Interstate 370

Interstate 370 is a short limited-access spur in Montgomery County serving the Shady Grove Metro Station, Gaithersburg park-and-ride facilities, and nearby research and commercial nodes. The route functioned as a connector between a major north–south corridor and an east–west tollway, providing multimodal links to the Washington Metro and regional roadways. It was created in the late 20th century and later incorporated into the Intercounty Connector project, reflecting changing transportation priorities in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area.

Route description

I-370 began at a directional interchange with I-270 near Shady Grove and ran eastward into the suburban fabric of Gaithersburg, traversing a corridor adjacent to institutional and commercial properties. The route provided direct access to the Shady Grove Medical Center campus region and connected to the WMATA facilities at Shady Grove, interfacing with park-and-ride lots used by commuters traveling toward Washington, D.C., Bethesda, and Rockville. Its alignment crossed or paralleled local arteries that link to Montgomery Village, Derwood, and Germantown, forming part of a multimodal corridor that included bus rapid transit proposals and shuttle services to research campuses such as those associated with NIH contractors and defense contractors operating in the region. The roadway's pavement, bridges, and interchanges were engineered to Interstate standards then later updated to conform with the design requirements of the Maryland State Highway Administration and the planning goals articulated by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.

History

Planning for the spur emerged during the expansion of limited-access routes feeding the Washington metropolitan area in the late 20th century, when agencies sought to improve connections between the Capital Beltway corridors and suburban transit nodes. The designation was assigned in 1990 as part of a broader set of projects coordinated among the Federal Highway Administration, Maryland State Highway Administration, and county authorities in Montgomery County. The spur facilitated commuter access to the Washington Metro Red Line terminus at Shady Grove and supported growth in Gaithersburg and surrounding office parks. During the early 21st century, the route’s role shifted with proposals for the Intercounty Connector; political, environmental, and financing debates involving stakeholders such as the Maryland Department of Transportation, local elected officials from Montgomery County Council, and advocacy groups influenced the corridor’s evolution. Construction of the intercounty tollway resulted in the incorporation of the spur into a longer east–west facility, and administrative changes transferred segment responsibilities to state route designations associated with the MD 200 project.

Exit list

The spur’s limited length yielded a compact exit list serving transit and collector functions: the western terminus at I-270 provided connections to I-270 northbound toward Frederick and southbound toward Washington, D.C.. Intermediate ramps served access to the Shady Grove transit campus, park-and-ride lots, and local streets leading to Milestone commercial areas and medical campuses. The eastern terminus interfaced with the initial segment of the Intercounty Connector, linking users to corridors toward Rockville, Silver Spring, and the broader toll network. (Note: official exit numbering and ramp geometries were established by the Maryland State Highway Administration and reflected staging during the intercounty connector’s phased opening.)

Future and proposed developments

Following administrative realignments and the completion of the Intercounty Connector, long-range planning within the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments emphasized multimodal improvements in the corridor that historically included the spur. Proposals have addressed bus rapid transit, enhanced park-and-ride capacity serving the Washington Metro, and multimodal first/last-mile connections to employment centers such as the Shady Grove Medical Center campus and adjacent science parks. Regional planning entities including the Maryland Department of Transportation and Montgomery County Department of Transportation considered ITS upgrades, ramp reconfigurations, and bicycle-pedestrian linkages coordinated with climate and land-use plans endorsed by the Maryland Department of the Environment and county land-use boards. Any future changes would require interagency coordination with the Federal Highway Administration and input from civic organizations representing suburbs across the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area.

Auxiliary and related routes

The spur functioned as an auxiliary link of a principal Interstate serving the Washington metropolitan area and related to state facilities implemented under the MD 200 program. Its relationship to I-270 tied it into a network that includes other auxiliary and connector routes in the region, as well as state routes and toll facilities managed by the Maryland Transportation Authority. Nearby parallel and feeder corridors include arterial routes through Gaithersburg, Rockville, and Silver Spring, which together form the local access structure supporting commuter, transit, and commercial movements.

Category:Interstate Highways in Maryland Category:Roads in Montgomery County, Maryland