Maryland Route 190

Maryland Route 190
River Road
Maryland Route 190 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MDSHA
Length:	15.88 mi (25.56 km)
Existed:	1927 – present
Tourist routes:	Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Scenic Byway
Major junctions
West end:	MD 112 near Seneca
	MD 189 in Potomac MD 191 in Potomac I-495 near Bethesda MD 188 in Bethesda MD 614 in Bethesda
East end:	Western Avenue at the District of Columbia boundary in Bethesda
Highway system
Maryland highway system Interstate US State Scenic Byways ← MD 189 MD 191 →

Maryland Route 190 (MD 190) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known as River Road, the highway runs 15.88 miles (25.56 km) from MD 112 near Seneca east to Western Avenue at the District of Columbia boundary in Bethesda. MD 190 parallels the Potomac River through the affluent southwestern Montgomery County communities of Potomac and Bethesda and connects those suburbs with Interstate 495 (I-495). River Road was paved from Washington west through part of Bethesda in the early 1910s. A second section of MD 190 was constructed through Potomac in the mid-1920s. The Bethesda and Potomac portions of the route were unified in the late 1920s. MD 190 was extended west toward Seneca in two steps in 1950 and the early 1970s. The highway was expanded to a four-lane divided highway through Bethesda in the early 1960s.

MD 190 begins at a three-way intersection just east of the hamlet of Seneca near the mouth of Seneca Creek at the Potomac River. The east leg of the intersection is MD 112 (Seneca Road), which heads toward Darnestown. The west leg of the intersection is county-maintained River Road, which parallels the river through the Seneca Historic District and peters out beyond McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area south of Poolesville. MD 190 heads southeast as a two-lane road that parallels the Potomac River from a distance. The highway intersects several county highways that provide access to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. The highway crosses Muddy Branch within Blockhouse Point Park and continues through the Travilah area, where the highway intersects Travilah Road. MD 190 crosses Watts Branch west of Piney Meetinghouse Road, where the Potomac River curves south away from the highway. The route crosses Rock Run as it enters the village of Potomac, where the highway temporarily expands to four lanes and intersects Falls Road, which heads north as MD 189 and south toward Great Falls. MD 190 passes to the north of the TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm golf course and intersects Bradley Boulevard, which carries MD 191 north of MD 190, west of the entrance to Congressional Country Club.