By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer

If you are reading this article, there is a surefire chance that you have been a passenger on Route 40 in Cecil County, and therefore you cannot deny that it opens a window onto Maryland’s history, from the Colonial Era to the Industrial Age to the broadening influx of modern technology. 

Along this meandering stretch – 220 miles from Cecil County to Garrett County, and Maryland’s longest highway – you have crossed canals and stone bridges and seen rolling countrysides. You have visited several businesses along the highway and seen them become a cornerstone of local economic development. 

Known as the “Main Street of America,” Route 40 remains a principal east-west artery in a state highway network that comprises some 29,579 miles of interstate, primary and secondary roads and over 2,400 bridges. The establishment of Route 40 along the Maryland-Delaware line began when the final segment then known as the “Philadelphia Road” was completed in June 1941. At a ceremony held on June 16, Maryland Gov. Herbert R. O’Conor and Delaware Gov. Walter W. Bacon cut the ribbon signifying that the Maryland portion of Route 40 was formally linked to the Delaware thorofare.

The project, which cost $7.3 million, now gave passengers and businesses a modern, 47-mile-long highway between Wilmington and Baltimore.

In May 1944, the Philadelphia Road was rededicated as the Pulaski Highway, named after the Polish patriot and friend of Revolutionary War America.

Route 40 also put Cecil County on the map during the rising racial tensions of the 1960s in America and served as a primary road that was used by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) during their freedom marches to end segregation. In December 1961, more than 700 freedom riders rolled up and down the road in northeastern Maryland, demonstrating at 40 segregated restaurants. 

Unfortunately, however, you cannot deny that over the past few decades, you have witnessed a snake river of neglect and dust along the highway, reflected in outdated storefronts and signage that is well past its date of expiration. 

In an effort to beautify the highway and rejuvenate its appeal in Cecil County and throughout the state, Maryland recently launched the Route 40 Business Revitalization Grant for Fiscal Year 2025. In alignment with the county’s economic development strategic plan, the program was formed by Cecil County Department of Economic Development, the Department of Community Services and the Department of Land Use and Development Services.

Funding for the program is being provided by Maryland’s Video Lottery Terminal Fund (VLT), that uses proceeds from video lottery terminals at six casinos in the state to assist small, minority, and women owned businesses located in targeted areas around the state. The grant’s mission will be to assist businesses and organizations striving to improve their exterior image and function, resulting in an enhanced visual appearance and increased utilization of the business by the community. 

The maximum award per grant application is $25,000, and disbursement of grant funding will only be made on a reimbursement basis.

“The original concept that led to the program began as a way to incentivize organizations and businesses along Route 40 in Cecil County to make improvements and upgrades with two main ideas in mind: to stimulate economic and community development and improve the visual aesthetic of the highway, especially for passengers who drive up and down the corridor,” said Earl Grey, the director of the Cecil County Housing Agency. “Outside of Route I-95 and to a lesser degree Route 1, Route 40 is the gateway for people from Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey. This is an idea to encourage drivers people to get off the highway and see Cecil County as something more important, not just as a road. 

“We want to create an aesthetic that is brighter and feels better.”

Through the program, business owners will be eligible to receive improvements to their sidewalks, driveways and parking lots, signage, lighting, siding, entrances, porches, decks and fencing, as well as landscaping/hardscaping and demolition and removal of materials. Existing businesses that include residential accommodations will be considered, but the property must be clearly identified predominantly as a business and maintain regular, publicized operating hours.

Whether a business receives a grant will depend on if they have completed a detailed application; that all documents have been received; proof that the project description will enhance and revitalize the visual appearance from Route 40; and whether the business is stable and provides a positive impact on the local community. 

The improvements can be implemented with a completion date of June 30, 2025.

Grey, who commutes 100 miles round-trip miles from his home to his office in Elkton along Route 40 said that the program’s success will depend upon a business owner’s willingness to “beautify” his or her business storefront, one that he sees could develop as part of a “snowball effect.”

When a business owner drives past a competitor whose storefront looks cleaner than theirs, not only does that make them think to themselves, ‘This looks really nice, and maybe I should do that,’ there is the realization that this business is competing with theirs, and that it is financially a wise investment to create a more appealing look,” he said. “The long-term hope of the Route 40 Business Revitalization Grant is to achieve a ‘Rising tides raise all ships’ metaphor up and down the corridor. We have to be patient and hopefully we’ll continue to see those positive changes, and those who drive up and down Route 40 will begin to see those changes as well.” 

To apply for the Route 40 Business Revitalization Grant for Fisal year 2025, visit www.ccgov.org/government/economic-development/route-40-business-revitalization-program