md 175 was constructed from ellicott city to millersville in the late 1920s and early 1930s as part of three routes: md 531 from md 103 near ellicott city to us 1 near jessup, md 175 from there to fort meade and north to hanover, and md 180 from odenton to millersville. the highway did not originally extend through fort meade; md 175 was constructed through the military installation in the early 1940s as part of major upgrades to the highway from jessup to odenton due to its strategic importance. by 1946, md 175 extended from ellicott city to millersville. the highway was widened from odenton to millersville in the late 1940s and from ellicott city to odenton in the mid-1950s. md 175 was relocated at i-95 around 1970 and as a major highway through the newly constructed community of columbia in the mid-1970s. the old portion of the highway from ellicott city to the new highway became md 108 and md 104. there are plans to expand md 175 to a multi-lane divided highway through fort meade due to increased activity at the army post.