Area 51 F-117 became operational in 1983, operations at Groom Lake have continued. The base and its associated runway system were expanded, including expansion of housing and support facilities. In 1995, the federal government expanded the exclusionary area around the base to include nearby mountains that had hitherto afforded the only decent overlook of the base, prohibiting access to of land formerly administered by the Bureau of Land Management. On 22 October 2015 a federal judge signed an order giving land that belonged to a Nevada family since the 1870s to the United States Air Force for expanding Area 51. According to
Maryland Route 51 state highway reduces to a two-lane road after passing Uhl Highway, an old alignment of MD 51 that is unsigned MD 51E. The rail yard ends at Mexico Farms Road, which provides access to Mexico Farms Airport and the Warrior Run Generating Station. Within the hamlet of North Branch, MD 51 intersects as other end of Uhl Highway as well as Pittsburgh Plate Glass Road, which serves the North Branch Industrial Complex, including Federal Correctional Institution, Cumberland. MD 51 enters a rural area and parallels the C&O Canal southeast through Spring Gap. The state highway turns away from the Potomac