MD 404 PEL study completed

DENTON – Following three years of study, the state’s transportation authorities released a 94-page report in June 2026, explaining the process and findings aimed at continuing safety improvements on State Routes 404 and 16 between Harmony Road and Greenwood Road. 

The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (SHA) completed the comprehensive MD 404 Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) Study for the 3-mile corridor on a key highway on which vacationers travel to and from the Atlantic beaches in Maryland and Delaware. 

According to a mailing sent to Caroline residents, “PEL studies examine transportation solutions while considering environmental, community and economic goals.” 

“The findings within this plan include the need for traffic calming measures, improved bicycle and pedestrian accommodations, and increased capacity,” the report summarized. 

“The information gathered, analysis, and products developed during planning will be used during the environmental review process, commonly known as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, for future projects,” the report’s executive summary stated, “The overall goals of the MD 404 PEL study are to identify potential improvements for traffic operations, safety, and pedestrian and bicyclist accommodations along the MD 404 corridor.” 

SHA held two public houses, one in December 2023 and the second in April 2024. Two online surveys also were conducted to collect public feedback on needs and preliminary concepts, including possible turn lanes, road widening and traffic lights.  

According to a July 24 email from SHA Media, “The cost of the MD 404 PEL Study was funded at 100% by the Federal Highway Administration at a cost of $503,386, less than the $525,000 that the State Highway Administration was federally authorized to spend. There were no state dollars used to fund the study.” 

“Funding availability” is mentioned several times in the report, including funding for “design, right-of-way acquisition, and construction.” 

While the stretch between Harmony and Greenwood roads is bordered by rural countryside, a few businesses and several direct access driveways, it has not been dualized and has been the scene of 108 reported crashes between Jan. 1, 2017, and Dec. 31, 2022, according to the report. Crashes reported included 42 resulting in injury, 2 fatal crashes and 64 involving property damage. 

The Caroline County Commissioners have been concerned about the corridor for several years, adding it to their priority requests to MDOT/SHA for the annual state Consolidated Transportation Plan (CTP). 

At their Oct. 3, 2023, annual CTP meeting with state transportation officials, the Commissioners heard about the MD 404 PEL study initiated in spring 2023. The 2010 Caroline County Comprehensive Plan calls for the dualization of Route 404 throughout the county. The 2021-2022 county transportation priorities letter identified the highway as a priority and safety concern. The MD 404 PEL Study is listed in the FY2026 to FY2031 CTP Report. 

For example, in April 2025 the Commissioners reiterated their 2024 priorities, which included widening the corridor to four lanes, installation of “Remain on 404” signs to manage beach traffic, and implementing “No return to 404” signs on Mitchell and Hignutt roads and an alternating light pattern at the intersection of Route 404 and Route 16 (Harmony Road). 

The report is more descriptive than prescriptive. “The study considered a range of preliminary concept options to address the various problems that were identified during the public participation and existing conditions scenario. The potential solutions were organized according to concept type (corridor or intersection) and as location specific, standalone concepts,” the report’s Appendix A states. Examples include shoulder and bicycle safety improvements, driveway access improvements, corridor capacity improvements and intersection modifications. 

The report’s summary sets out recommendations to noted problems on the corridor, including short-, mid-, and long-term “proposed concept options.”  

The three categories “are initial estimations of the amount of time that the proposed option can be designed and constructed. Short-term projects can typically be conducted within five years, mid-term projects can take up to ten years, and long-term projects can take up to 25 years.” 

The report states that “implementation of the study concept options will require further coordination with county officials. An important driver of MDOT’s funding decisions is each county’s transportation priorities letter.” Partnering with the county on “interim improvements where feasible” is also an option. 

The history of Route 404 stretches back about 100 years where it began in Matapeake at the old Chesapeake Bay ferry crossing, then was extended across the Bay to State Route 2. Finally, at the end of World War II, the route’s western terminus was relocated to Wye Mills. For most of its existence this nearly 25-mile long highway from U.S. Route 50 to the Delaware state line comprised single east-west lanes.  

Many serious and fatal accidents occurred on 404. The Route 404 Memorial Garden near Denton was dedicated in May 2011, memorializing 120 people who were killed in car accidents along Route 404. Thanks to the efforts and advocacy of Marie Freeman of Denton, whose daughter was killed in an accident on Route 404, the last stage of construction of the dualized highway from Wye Mills to Denton was completed in 2017.  

For more information or to view the report’s executive summary, visit SHA’s Project Portal at https://bit.ly/MDOTSHA-MD404-Denton-MD16-North-Study. To request a copy of the full report, email MD404PELSTUDY@mdot.maryland.gov.