Interstate 170 (I-170) was the designation for a 2.3 mi freeway in Baltimore, Maryland, that currently carries U.S. Route 40 (US 40). The freeway was originally planned to be the eastern terminus of I-70 and, later, a link between I-70 and the west side of Downtown Baltimore. However, after the Baltimore portion of I-70 was canceled due to community opposition, the freeway was left disconnected from the Interstate system and its Interstate designation rescinded. Local citizens and environmental groups have given the freeway nicknames of "The Highway to Nowhere" and "The Ditch", the latter owing to its mostly below-grade construction; other names include the "Westside Freeway" and the "Franklin–Mulberry Expressway", both referring to its location in the city. Growing support for the freeway's removal has occurred over the last several years.

Route description

I-170 would have begun at a directional T interchange with I-70 where Baltimore Street and Amtrak's Northeast Corridor cross Gwynns Falls. The Interstate would have paralleled the north side of the railroad tracks through what is presently an industrial area. I-170 would have crossed Mulberry Street (eastbound US 40) and veered east through what are now parking lots for West Baltimore station on MARC's Penn Line to seamlessly connect with the portion of I-170 that was constructed east of Pulaski Street. The unconstructed freeway would have had an eastbound exit ramp to Mulberry Street and a westbound entrance ramp from Franklin Street (westbound US 40), with both ramps also having direct access to and from Monroe Street (southbound US 1). These ramps, which were partially constructed when the highway was built and torn down in 2010, would have connected US 1 with I-170 in the direction of I-70. The ramps from Mulberry Street and to Franklin Street to connect with the portion of I-170 that was completed are now part of US 40. The ramps merge with the uncompleted freeway under Fulton Avenue (northbound US 1). Originally beginning and ending at Pulaski Street, these ramps have since been truncated to a now-continuous Payson Street. US 40 heads east as a six-lane freeway in a cut between Mulberry and Franklin streets. Along the way, it passes under eight roadway bridges and two pedestrian bridges (Stricker Street and Carrollton Avenue). East of the Schroeder Street underpass, the freeway reduces to four lanes at the eastbound ramp to Mulberry Street and the westbound ramp from Franklin Street, which connect the freeway with Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. After US 40 passes over the boulevard, the freeway ends by merging with Mulberry and Franklin streets just west of their intersections with Greene Street, which heads south as Maryland Route 295 (MD 295).

<!-- # History Nine plans for a Baltimore city freeway system were put together by city planners between 1942 and 1957. Many of those plans included an east–west expressway along the Mulberry–Franklin corridor. The first expressway plan to gain traction was produced by the city's Department of Planning under Philip Darling in 1960. Darling's plan had an East–West Expressway enter Baltimore where I-70 presently ends, pass through Leakin Park and Gwynns Falls Park, head through the [Rosemont](https://bliptext.com/articles/rosemont-baltimore) neighborhood, and follow the Mulberry–Franklin corridor east along the modern freeway to its end near Greene Street. The expressway then turned south and veered east at Pratt Street, where I-70 would reach its eastern terminus at an interchange with I-95 and I-83 on the northeast side of the Inner Harbor. Darling worked with civic groups along the route of the proposed freeway to ensure his plans gained widespread approval. However, to gain federal funding for the expressway, the city needed independent consultants to review the plans. A conglomerate of three consulting firms named Expressway Consultants made major changes to Darling's plan without working with the civic groups Darling had engaged. The 10-D System was similar to Darling's plan through the parks in West Baltimore and along the Mulberry–Franklin corridor, except the new plan had the freeway turn south at Fremont Avenue and meet I-95 at Hamburg Street. The new plan faced widespread opposition because of the lack of community input and the greater number of residential neighborhoods the new plan would affect. In 1966, the city of Baltimore organized a new conglomerate of consultants named Urban Design Concept Associates to put together a new freeway plan for Baltimore. The 3-A System was released in 1969. Like the previous plans, I-70 would pass through Leakin Park and Gwynns Falls Park. However, instead of continuing east toward the central business district, I-70 would follow Gwynns Falls southeast to I-95 east of Caton Avenue. I-170 would be a spur that headed east from I-70 along the Mulberry–Franklin corridor to the western edge of the central business district. However, the construction of I-70 as part of the 3-A System was still opposed by civic groups, especially the segment through the parks in West Baltimore. The civic groups used litigation and political will to delay construction of I-70 indefinitely. In 1981, the city cancelled the portion of I-70 from its current eastern terminus through Leakin and Gwynns Falls parks to the Interstate's interchange with I-170. I-170 and the portion of proposed freeway south to I-95 remained part of plans. The remaining L-shaped freeway was designated I-595 in 1982. However, in 1983, I-595 was cancelled as well because of escalating costs; saving funds for the freeway would detract from more pressing needs like maintenance of city streets and rapid transit. Despite major opposition to the 10-D System, the initiation of federal funding allowed the city to start acquiring property in the Franklin–Mulberry corridor in 1966 to clear the way for construction of I-70 and later I-170. Highway construction was underway by 1975 with the construction of Fulton Avenue's bridge over I-170. The freeway's interchange with Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard was underway in 1979. The freeway was completed and signed as I-170 by 1981, by which time Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard was also completed. The I-170 designation was gone by 1985; the freeway later became part of US 40. Maps: 1972: spur proposed from I-70 in West Baltimore to US 40 west of current split into Mulberry and Franklin; no sign of I-170 yet either signed or construction along corridor 1974: spur proposed from I-70 in West Baltimore to Greene Street along planned corridor; not marked I-170 1975: no change from 1974 1977: no change from 1974 1978: I-170 under construction from US 40 split to just west of Greene St; I-170 not marked; no sign of MLK 1979: under construction still; overpasses at Fulton and Monroe 1981: MLK Blvd complete; proposed I-70 markings gone; I-170 marked along white freeway section, which proposed dashed markings west of US 1 1983: green freeway marked from US 1 to west of Greene St; no proposed I-70 marked anywhere; still marked I-170; no interchange boxes 1985: I-170 no longer marked Bridges: (search for route 170 and FIPS 510 1975: Gilmor St Fulton Ave 1976: Arlington Ave Mount St Monroe St I-170 Ramp L over Ramp M 1977: Schroeder St Calhoun St 1978: Carey St 1979: Both directions over MLK Blvd Both directions have a culvert on access roads -->

