Interstate 97

The first modern highway along the path of what is now I-97 followed the corridor from New Cut Road to south of the intersection of MD 178 and Veterans Highway at Dorrs Corner. This highway was intended as a second route from Glen Burnie to Annapolis to complement the highway along the east side of the Severn River; this western route later became known as General's Highway, a name still applied to its MD 178 portion.[7][8] Construction of this highway was underway by 1919.[7] The new highway was completed as a gravel road from New Cut Road to north of Benfield and as a concrete road through Benfield and across Severn Run to near Dorrs Corner by 1921.[9] In 1922, this highway was designated part of Robert Crain Highway, a new highway to connect the Baltimore area with Southern Maryland.[10] The Glen Burnie–Dorrs Corner portion of the new highway was reconstructed and completed as a concrete road from Glen Burnie south through Millersville by 1923.[11] Robert Crain Highway became part of MD 3 in 1927 and then US 301 in 1939 when the U.S. Highway was extended from Virginia to Baltimore.[12][13] MD 3 was reconstructed in 1933 and 1934.[8] The reconstruction eliminated several dangerous curves, particularly near Severn Run, and expanded the highway from a width of 15 to 20 feet (4.6 to 6.1 m).[8] Veterans Highway follows much of that early 1930s course.[14]

View south along I-97 from Wellham Avenue in Ferndale

The next portion of I-97 predecessor highway was built as the four-lane Glen Burnie Bypass from Robert Crain Highway and New Cut Road north to the Baltimore Beltway. Construction on the four-lane freeway began in August 1954 with construction of several bridges over or for the highway; these bridges were completed in 1955 and 1956.[15] The dual roadways and interchange ramps from the southern end of the bypass to MD 648 were constructed starting in March 1955; the concrete-surfaced highway was completed in February 1957. The northernmost portion of the bypass, including the adjacent portion of the Baltimore Beltway, was constructed between December 1955 and September 1957.[16] US 301 was moved onto the bypass and the adjacent portion of the Beltway when the projects were completed in 1957.[17] The small portion of I-97 north of the Beltway was added to the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel project as a direct connection between the Glen Burnie Bypass and the Harbor Tunnel Thruway's southern approach from MD 2 in 1955.[18] This segment was completed and opened with the tunnel and its approach highways in November 1957.[19] The Glen Burnie Bypass was constructed with five interchanges: a partial cloverleaf interchange at MD 3 Business and New Cut Road; a tighter four-ramp partial cloverleaf interchange at MD 174; a diamond interchange at MD 176; the current four-ramp partial cloverleaf interchange at MD 648; and a half-cloverleaf interchange at I-695 allowing full access between the Glen Burnie Bypass and Beltway but no access between the Beltway and the Harbor Tunnel Thruway.[20]

US 301 was expanded to a divided highway from the southern end of the Glen Burnie Bypass to Benfield in 1956 and 1957. The highway's second set of lanes, including a new bridge across Severn Run, was constructed and the existing roadway was reconstructed from Benfield to Millersville between 1957 and 1960.[16] The second set of lanes was built on the west side of what became a very wide median, which allowed businesses to site themselves in the median between the northbound and southbound lanes.[21] During construction of the Benfield–Millersville stretch, US 301 was relocated to its present course from Bowie to the Eastern Shore and replaced with MD 3.[22] A pair of ramps between the Glen Burnie Bypass and MD 177's freeway southern bypass of Glen Burnie (now MD 100) were constructed between 1963 and 1965.[16] The first section of highway south of Dorrs Corner was built between 1969 and 1972 as a two-lane segment of MD 32 from east of Odenton to MD 178 in Crownsville.[16][23] The highway used what are now the ramps of I-97's partial interchange with MD 178 and had a five-ramp interchange with MD 3 in Millersville that lacked access from northbound MD 3 to eastbound MD 32 and from westbound MD 32 to southbound MD 3.[24]

I-97 northbound at the MD 100 interchange in Glen Burnie

Despite the existence or upcoming construction of two divided highway corridors between Baltimore and Annapolis, a freeway connecting I-695 and US 50 was proposed as early as 1956 in the form of the Arundel Expressway, which would relieve congestion on MD 2.[25] The portion of the Arundel Expressway that is today MD 10 was constructed from I-695 to MD 648 in Pasadena between 1970 and 1978.[2] MD 10 was proposed to continued south of Pasadena as a toll road to US 50, but the section of the freeway south of MD 100 was removed from state plans by 1975.[26][27] MD 10 was completed to its present end in Pasadena in 1991.[25] The state of Maryland unsuccessfully petitioned the Federal Highway Administration for an Interstate designation for a Baltimore–Annapolis freeway after passage of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968. However, the state was successful in obtaining Interstate mileage for the Baltimore–Annapolis corridor through the 1968 Howard–Cramer amendment, which provided for minor adjustments to the Interstate System if no additional costs were incurred.[28] Much of the mileage of what became I-97 was reallocated from canceled Interstate Highways in Baltimore and the Washington area.[29]

With Interstate funding assured, MDSHA commissioned the Baltimore–Annapolis Transportation Corridor Study in 1973 to figure out, among other things, the best route for the Baltimore–Annapolis Interstate.[30] The study discovered a western route following the MD 3 and MD 178 corridors would be less disruptive and require fewer acquisitions of homes and businesses compared to an extension of the Arundel Expressway south along the MD 2 corridor.[31] In June 1979, MDSHA announced plans for I-97.[2] The original route numbering plan, which was approved by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) at its November 1975 meeting, was for I-97 to include its current route plus US 50 from Parole west to I-95 (Capital Beltway). That proposal included two auxiliary Interstate highways. I-197 would follow US 50 and US 301 east from I-97 to just west of the Severn River.[32] I-297 would follow MD 3 between a pair of intersections with I-97 in Millersville and Bowie.[29][32] AASHTO rescinded its approval of the 1975 plan at its June 1981 meeting, then approved what was essentially the original 1975 plan at its June 1982 meeting.[33][34] The east–west segment of I-97 and I-197 was replaced by I-68.[34] I-297 was withdrawn by request of the state of Maryland in 1983.[29] The 1982 concept of I-68 became unsigned I-595 and I-68 was applied to the National Freeway in Western Maryland in 1991 after AASHTO approved the new designations at its June 1989 meeting.[29][35]

The first portion of I-97 proper to be constructed was the section south of Millersville, which was placed under construction in three sections in March 1985.[36][4] The first section of the highway, from US 50 and US 301 to Millersville Road west of the MD 178 interchange, opened in December 1987.[2] Construction of I-97 from Millersville Road to the intersection of MD 3 and MD 178 at Dorrs Corner started in July 1987.[36] The Interstate through Millersville opened in April 1989.[2] The interchange at I-97's southern terminus was originally constructed as a partial interchange, with I-97 tying into what are now the collector-distributor lanes of US 50 and US 301.[37][38] The ramps from eastbound US 50 and US 301 to I-97 and from I-97 to the westbound U.S. Highways were added during the reconstruction of US 50 and US 301 in 1992 and 1993.[39][40]

Reconstruction of the MD 3 divided highway and the Glen Burnie Bypass was a complex operation that involved many temporary openings, lane shifts, construction of new roadways, and reconstruction of existing roadways over several phases over several years.[2] The first improvement was the reconstruction of the I-695 interchange between 1987 and 1991.[36][41] The modern ramps from I-97 to westbound I-695 and from eastbound I-695 to I-97 were built, eastbound I-695's ramp over these two ramps was constructed, and the loop ramp from I-97 to westbound I-695 was removed.[41] I-97 from its interchange with MD 648 to the new Beltway ramps was reconstructed to Interstate Highway standards and expanded to six lanes between May 1993 and August 1995.[39][42][43] Part of the functionality of the loop ramp to westbound I-695 was restored in October 1995 when another ramp from the Harbor Tunnel Thruway approach to westbound I-695 was added to allow access from I-97 to MD 648.[44]

I-97 northbound in Severna Park

Reconstruction of the MD 3 divided highway from Millersville to MD 3 Business began in 1987 over two sections. The first section, from north of MD 3 Business to north of Benfield Boulevard, began in 1987.[36] The work included the construction of the flyover ramp from northbound I-97 to Veterans Highway just south of MD 3 Business.[37][41] The section from north of Benfield Boulevard to MD 178 at Dorrs Corner was reconstructed starting in 1989.[36] The second section included construction of the Benfield Boulevard interchange.[37][41] The southbound MD 3 roadway was rebuilt in place as the southbound lanes of I-97. New northbound lanes were built immediately to the east of the southbound lanes.[37][41] In February 1991, the new northbound lanes opened and access from I-97 to Veterans Highway was removed at Dorrs Corner.[45] The old northbound lanes were reconstructed and re-purposed as a two-lane road, Veterans Highway, later that year.[41][45] Anne Arundel County agreed to accept Veterans Highway for maintenance after the I-97–related construction concluded in a road transfer agreement on July 21, 1988.[46] MD 3 was truncated at Millersville after I-97 opened in October 1991; signage for MD 3 on I-695 was removed by 1993.[41][46][47]

Before reconstruction of the Glen Burnie Bypass from MD 3 Business to MD 648 began in November 1993, the Stewart Avenue bridge across the Interstate just south of the MD 100 interchange was replaced and ramps from northbound I-97 to eastbound MD 100 and from westbound MD 100 to southbound I-97 were added between 1990 and 1992.[48] The freeway was reconstructed to Interstate standards in three sections.[39] The middle section from MD 174 to MD 176 was reconstructed concurrently with the segment of MD 100 west from I-97 to MD 295 starting in 1993.[39] That segment of MD 100, including the MD 100–I-97 interchange, opened in November 1996, and the reconstruction of the middle section of I-97 was finished in July 1997.[49][50] The sections of I-97 from MD 3 Business to MD 174 and from MD 176 to MD 648 and were reconstructed starting in January 1994.[39] The MD 176–MD 648 roadway section was completed in March 1996. [51] The northern half of the MD 176 interchange was reconstructed as part of the latter project. The new loop ramp from northbound I-97 to westbound MD 176 and the new ramp from MD 176 to northbound I-97 were completed in 1995.[52] The ramp from southbound I-97 to MD 176 was removed during the widening project.[50] The pair of ramps between southbound I-97 and MD 162 to replace the removed ramp were constructed between 1996 and 1998.[39][50][53] The final piece of construction on I-97 was the reconstruction of its interchange with MD 174, which began in 2002 and concluded in 2005.[39][54][55]