Maryland Route 3 (MD 3), part of the Robert Crain Highway, is the designation given to the former alignment of U.S. Route 301 (US 301) from Bowie, Maryland, United States, to Baltimore. It is named for Robert Crain of Baltimore. It is unique in Maryland in that it has a business route and a truck route which do not connect to their parent; however, the business route is also a part of the Robert Crain Highway. MD 3's current orientation is vestigial from the construction of Maryland's freeway system.
Route description
MD 3 begins within the modified cloverleaf interchange of US 50 and unsigned I-595 (John Hanson Highway) and US 301 (Robert Crain Highway) in Bowie, Prince George's County. Within the interchange, US 301 heads south on Crain Highway and east along US 50; meanwhile, MD 3 heads north on Crain Highway, a four-lane divided highway. A short distance after beginning, the route comes to a partial cloverleaf interchange with Belair Drive, containing continuing connections from the US 50/US 301 interchange. Past here, the road runs north through wooded residential areas before the median widens and it bends to the north-northeast, continuing through forested areas with a few businesses. MD 3 continues northeast and the median narrows, with the road widening to eight lanes as it comes to an intersection with MD 450. At this point, MD 450 heads northeast for a concurrency with MD 3 along a six-lane divided highway, running through wooded areas and coming to a bridge over the Patuxent River.
Upon crossing the Patuxent River, the road enters Anne Arundel County and continues northeast, with MD 450 splitting from MD 3 by turning to the east. MD 3 continues north along Crain Highway into Crofton, passing between woodland to the west and residential subdivisions to the east. The road heads into a commercial area and comes to an intersection with the northern terminus of MD 424. At this point, the route turns to the northeast and the median widens to include businesses in the center. MD 3 heads into Gambrills and runs through more commercial areas. The median narrows as the road passes to the southeast of the Waugh Chapel Towne Center shopping center and runs between businesses to the northwest and residential neighborhoods to the southeast. The median widens again and the route narrows to four lanes at the St. Stephen's Church Road intersection, passing through a mix of fields, woods, and businesses. The road comes to an intersection with the eastern terminus of MD 175 in Millersville before it heads northeast through woodland. MD 3 comes to its northern terminus at a modified cloverleaf interchange with I-97 and the eastern terminus of the MD 32 freeway. I-97 passes under MD 3 and occupies its median for a very short distance, with MD 3 ending at ramps merging into northbound I-97. The roadway of MD 3, however, continues for a minor distance longer, the southbound carriageway turning and crossing underneath I-97 to join with the northbound on the east side of the Interstate, and continuing north as Veterans Highway, running parallel to I-97 and providing access to MD 178.
History
In the past, Crain Highway originally held the designation MD 3, then US 301, and it currently carries both of these designations on different sections.
Started in 1922, Crain Highway was a new road built by the Maryland State Road Commission and ran from Baltimore to Southern Maryland. The original route of MD 3, completed in 1927 on a greenfield alignment, was once designated Maryland Route 761. With the opening of the Harry W. Nice Bridge in 1940 it was joined with U.S. Route 301. After the Chesapeake Bay Bridge was built in 1952, US 301, which at that time ran along the current alignment of MD 3, was rerouted along US 50, across the Bay Bridge, and north to Wilmington, Delaware, as a bypass around the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. The former US 301 north of US 50 was then given back the MD 3 designation. After the construction of I-97, MD 3 was cut back to the I-97/MD 32 interchange, which led to the oddity of MD 3 Business in Glen Burnie being completely orphaned from its parent route. Despite this, the route is still designated MD 3 Business.