection being its northern terminus. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Right-turning traffic onto MD 543 north has its own turn lane prior to the light. MD 543 heads north through the community of Belcamp, alternately Riverside, and passes to the east of Bel Air, through Hickory and ending at MD 165 in Pylesville in Harford County's rural northern region. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Traffic coming from MD 543 south merges onto US 40 east as US 40 reassurance is provided. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
The Maryland route 7/159 junction is two miles away, Maryland Route 715 leading to Aberdeen Proving Ground's main gate is half a mile past that and downtown Aberdeen is three miles' drive from this sign. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
US 40 has crossed Grays Run, a notable basin for perch and bass fishing in Harford County, and is approaching the Aberdeen hub. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Spesutia Road intersects US 40 at a traffic signal in the distance; it leads to MD 159. While MD 159 accomodates large trucks due to the many deliveries taking place along that corridor, Spesutia Road does not, so delivery drivers must remain on US 40 to MD 159 and cannot take the shortcut provided by Spesutia to conventional vehicles. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
US 40 next has a crossroads with Loflin Road to the left and Old Stepney Road to the right. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Old Stepney intersects the highway in the foreground. It was realigned here in late 2020 due to warehouse construction. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
As it approaches the MD 7/159 intersection, US 40 eastbound gains a third lane. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
A look at the MD 7/159 traffic signal mast. Both directions are billed as Old Philadelphia Road. This is the east end of the main segment of MD 7, which begins at US 40 at the Baltimore city/county line, while MD 159 heads east to a roundabout, then south toward Perryman's warehouse corridor and dead-ending at the Bush River. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
US 40 now approaches its interchange with Maryland Route 715, known as Short Lane and heading into APG. The interchange was expanded in 2010 in light of population and thus traffic increases in the area. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Heading north a short distance from the interchange leads to Hickory Drive and an industrial park. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
The right two lanes now disappear from US 40 east to become the ramp to MD 715. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
MD 715 crosses over US 40 just ahead, with the ramp from US 40 east at right. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Now fully entering Aberdeen, US 40 encounters a traffic light serving a Walmart store to the right and a scattering of other businesses at left. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Past the Walmart light, US 40's right shoulder widens and a left turn lane is also present The speed limit has also dropped from 55 to 40, and Old Philadelphia Road prepares to encounter the highway again. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
US 40 then curves leftward as it nears downtown Aberdeen. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
The speed limit has further dropped to 30, and US 40 now approaches its intersection with Maryland Route 132, West Bel Air Avenue leading into Aberdeen's center. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
The entrance to Aberdeen's MARC and Amtrak station, located along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, is accessible from right just before the traffic signal. The Northeast Corridor will spent the next few miles paralleling US 40. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
MD 132 heads west from the light as West Bel Air Avenue, traversing downtown Aberdeen, while a right turn here puts one on APG Road toward the city's Swan Meadows section and a disused APG gate. Bel Air Avenue was a continuous street through Aberdeen before being severed in 1982 by the construction of a pedestrian bridge as well as APG Road's bridge over the train tracks. Photo taken 01-06-2022.
Speed limit still 30, US 40 pushes through the east side of Aberdeen, its median now lined with bricks and bushes. Photo taken 06-27-2022.
Ripken Stadium, home of minor league baseball's Aberdeen IronBirds formerly owned by Orioles great Cal Ripken Jr. on Aberdeen's north side, can be reached via an approaching pair of left turns onto Maryland Route 22 west and about two and a half miles to Long Drive. Photo taken 06-27-2022.
US 40 has now reached MD 22 at an unconventional interchange, in that movements between US 40 southwest of MD 22 and MD 22 west of US 40 are facilitated by a small portion of Rogers Street and a short pair of connector lanes. MD 22 eastbound toward APG has its own ramp from US 40 just ahead, but it is also possible for drivers to make that movement using the designated ramps for MD 22 west. The path from US 40 west to MD 22 east forms a cloverleaf ramp functionally, but not physically. Photo taken 06-27-2022.