U.S. Route 340

U.S. Route 340 (US 340) is a spur of US 40. It currently runs for 156 miles (251 km) from Greenville, Virginia at US 11 to Frederick, Maryland at US 40. Between those two states, US 340 also passes briefly through West Virginia. In Virginia and West Virginia, it is signed north–south. In Maryland it is signed east–west.

Route description

Virginia

US 340 begins at an intersection with US 11 just south of an interchange with I-64/I-81. The northern entrance to Shenandoah National Park via Skyline Drive is found just south of Front Royal. After passing through West Virginia, the route briefly re-enters Virginia before crossing the Potomac River into Maryland. The short segment in Loudoun County, Virginia on the Potomac is called Jefferson Pike. This name carries over into Maryland on MD 180, the road US 340 bypassed. The main section in Virginia is called Lord Fairfax Highway and is one of the main routes through Berryville, Virginia.

West Virginia

The route entering West Virginia and heads toward Charles Town and then Harpers Ferry. The stretch of US 340 between Charles Town and Harpers Ferry is designated the William L. Wilson Freeway, although it does not share the same characteristics as a traditional freeway and includes traffic lights and at-grade interchanges. It is named for William Lyne Wilson, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives as a representative from West Virginia from 1883 to 1895, and as United States Postmaster General between 1895 and 1897.

U.S. Route 340 in Virginia

In the U.S. state of Virginia, U.S. Route 340 runs north–south, parallel and east of U.S. Route 11, from US 11 north of Greenville via Waynesboro, Grottoes, Elkton, Luray, Front Royal, and Berryville to the West Virginia state line. A short separate piece crosses northern Loudoun County on its way from West Virginia to Maryland.

Route description

US 340 begins at an intersection with US 11 (Lee Jackson Highway) north of Greenville and just east of US 11's interchange with I-81 and I-64 in southern Augusta County. The U.S. highway heads northeast as two-lane Stuarts Draft Highway through the village of Stuarts Draft. In the hamlet of Ladd, US 340 temporarily expands into a four-lane divided highway for its interchange with I-64. The U.S. highway continues into the independent city of Waynesboro as two-lane Rosser Avenue. On the western edge of downtown Waynesboro, US 340 intersects US 250, which heads west as Main Street and straight northeast as Broad Street. US 340 turns east onto Main Street, which meets the southern end of SR 254 (Poplar Avenue) and passes by Waynesboro High School, the Fishburne Military School, and the historic Plumb House and Coiner-Quesenbery House in the Waynesboro Downtown Historic District. The U.S. highway crosses the South River and intersects the eastern end of Broad Street, where US 340 and US 250 run concurrently on Main Street, passing under a north–south rail line on their way to Delphine Street. US 340 turns north onto Delphine Street and passes through the Basic City portion of Waynesboro, where the highway passes Fairfax Hall and passes under an east–west rail line before leaving Waynesboro and re-entering Augusta County.

U.S. Route 340 in Maryland

U.S. Route 340 (US 340) is a part of the U.S. Highway System that runs from Greenville, Virginia to Frederick, Maryland. In Maryland, the U.S. highway runs 17.01 miles (27.37 km) from the Virginia state line at the Potomac River at Sandy Hook east to its northern terminus at US 15 and US 40 in Frederick. US 340, which is known for most of its length as Jefferson National Pike, connects Frederick with the communities of Jefferson, Brunswick, and Knoxville in the southern part of the Middletown Valley of western Frederick County and Weverton in far southern Washington County. The U.S. highway also links Frederick with Harpers Ferry and Charles Town in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. US 340 is a part of the National Highway System for its entire length in Maryland.

US 340 was one of the original state roads designated by the Maryland State Roads Commission. The state road was constructed from Frederick to Knoxville in the early 1910s and completed to Harpers Ferry in 1919. The highway was designated Maryland's portion of US 340 in 1926. US 340 originally crossed the Potomac River at Harpers Ferry; however, the U.S. highway's bridge was destroyed by a flood in 1936. The modern US 340 Bridge was constructed at Sandy Hook between 1940 and 1947, with a long interruption due to World War II. The U.S. highway's freeway between Weverton and Frederick was constructed in the 1960s. Old sections of US 340 became part of Maryland Route 180 (MD 180).