In the 1920s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers widened, straightened, and deepened the canal. As part of their work, the agency constructed a vertical lift bridge across the canal. Between 1924 and 1926, the Maryland State Roads Commission constructed approaches to the new bridge on both sides of the expanded canal, eliminating two narrow and dangerous bridges and four right-angle turns in Chesapeake City. The new route along George Street became part of U.S. Route 213 (US 213) in 1927. The two blocks along 3rd Street and Bohemia Street became the western end of MD 286. After the tanker "Franz Klasen" destroyed the vertical lift bridge on July 28, 1942, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed the present tied arch Chesapeake City Bridge and new approach roads to the bridge between 1946 and 1949. US 213 was moved to the new Chesapeake City Bridge, leaving behind MD 537C on George Street.