Maryland Route 27 | |||||||
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Route information | |||||||
Maintained by MDSHA | |||||||
Length: | 39.17 mi (63.04 km) | ||||||
Existed: | 1934 – present | ||||||
Tourist routes: |
Historic National Road Old Main Streets Scenic Byway |
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Major junctions | |||||||
South end: | MD 355 near Germantown | ||||||
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North end: | MD 30 in Manchester | ||||||
Location | |||||||
Counties: | Montgomery, Howard, Frederick, Carroll | ||||||
Highway system | |||||||
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Maryland Route 29 | |
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Location: | Germantown–Westminster |
Existed: | 1927–1934 |
Maryland Route 27 (MD 27) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known for most of its length as Ridge Road, the highway runs 39.17 miles (63.04 km) from MD 355 in Germantown north to MD 30 in Manchester. MD 27 follows a ridge that separates several watersheds in northern Montgomery County and Carroll County. The highway connects Germantown and Manchester with Damascus in far northern Montgomery County; Westminster, the county seat of Carroll County; and Mount Airy, which lies at the junction of Carroll, Frederick, Howard, and Montgomery counties and where MD 27 intersects Interstate 70 (I-70) and U.S. Route 40 (US 40).
MD 27 follows what were originally MD 29 and part of MD 31. The highway received its present number south of Westminster in a swap with US 29 in 1934 and north of Westminster in 1967. Ridge Road south of Mount Airy and Manchester Road between Westminster and Manchester were constructed as one of the original state roads in the early to mid-1910s. The Mount Airy–Westminster portion of MD 27 was built in the 1920s. MD 27 was reconstructed in the early to mid-1950s from Germantown to Westminster. MD 31 was reconstructed north of Westminster in the late 1950s; old segments of the highway became part of MD 852. MD 27 bypassed Mount Airy in the 1970s, leaving behind MD 808. The highway was relocated at its southern end in the mid-1990s to improve access between Damascus and Germantown and I-270.