Jones Falls Expressway

The Jones Falls Expressway (JFX) is a 10.2-mile-long (16.4 km) freeway that carries I-83 from Downtown Baltimore to the northern suburbs. It is the area's true north–south artery because I-95 runs mostly east–west through the city. Its southern terminus is at Fayette Street, and its northern terminus is at Maryland Route 25 (MD 25), just north of the Baltimore Beltway (I-695). Inside Baltimore, the road is maintained not by the Maryland State Highway Administration (MDSHA), which controls most freeways in the state, but by the city's department of transportation.

The freeway begins at an at-grade, four-way intersection between the JFX, Fayette Street, and President Street, located in close proximity to the Phoenix Shot Tower. President Street continues south along the eastern edge of the central business district (CBD) to terminate at a traffic circle in Inner Harbor East. Fayette Street serves as an access route into the downtown area.

Passing beneath the Orleans Street Viaduct (US 40), the JFX runs north, passing near the Washington Monument. Between exits 3 and 4, there is a 90-degree turn that sometimes requires motorists to slow down just before entering it, with an advisory speed posted at 40 mph (64 km/h). The curve is located between the Guilford Avenue and Preston Street overpasses. Within the curve, the southbound JFX interchanges with MD 2, with an exit to St. Paul Street and an entrance from Charles Street (MD 139).

Having passed this curve, the JFX begins to parallel MD 25, going under the Howard Street Bridge and interchanging with Maryland Avenue and North Avenue (US 1/US 40 Truck) before continuing north past Druid Lake, forming the northeastern boundary of Druid Hill Park. Running northwest out of the city center, the JFX is paralleled by its namesake river, the Jones Falls, on one side, and the Maryland Transit Administration's Baltimore Light RailLink line on the other. Closer to downtown, the light rail line peels off in a different direction, while the falls flows directly underneath the elevated freeway.

After interchanging with Cold Spring Lane and Northern Parkway (between which lies Cylburn Arboretum), the JFX exits Baltimore, entering Baltimore County. Passing close to Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital, Mount Saint Agnes College, and Jones Falls Park, the route skirts the edge of Lake Roland before interchanging with Ruxton Road just south of I-695 (Baltimore Beltway).

At the beltway, I-83 leaves the JFX and joins I-695 for a distance of 1.4 miles (2.3 km), where it separates from the latter route to continue onward into northern Maryland. Meanwhile, the JFX continues for another 0.5 miles (0.80 km) in a four-lane divided format before terminating at an at-grade intersection with MD 25 (Falls Road). I-83 and I-695 split off at the southern terminus of the Baltimore–Harrisburg Expressway, and I-695 continues its eastward trek toward Towson and Parkville.

Baltimore–Harrisburg Expressway

After separating from the beltway, I-83 is now known as the Baltimore–Harrisburg Expressway. Running due north away from the beltway, the route parallels MD 45 (York Road), the former route of US 111. Passing to the west of Timonium and Cockeysville, I-83 leaves the suburban belt around Baltimore and enters rural Baltimore County just north of Hunt Valley at Shawan Road. I-83 and MD 45 continue to parallel one another through the northern portion of the county, with MD 45 crossing over I-83 once, at an interchange. This segment of I-83 has several sections with higher than usual gradients.

The only major settlement encountered by I-83 along this stretch is Monkton, reached via MD 137. To the west of I-83, MD 137 connects with the northern terminus of MD 25, I-83's former companion to the south.

The Interstate eventually crosses the Mason–Dixon line into York County, Pennsylvania, 25 miles (40 km) north of Baltimore, mere feet from a partial interchange with Freeland Road and parallel with MD 45; the latter route becomes the Susquehanna Trail when it reaches Pennsylvania.

Planning

As part of the planning for an east–west route through Baltimore, the alignment of the JFX underwent various modifications. Under the original plan for freeways in Baltimore, the 1962 Baltimore 10-D Interstate System, the JFX would have junctioned I-70N (which became I-70 in 1975) and I-95, which were planned to follow an east–west route through the southern edge of the CBD, near the southeastern edge of the CBD. The JFX would end at roughly the same location where it currently does.^[17] As a result of community opposition to other portions of the 10-D System, the 1969 Baltimore 3-A Interstate and Boulevard System was adopted by the city. In this plan, the JFX would continue south along its present alignment then turn east and pass through the Fell's Point neighborhood on a six-lane elevated viaduct, before continuing east along Boston Street to junction I-95 (which was also rerouted to its current alignment) north of the Fort McHenry Tunnel. In the mid-1970s, this plan was modified due to fears that the viaduct would result in destruction of the Fell's Point area, which contains many historic properties. Under the modification, I-83 would continue south and descend into a six-lane underwater tunnel beneath the Inner Harbor, then turn east under the harbor, pass to the south of Fell's Point, return to the surface in the Canton area and continue to I-95.^[18]

Under this plan, I-83 was expected to act mostly as a northerly spur to and from the CBD and as an easterly spur to and from the CBD; through traffic was expected to be a small proportion of the total amount making use of the route. I-83's terminus at I-95 would have been a full three-way freeway-to-freeway interchange, with a full complement of ramps provided for access to and from Boston and O'Donnell streets.^[19] When construction began on I-95 through East Baltimore in the mid-1970s, a short six-lane section was built within the vicinity of the planned I-83 interchange. This was done in anticipation of I-83 connecting the CBD to I-95, the rest of which carries at least eight lanes of traffic throughout the city.

Truncation

By 1963, the JFX was completed as far south as Guilford Avenue and, by the mid-1970s, was extended to Monument Street. By 1983, the route extended all the way to Pleasant Street, with a dead-end bridge stub indicating plans to continue south along the 3-A alignment to I-95.

In September 1982, however, the segment of the JFX between Pleasant Street and I-95, a distance of 4.4 miles (7.1 km), was officially withdrawn from the Interstate Highway System. Robert Douglas, then the chief of the Interstate Division for Baltimore City (IDBC), stated at the time that the very high financial costs of the I-83 extension (estimated at $609 million in the early 1980s [equivalent to $2.06 billion in 2023^[20]], and likely to reach $1 billion [equivalent to $3.39 billion in 2023^[20]] with inflation taken into account) led to the cancelation of the segment. As a result, the JFX was truncated at Fayette Street, ending at an at-grade intersection.^[21]

To make up for the loss of the I-83 segment, the Jones Falls Boulevard project substantially rebuilt approximately 0.5 miles (0.80 km) of President Street between I-83 and the downtown area to provide the capacity to absorb traffic to and from the Interstate; the project was completed by 1987. Other roadways in the canceled I-83 corridor also benefited from major reconstruction and rehabilitation.^[21] The federal funding planned to be used for the I-83 extension was instead cross-transferred to other highway projects; routes that may have benefited^{[original research?]} include I-97, I-195, I-370, and the upgrade of a portion of the John Hanson Highway to I-595.