For 25 years, Montgomery County’s Rustic Roads Program has protected the historic and scenic roadways that reflect the County’s agricultural character and rural origins. An update to the Rustic Roads Functional Master Plan is currently in progress. In an online presentation of Montgomery History that will be available for free for one week starting Monday, Nov. 13, the progress of the program will be reviewed by host Kacy Rohn.
The talk, which was originally presented during the 2022 Montgomery County History Conference, will outline the work underway to bring new roads and new histories into the program.
The presentation will look at factors that reflect the diversity of the County’s past with previously underrepresented stories of women, freedom seekers and early African American. These communities enrich the historic landscapes traversed by the roadways.
To view the presentation, go to History Conversations (montgomeryhistory.org)
Rustic roads are historic and scenic roadways that reflect the agricultural character and rural origins of the County. Preservation of rustic roads must be achieved by retaining certain physical features of rustic roads and by certain right-of-way maintenance procedures.
Rustic and Exceptional Rustic roads are preserved under the Rustic Roads Program, which provides a system for evaluating, protecting and enhancing these scenic roadways. The program includes 114 roads.
An update to the Rustic Roads Functional Master Plan was approved by the Montgomery County Council on July 25. The update includes new rustic and exceptional rustic roads. It also includes new road profiles for existing rustic roads currently lacking a complete description. To receive future updates related to the Rustic Roads Program, sign up here.
The Rustic Roads Profile Viewer Map allows community members to read the complete road profiles for these historic and scenic roadways in the County that are currently in the Rustic Roads Program or have been nominated for inclusion in the program. The Profile Viewer currently shows road profiles from the Planning Board draft of the plan, but will be updated soon with the Council-approved profiles.
