year, keen for an improved road to fully extend between Baltimore and Cumberland, the Maryland General Assembly conscripted the state's banks to fund turnpike companies to complete the gap between Boonsboro and Cumberland with the benefit of having their charters extended from 1816 to 1835. The banks opposed this measure but reluctantly bankrolled the construction of a road from Conocheague Creek to Cumberland between 1816 and 1818 and from Hagerstown to Conococheague Creek in 1818 and 1819. The Maryland General Assembly used their powers again in 1821, agreeing to extend the banks' charters to 1845 if they would fund a turnpike in the gap between Boonsboro and Hagerstown. When this road, the Hager's-Town and Boonsborough Turnpike (later called just the Boonsboro Turnpike), was completed in 1823, it became the first macadam road constructed in the United States, followed shortly thereafter by the National Road. The Baltimore and Fredericktown and National turnpikes remained in operation through 1909. State road construction and bypass In 1909, the nascent Maryland State Highway Administration (MDSRC) designated the road between Frederick and Hagerstown for improvement as one of the original state roads. The commission's first task was to acquire the necessary right-of-way by purchasing the two turnpikes in 1911. MDSRC reconstructed the road between Frederick and Hagerstown with a wide macadam surface from Frederick to Middletown and from South Mountain to Boonsboro in 1913. The state road was built from Middletown to South Mountain and from Boonsboro to Hagerstown in 1914. The portion of the highway within Boonsboro was paved in 1915. The last portion of the Frederick–Hagerstown state road to be constructed was within Funkstown, where the highway was surfaced with concrete by 1919. The highway was designated part of US 40 in 1927. Around 1926, US 40 received its first improvement when concrete shoulders were added to expand the roadway from to in width. By 1934, MDSRC recommended widening the highway to from west of Frederick to east of Hagerstown. Ultimately, the commission decided to construct a new highway between the two cities that would shorten the distance by and bypass the sharp curves and limited sight distances of the old road. Grading and drainage work on the new highway began in 1936 and was completed in 1938 for the first roadway of what would ultimately become a divided highway. The first wide concrete roadway was constructed from downtown Hagerstown southeast to near Beaver