History

Under the proposed routing of the Interstate Highways through Baltimore, I-70 would have been routed through west Baltimore to join I-95, and I-170 would have been a spur from I-70 into central Baltimore. However, the spur was left stranded from the rest of the Interstate Highway System by the cancellation of I-70 within the city limits of Baltimore.

Planning

Several proposals were made during the 1940s and 1950s for an East–West Expressway through Baltimore. After nine different proposals were floated, in 1960 the city's Department of Planning published a proposal of its own. The route in the proposal (then designated as I-70N) would have begun in the western edge of the city, passing through Gwynns Falls/Leakin Park. It would have then curved south in the direction of Edmondson Avenue, then turned east and followed the Franklin–Mulberry street corridor. It would have then curved south into the Pratt Street corridor and crossed the city to the north of the Inner Harbor on an elevated viaduct within the central business district, junctioning I-83 and I-95 in the southeast edge of Downtown Baltimore. This routing was eventually further refined and modified and eventually became part of the Baltimore 10-D Interstate System, approved in 1962. By 1969, the Design Concept Team, a multidiscipline group assembled in 1966 by the city government to help design freeway routings that would not disrupt the city's fabric, had replaced the 10-D System with the Baltimore 3-A Interstate and Boulevard System. In the 3-A system, I-170 was brought into existence, and was planned as a freeway spur from I-70 (which would continue south toward the current alignment of I-95) through the Franklin–Mulberry street corridor formerly followed by the East–West Expressway to the west edge of the central business district, connecting to a new route named Harbor City Boulevard (now known as Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard). Besides ending at the western edge of downtown, I-170 would also run further south than the original East–West Expressway proposal. The 3-A System's result was that I-170 would provide direct access to the central business district. Curiously, I-170's three-way semi-directional interchange with I-70 was planned to be partially integrated with I-70's interchange with Hilton Parkway; diagrams of the interchange show that the ramp from eastbound I-70 to eastbound I-170 would have diverged within the latter interchange and run alongside I-70's eastbound carriageway to the western terminus of I-170, where it would diverge.

Construction

Construction began on I-170 in 1975 and was finished in 1979. The completed section runs mainly below street level, rising above it at the eastern end; the same was also true for the western end until it was leveled in late 2010. The wide median space was originally reserved for a once-proposed branch of the Baltimore Metro SubwayLink system; this rail line was never built, and more recent plans for the Red Line, a proposed light rail corridor that would have been built by 2016 (but was canceled in 2015) would have made use of the median. However, the Red Line was resurrected in 2023 (with the same plans as before), and construction may begin by 2027.

Cancelation

I-170's future was left in doubt after extended protest from environmental groups led to the cancelation of the segment of I-70 between Security Boulevard (exit 94) and I-170 (scrapped exit 96) on September 3, 1981. As a result of this cancelation, it was proposed to connect the existing I-170 to I-95 via the southern portion of the original proposed I-70 expansion, with the entire spur redesignated I-595; however, this segment was canceled on July 22, 1983, in the face of further opposition. I-595 was later assigned to a different highway in Maryland (it now exists as an unsigned name for US 50 between the Capital Beltway and Annapolis). With I-170's connection to the Interstate System removed, it was promptly deleted. US 40 was rerouted onto the stub freeway in its place.

Future

Various proposals for the isolated highway stub have been floated: in addition to the proposed use of its public transit right-of-way, it has also been suggested that the road be dismantled, with land filled for new homes to replace the ones that had been demolished for the freeway's construction. In 2010, demolition work began on the structures at the western edge of the highway that had been intended to link to the wider Interstate System and had never been used by automobiles, including the ramps to Mulberry Street and from Franklin Street at their respective intersections with Monroe Street; by 2012, these were replaced by green space and an expanded parking lot for nearby West Baltimore station, and Payson Street was made continuous between Mulberry and Franklin streets; as a result, the freeway ends at Payson Street instead of Pulaski Street. The remaining section of the highway is still key to the Red Line project that was canceled by Governor Larry Hogan in 2015, but then revived by his successor Wes Moore in 2023. Representative Karen Bass sponsored a bill in the 116th Congress entitled the Build Local, Hire Local Act (HR 4101). This bill would include a new program entitled the "Community Connect Grant". As a part of this program, urban-renewal era highway projects would be torn down, such as the former I-170. As a result of the project, low-income, racially diverse neighborhoods, such as Harlem Park and Upton, north of the I-170 infrastructure, and the Franklin Square and Poppleton neighborhoods south, would soon be reconnected, which could possibly reduce crime and increase business. A similar project was the destruction of the Inner Loop Highway in Rochester, from November 2014 to December 2017 and partially funded by a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant; it was replaced by new apartment buildings, shops, and restaurants. The bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit on August 12, 2019.

Exit list

Had I-170 been completed in its entirety, it would have run as follows from I-70: