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Maryland Route 12

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Template:Infobox Maryland highway Maryland Route 12 is a state highway on the Eastern Shore in the U.S. state of Maryland. The route runs 30.63 mi (49.29 km) from the Virginia border south of Stockton, Worcester County, where it continues into Virginia as State Route 679, north to Main Street in the city of Salisbury in Wicomico County. The route is known as Snow Hill Road for most of its length and passes mostly through areas of woods and farms as well as the communities of Stockton, Girdletree, and Snow Hill. MD 12 intersects several roads including Maryland Route 366 in Stockton, U.S. Route 113 and U.S. Route 113 Business in Snow Hill, Maryland Route 354 in Indiantown, and U.S. Route 13 near Salisbury. Portions of MD 12 near Snow Hill and Stockton existed as unnumbered state roads by 1910. When the first state highways in Maryland were designated by 1927, MD 12 was assigned to run from Stockton north to Salisbury. By 1940, the route was extended south to the Virginia border and a small incomplete portion between Snow Hill and Salisbury was finished. A dumbbell interchange is planned at the US 113 intersection; however, this project is currently on hold.

Route description

Worcester County

Maryland Route 12 heads north from the Virginia border on Snow Hill Road, which is a two-lane undivided road.[1][2] The road continues south into Virginia as State Route 679 (Fleming Road).[2] From the border, the route passes through a mix of woodland and farmland with a few residences in southern Worcester County before reaching Stockton. Here, MD 12 passes by homes and crosses Maryland Route 366 (George Island Landing Road).[1][2] Upon leaving Stockton, the roads heads back into rural areas and passes near the E.A. Vaughn Wildlife Management Area before reaching the residential community of Girdletree. Past Girdletree, the road continues to the east of a tract of the Pocomoke State Forest as it approaches Snow Hill, the county seat of Worcester County.[2] Just south of Snow Hill, the route intersects U.S. Route 113 (Worcester Highway).[1][2]

Past this intersection, the road enters Snow Hill, where it becomes Church Street, and heads into inhabited areas with some businesses. In the center of town, MD 12 intersects U.S. Route 113 Business (Market Street) and turns east to form a concurrency with that route, passing through the downtown area. Within the downtown, the road passes by the Julia A. Purnell Museum and the Worcester County Courthouse.[3][4] Here, MD 12 turns north to follow Washington Street, crossing the Pocomoke River out of downtown Snow Hill on a drawbridge.[1][2] From here, the route becomes Snow Hill Road again and turns northwest.[2] The road heads into agricultural areas with some residences before Indiantown, where MD 12 intersects the southern terminus of Maryland Route 354 (Whiton Road), which runs north to Willards.[1][2] Past this intersection, the route turns more to the west and heads through a mix of farmland and woodland with occasional homes. The road turns to the northwest again and runs to the northeast of more tracts of the Pocomoke State Forest.[2] The Pocomoke State Forest is known for its loblolly trees and cypress swamps and is popular with fishing and hunting.[4]

Wicomico County

Northbound MD 12 at intersection with College Avenue/Beaglin Park Drive in Salisbury.

MD 12 crosses into Wicomico County, where it continues north through woods and farms with some residences.[5][2] The route turns northwest again before heading into a mix of residential areas and farm fields on the outskirts of Salisbury.[2] The road comes to a partial cloverleaf interchange with U.S. Route 13 (Salisbury Bypass), where the route briefly becomes a four-lane divided highway . Past US 13, MD 12 crosses into Salisbury at the Johnson Road intersection.[5][2] Here, the route heads north through commercial areas, becoming a six-lane road with a center left-turn lane, two southbound travel lanes and one northbound travel lane. In addition, there is one lane in each direction devoted to right turns. At the intersection with College Avenue/Beaglin Park Drive, the road narrows to four-lane with each direction consisting of one travel lane and a right-turn lane.[2] This configuration eventually ends and MD 12 becomes a two-lane road again, leaving the corporate limits of Salisbury. Upon entering Salisbury again, the route becomes municipally maintained and continues past a mix of residences and businesses with some industrial establishments. MD 12 crosses over a branch of the Wicomico River near the Salisbury city park, which contains the Salisbury Zoo, before ending at Main Street a short distance to the east of U.S. Route 13 Business (Salisbury Boulevard) near downtown Salisbury.[5][2][6]

History

By 1910, portions of present-day Maryland Route 12 were built as unnumbered state highways in the Snow Hill and Stockton areas while the remainder of the route north of Stockton existed as local roads.[7] When the first numbered highways appeared in Maryland by 1927, MD 12 was designated to run from Stockton to Salisbury; at that time the whole route was complete with the exception of a portion in Worcester County near the Wicomico County border.[8] This route became known as the Salisbury-Snow Hill Road.[9] By 1940, MD 12 was extended south from Stockton to the Virginia border and the missing segment between Salisbury and Snow Hill was completed. At this time, the entire route was paved with the exception of a portion north of Stockton.[10] The portion of MD 12 north of Stockton was paved by 1960.[11] An interchange is planned between MD 12 and US 113 south of Snow Hill in order to improve safety and traffic flow as a follow up to widening US 113; however, the project is currently on hold.[12][13] This proposed interchange is to be a dumbbell interchange, a variation of the diamond interchange with two roundabouts on MD 12 where it intersects the ramps to US 113.[13] The proposed cost needed to build this interchange is $24.2 million, which includes engineering, acquisition of land, and the actual construction.[14]

Junction list

County Location Mile[1][5] Intersection Notes
Worcester 0.00 Lua error in Module:Jct at line 204: attempt to concatenate local 'link' (a nil value). Southern terminus; Virginia state line
Stockton 3.31 MD 366 (George Island Landing Road) – Pocomoke City, George Island Landing
Snow Hill 11.04 US 113 (Worcester Highway) – Pocomoke City, Berlin
12.55 Lua error in Module:Jct at line 204: attempt to concatenate local 'link' (a nil value). South end of US 113 Bus. overlap
12.73 Lua error in Module:Jct at line 204: attempt to concatenate local 'link' (a nil value). North end of US 113 Bus. overlap
13.95
MD 354 north (Whiton Road) – Willards
Wicomico Salisbury 27.99 US 13 (Salisbury Bypass) – Norfolk, VA, Dover, DE Interchange
30.63 Main Street Northern terminus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Cite error: The named reference worcesterHLR was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "overview of Maryland Route 12" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  3. ^ "About Us". Julia A. Purnell Museum. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
  4. ^ a b "Worcester County, Maryland - Judicial Branch". Maryland State Archives. Retrieved 2009-09-16. Cite error: The named reference "msa" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference wicomicoHLR was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "About Us". Salisbury Zoo. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
  7. ^ Map of Maryland (Map). Maryland State Highway Administration. 1910. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  8. ^ Map of Maryland (Map). Maryland State Highway Administration. 1927. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
  9. ^ "Modern Transportation in Maryland, 1900-1960" (PDF). Maryland State Highway Administration. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
  10. ^ Map of Maryland (Map). Maryland State Highway Administration. 1940. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
  11. ^ Map of Maryland (Map). Maryland State Highway Administration. 1960. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
  12. ^ "MD 0012 Snow Hill Road grade separation at MD 12 and US 113 – Project Schedule". Maryland State Highway Administration. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  13. ^ a b "US 113/MD 12 Newsletter" (PDF). Maryland State Highway Administration. Fall 2007. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  14. ^ "Minutes of the County Commissioners of Worcester County, Maryland" (PDF). Worcester County, Maryland. October 16, 2007. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
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