Maryland Route 85 (MD 85) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known as Buckeystown Pike, the state highway runs from MD 28 in Tuscarora north to the Frederick city limit north of Interstate 70 (I-70), where the highway continues north as East Street. MD 85 connects Tuscarora and Buckeystown in southern Frederick County with the county seat of Frederick. The state highway also links the suburban area between Buckeystown and Frederick with I-70 and I-270. MD 85 is the old alignment of U.S. Route 15 (US 15), which was originally constructed between Tuscarora and Frederick in the late 1910s and early 1920s. MD 85 was assigned to the highway in 1970 when US 15 was moved to a new highway heading north from its Potomac River crossing at Point of Rocks. The state highway was extended north to the city of Frederick as part of a project to overhaul MD 355's interchange with I-70 in the first decade of the 21st century.
Route description
MD 85 begins at a three-way intersection with MD 28 in Tuscarora, which is also known as Licksville. The roadway continues south as eastbound MD 28 (Dickerson Road) and westbound MD 28 (Tuscarora Road) heads west from the intersection. MD 85 heads north through farmland as a two-lane undivided road that parallels the Monocacy River about to the east. The state highway intersects Lily Pons Road, which heads east toward the Lily Pons Water Gardens and the historic Amelung House and Glassworks, and Adamstown Road, which heads west toward Adamstown. MD 85 intersects the western terminus of MD 80 (Fingerboard Road) on the southern edge of Buckeystown. The state highway continues through the Buckeystown Historic District, where the highway intersects Manor Woods Road and the old alignment of MD 80, Michaels Mill Road, and crosses Rocky Fountain Run. The road runs through rural land and passes to the west of Saint John's Catholic Prep school.
MD 85 enters an industrial area as the highway enters the community of Lime Kiln, the site of the road's oblique at-grade crossing of CSX's Old Main Line Subdivision railroad line. The state highway temporarily expands to a four-lane undivided highway between the railroad crossing and its intersection with English Muffin Way, which is the site of a Bimbo Bakeries USA factory. At the north end of the industrial area, MD 85 crosses Ballenger Creek and passes the George Markell Farmstead and the historic home Arcadia. The state highway expands to a four-lane undivided highway as it passes through a commercial area north of Executive Way. MD 85 intersects Crestwood Boulevard, which heads west into the suburb of Ballenger Creek, before the highway meets I-270 (Eisenhower Memorial Highway) at a partial cloverleaf interchange at a rakish angle.
MD 85 continues north through a commercial area that includes the Francis Scott Key Mall. At the northern end of the commercial area at Evergreen Point, the state highway expands to a divided highway, veers east, and intersects MD 355 (Urbana Pike). MD 85 curves to the north and meets I-70 and US 40 (Baltimore National Pike) at a single-point urban interchange. The state highway intersects Walser Drive and Monocacy Boulevard before reaching its northern terminus at the end of state maintenance next to Harry T. Greager Memorial Athletic Field at the city limit of Frederick. The roadway continues north as East Street through the Frederick Historic District, where the street passes the Frederick station on the Frederick Branch of MARC's Brunswick Line.
MD 85 is a part of the National Highway System as a principal arterial from Michaels Mill Road in Buckeystown to I-70 and US 40 just south of Frederick.
History
MD 85 is the old alignment of US 15 from Tuscarora to Frederick. A portion of the highway was originally a turnpike called the Frederick and Buckeystown Turnpike from its junction with the Frederick and Monocacy Turnpike (which became US 240 and is now MD 355) at Evergreen Point to south of Buckeystown. The old turnpike was resurfaced in macadam by 1921. The remainder of modern Buckeystown Pike was paved as a wide concrete road from south of Buckeystown to around Lily Pons Road in 1918 and 1919 and south of Lily Pons Road to just north of the modern MD 28 junction by 1921. The concrete highway was extended south through the MD 28 junction to MD 28's junction with Nolands Ferry Road by 1923. Buckeystown Pike was designated US 15 in 1927. At that time, US 15 had yet to be constructed as a modern highway from Tuscarora to the bridge across the Potomac River at Point of Rocks. US 15 from Tuscarora to Point of Rocks was completed in 1933.