Maryland Route 254 Explained

State:MD
Type:MD
Route:254
Alternate Name:Cobb Island Road
Map Custom:yes
Map Notes:Map of Southern Maryland with MD 254 highlighted in red
Length Mi:1.25
Length Round:2
Established:1958
Tourist: Religious Freedom Byway
Direction A:South
Terminus A:Cobb Island
Direction B:North
Terminus B: near Rock Point
Counties:Charles
Previous Type:MD
Previous Route:253
Next Type:MD
Next Route:255

Maryland Route 254 (MD 254) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known as Cobb Island Road, the state highway runs 1.25miles from Cobb Island north to MD 257 near Rock Point. MD 254 connects the mainland to Cobb Island, which was originally established as a summer resort in the early 1920s, at the southern end of Charles County. The state highway was constructed as Maryland Route 533 in the early 1930s. The state highway was rebuilt and renumbered as MD 254 in the 1950s.

Route description

MD 254 begins 0.03miles south of the intersection of Cobb Island Road and Neale Sound Drive on Cobb Island. Cobb Island Road continues south as a county-maintained two-lane divided avenue to Potomac River Drive on the Potomac River side of the island. North of Neale Sound Drive, MD 254 is a two-lane undivided road and leaves the island by crossing over Neale Sound on the Cobb Island Bridge. The state highway passes between marinas and curves northwest to parallel the coast. At Pine Grove Road, MD 254 veers north to its terminus at Rock Point Road. Rock Point Road heads southeast as a county highway toward Rock Point and northwest as MD 257 up Cobb Neck to U.S. Route 301 in Newburg.

History

State:MD
Type:MD
Route:533
Header Type:former
Location:Cobb Island
Length Round:2
Formed:1932
Deleted:1958

The original bridge from the mainland to Cobb Island, a "noisy one-way wooden bridge that was prone to summer traffic jams," was constructed in 1923 shortly after the establishment of the island as a summer resort by Robert Crain. In 1932, the Maryland State Roads Commission rebuilt Cobb Island Road as a modern gravel road and replaced the "hazardous" 1923 bridge with a creosoted timber bridge. This bridge was still one-lane, being 10feet wide, but had a passing area near the middle. Cobb Island Road was originally designated MD 533. MD 533 was widened to 24feet and resurfaced with bituminous stabilized gravel in 1951. MD 533 was renumbered MD 254 in 1958. MD 254 had originally been assigned to Davidsonville Road between Davidsonville and Edgewater in central Anne Arundel County; that highway was renumbered as an eastward extension of MD 214 (Central Avenue) by 1939. A two-lane steel girder Cobb Island Bridge was built in 1963. In 2015, plans were made to construct a new Cobb Island Bridge to replace the existing structure that was structurally deficient. The new Cobb Island Bridge, which includes wider travel lanes, a sidewalk, and lighting, cost $18 million to build and opened to traffic on April 28, 2020.[1]

External links

Notes and References

  1. MDOT SHA Opens New MD 254 (Cobb Island Rd) Bridge Over Neale Sound In Charles County. Maryland State Highway Administration. April 28, 2020. December 26, 2020.