Maryland Route 444

Maryland Route 444 (MD 444) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The highway runs 7.29 miles (11.73 km) from MD 290 in Chesterville north to Belchester Road in Kentmore Park. MD 444 connects Chesterville and Kentmore Park with MD 213 at Locust Grove in northern Kent County. The highway was constructed south from Locust Grove in the early 1930s and extended north to Kentmore Park in the early 1940s. MD 444 bypassed Locust Grove in the late 1960s. The portion of the highway south of Locust Grove was removed from state control in the late 1980s but returned with an extension to Chesterville in the early 1990s.

Maryland Route 444
Maryland Route 444 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MDSHA
Length7.29 mi[1] (11.73 km)
Existed1933–present
Major junctions
South end MD 290 in Chesterville
  MD 213 at Locust Grove
North endBelchester Road in Kentmore Park
Location
CountiesKent
Highway system
← MD 440→ MD 445

Route description
View south along MD 444 at MD 213 in Locust Grove

MD 444 begins at an intersection with MD 290 (Chesterville Road) next to the Chesterville Brick House in Chesterville. The roadway continues as county-maintained Chesterville Bridge Road on the east side of MD 290. MD 444, which is named Locust Grove Road, heads west as a two-lane undivided road to an intersection with Morgnec Road then veers north. The highway has a grade crossing of the Chestertown Branch of the Northern Line of the Maryland and Delaware Railroad before reaching MD 213 near Locust Grove. MD 444 continues north as Kentmore Park Road and immediately intersects Shallcross Wharf Road, which is unsigned MD 449 west of the intersection, and Old Locust Grove Road. MD 444 continues north to the small beach community of Kentmore Park on the Sassafras River. The state highway reaches its northern terminus north of Riverside Avenue where the road curves northeast as county-maintained Belchester Road.[1][2]

History

The first section of MD 444 was constructed between 1930 and 1933 as a concrete road from US 213 in Locust Grove, which is now the intersection of MD 444 and MD 449, south to the Blacks railroad crossing.[3][4] That segment was one of several state highways whose construction as 9-and-16-foot-wide (2.7 and 4.9 m) concrete roads was partially funded by a $900,000 Kent County bond issue in 1929.[5] The highway from the center of Locust Grove, at the intersection of Shallcross Wharf Road and Old Locust Grove Road, north to Kentmore Park was improved in 1939 and brought into the state highway system as a northward extension of MD 444 in 1942.[6][7] Thus, the highway made two turns in Locust Grove on either side of its concurrency with US 213 along what is now Shallcross Wharf Road.[8] The concurrent section along Shallcross Wharf Road had been planned as part of the original Chestertown–Galena highway proposed for improvement as a state road in 1909.[9] This section was built as a 14-foot-wide (4.3 m) macadam road in 1912; the state road east from Locust Grove had been built as a 12-foot-wide (3.7 m) macadam road in 1913.[10]

After US 213's bypass of Locust Grove was built in 1950 and 1951, the old path of US 213 through Locust Grove became part of MD 444, with the eastern section being a spur of the main route, resulting in a T-intersection with MD 444 heading three directions in the center of Locust Grove.[11][12][13] MD 444's present course on the west side of Locust Grove was built in 1968; the highway north to Kentmore Park was resurfaced with bituminous concrete the same year.[11] Shallcross Wharf Road on both sides of MD 444 became MD 449, and Old Locust Grove Road from its junction with the MD 444 bypass east to US 213 became MD 447.[14] The portion of MD 444 from MD 213 south to the railroad crossing at Blacks was resurfaced with bituminous concrete in 1984.[15] Three years later, that portion of the highway was transferred from state to county maintenance through a December 1, 1987, road transfer agreement.[16] The Locust Grove–Blacks section returned to state control, and state maintenance was extended south to Morgnec Road and along Morgnec Road to MD 290 in Chesterville, through a June 1, 1993, road transfer agreement.[17] State forces had improved the highway from Morgnec Road to the Blacks railroad crossing as a gravel road in 1958.[18] The 0.30-mile-long (0.48 km) portion of Morgnec Road had been constructed as part of the original MD 447 in 1929 and 1930, another beneficiary of the 1929 Kent County bond issue.[3][5]

Junction list

The entire route is in Kent County.

Locationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
Chesterville0.000.00 MD 290 (Chesterville Road) / Chesterville Bridge Road east – Crumpton, GalenaSouthern terminus
Locust Grove4.206.76 MD 213 (Augustine Herman Highway) – Chestertown, Galena
4.296.90 MD 449 west (Shallcross Wharf Road) / Shallcross Wharf Road eastEastern terminus of MD 449; MD 449 is unsigned
Kentmore Park7.2911.73Belchester Road northNorthern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Auxiliary route

MD 444A is the designation for the unnamed 0.01-mile-long (0.016 km) ramp from southbound MD 444 to southbound MD 213 at their intersection near Locust Grove.[1][2] The ramp received its designation by 1975.[19]

See also
  •  Maryland Roads portal

References
  1. Highway Information Services Division (December 31, 2015). Highway Location Reference. Maryland State Highway Administration. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
    • [2015%20Kent_HLR_web.pdf Kent County] Check |url= value (help) (PDF).
  2. Maryland State Highway Administration (2015). Maryland General Highway Statewide Grid Map (PDF) (Map). 1:12,000. Baltimore: Maryland State Highway Administration. §§ D15B, C15D. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  3. Maryland Geological Survey (1930). Map of Maryland Showing State Road System: State Aid Roads and Improved County Road Connections (Map). Baltimore: Maryland Geological Survey.
  4. Maryland Geological Survey (1933). Map of Maryland Showing State Road System: State Aid Roads and Improved County Road Connections (Map). Baltimore: Maryland Geological Survey.
  5. Uhl, G. Clinton; Bruce, Howard; Shaw, John K. (October 1, 1930). Report of the State Roads Commission of Maryland (1927–1930 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. pp. 79, 218. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  6. "Excerpt from Minutes of Meeting of the State Roads Commission" (PDF). S.R.C. Minutes District No. 2 Kent County. Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. April 28, 1939. Retrieved November 13, 2016 – via Maryland State Archives.
  7. "Excerpt from Minutes of Meeting of the State Roads Commission" (PDF). S.R.C. Minutes District No. 2 Kent County. Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. February 26, 1942. Retrieved November 13, 2016 – via Maryland State Archives.
  8. Galena, MD quadrangle (Map) (1944 ed.). 1:31,680. 7.5 Minute Series (Topographic). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
  9. Maryland Geological Survey (1910). Map of Maryland (Map). Baltimore: Maryland Geological Survey.
  10. Weller, O.E.; Parran, Thomas; Miller, W.B.; Perry, John M.; Ramsay, Andrew; Smith, J. Frank (May 1916). Annual Reports of the State Roads Commission of Maryland (1912–1915 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. p. 112. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  11. Maryland Road Construction Progress Log (PDF). Baltimore: Maryland State Highway Administration. Contract Numbers: K-173-1-215 (December 14, 1949), K-292-1-278 (June 20, 1968), K-312-277 (September 25, 1968). Retrieved November 13, 2016 – via Maryland State Archives.
  12. Planning and Programming Division (April 1968). Control Section Listings for the State Highway System, July 1968–July 1969 (PDF). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. Kent County, p. 3. Retrieved November 13, 2016 – via Maryland State Archives.
  13. Galena, MD quadrangle (Map) (1953 ed.). 1:24,000. 7.5 Minute Series (Topographic). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
  14. Planning and Programming Division (July 1969). Control Section Listings for the State Highway System, July 1969–July 1970 (PDF). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. Kent County, p. 3. Retrieved November 13, 2016 – via Maryland State Archives.
  15. Maryland Road Construction Progress Log (PDF). Baltimore: Maryland State Highway Administration. Contract Number: K-401-501-277 (July 30, 1984). Retrieved November 13, 2016 – via Maryland State Archives.
  16. "Memorandum of Action of Director Neil J. Pedersen" (PDF). S.R.C. Minutes District No. 2 Kent County. Baltimore: Maryland State Highway Administration. January 19, 1988. Retrieved November 13, 2016 – via Maryland State Archives.
  17. "Memorandum of Action of Director Neil J. Pedersen" (PDF). S.R.C. Minutes District No. 2 Kent County. Baltimore: Maryland State Highway Administration. June 1, 1993. Retrieved November 13, 2016 – via Maryland State Archives.
  18. Bonnell, Robert O.; Bennett, Edgar T.; McMullen, John J. (December 15, 1958). Report of the State Roads Commission of Maryland (1957–1958 ed.). Baltimore: Maryland State Roads Commission. p. 43. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  19. Bureau of Highway Statistics (January 1, 1975). Highway Location Reference File, Volume 2 (PDF). Baltimore: Maryland State Highway Administration. Kent County, p. 10. Retrieved November 13, 2016 – via Maryland State Archives.

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