page_title: U.S. Route 29 in Maryland
section_title: Columbia Pike
hierarchical_section_title: U.S. Route 29 in Maryland / Route description / Columbia Pike
caption_attribution_description: English: View south along U.S. Route 29 Alternate (Old Columbia Pike) at Dustin Road in Burtonsville, Montgomery County, Maryland
context_page_description: U.S. Route 29 is a north–south United States highway that runs for 1,036 miles from the western suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland, to Pensacola, Florida. In the U.S. state of Maryland, US 29 is a major highway that emerges from Washington D.C. and runs north into eastern Montgomery County, stretching over 25.859 miles through the state and terminating at Maryland Route 99 outside of Ellicott City. It serves the cities of Columbia and Ellicott City and provides the westernmost north–south route between Washington D.C. and Baltimore.
  US 29 in Maryland was a late addition to the United States Numbered Highway System fabricated in 1926, beginning along a corridor once known as MD 27. Since its redesignation, it has been realigned and upgraded many times, now containing freeway and expressway sections.
context_section_description: After crossing the Northwest Branch Park the route is now known as Columbia Pike and becomes a six-lane divided expressway.  It interchanges with MD 650 to the northwest of the former Naval Surface Weapons Center.  The route passes through Paint Branch Park, over the Paint Branch, before meeting Randolph Road at a recently constructed diamond interchange.  Continuing northeast the route intersects Fairland Road, then comes to the interchange with MD 200, the InterCounty Connector before meeting Briggs Chaney Road at another recently constructed diamond interchange.
  Running northwest of Fairland Regional Park US 29 reaches its first major freeway segment at Burtonsville, bypassing a former, heavily curved at-grade expressway portion through the town.  At this point, it downgrades into a four-lane divided expressway until it enters Howard County.  The bypass incorporates the southern end of the former alignment and a diamond interchange with MD 198 within its southern endpoint; US 29 continues straight ahead through the combined interchange, meeting the northern end of the former alignment at a partial diamond interchange.  The 0.92-mile bypassed section of the old road is officially designated US 29A with street signs that say "Old Columbia Pike" which previously ended at MD 198.
  The route crosses the Rocky Gorge Reservoir and enters Howard County just beyond the northern end of the bypass.  It intersects Old Columbia Road just beyond the reservoir and then upgrades into a six-lane grade-separated almost-freeway within its interchange with MD 216 at Scaggsville.  Continuing as an almost-freeway it interchanges with Johns Hopkins Road after two miles (3 km), then downgrades to four lanes again just before the Middle Patuxent River and intersects Rivers Edge Road at a half-signalled intersection (Rivers Edge Road, which is the sole entryway into a subdivision containing over 300 homes, intersects the southbound carriageway, which has the signals; the northbound carriageway has a signalled turn lane and an unsignalled acceleration lane, both within the median).
  Next, US 29 encounters MD 32 at a symmetrical cloverleaf; for an extended period this interchange marked the southern end of US 29's grade separation, with the entire route south of there being an at-grade expressway. North of the interchange, US 29 intersects several major routes that serve the town of Columbia: Shaker Drive/Seneca Drive, Broken Land Parkway, MD 175, and MD 108. Between Broken Land Parkway and MD 175, US 29 has a right-in/right-out interchange between the southbound carriageway and South Entrance Road; the northbound carriageway has two at-grade direct turnoffs to Gates Lane and Old Columbia Road, with median crossovers provided for southbound traffic. Near the MD 108 interchange the northbound carriageway has another direct turnoff to Diamondback Drive.
  Beyond the MD 108 interchange, US 29 upgrades again into a fully limited-access six-lane grade-separated freeway as it encounters the western terminus of MD 100.  The heavy flows to and from MD 100 result in US 29 widening again to eight lanes within the interchange, which also incorporates a three-quarter diamond interchange with the western terminus of MD 103.  The eight-lane segment narrows to six lanes again as it encounters the historic northern end of the US 29 expressway at U.S. Route 40 within Ellicott City.
  Beyond US 40, US 29 interchanges with Interstate 70 at a modified directional cloverleaf, and finally terminates at an at-grade intersection with MD 99 near Mount Hebron.
caption: View south along US 29A in Burtonsville
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