Portal:Maryland roads/Selected article/April 2012

Entering Maryland from West Virginia on I-68 East towards Cumberland

Interstate 68 (I-68) is a 112.6-mile (181.2 km) Interstate highway in the U.S. states of West Virginia and Maryland, connecting I-79 in Morgantown to I-70 in Hancock. I-68 is also Corridor E of the Appalachian Development Highway System. From 1965 until the freeway's construction was completed in 1991, it was designated as U.S. Route 48 (US 48). In Maryland, the highway is known as the National Freeway, an homage to the historic National Road, which I-68 parallels between Keysers Ridge and Hancock. The freeway mainly spans rural areas, and crosses numerous mountain ridges along its route. A road cut at Sideling Hill exposed geological features of the mountain and has become a tourist attraction. The construction of I-68 began in 1965 and continued for over 25 years, with completion on August 2, 1991. While the road was under construction, it was predicted that economic conditions would improve along the corridor. The two largest cities connected by the highway are Morgantown and Cumberland, both with permanent populations of fewer than 30,000 people. Despite the fact that the freeway serves no major metropolitan areas, I-68 provides a major transportation route in western Maryland and northern West Virginia and also provides an alternative to the Pennsylvania Turnpike for westbound traffic from Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. (more...)