Portal:Maryland roads/Selected article/June 2015

Maryland Route 2 (MD 2) is a 79.24-mile (127.52 km) route that runs from Solomons Island in Calvert County north to an intersection with U.S. Route 1 (US 1) and US 40 Truck (North Avenue) in Baltimore, Maryland. The route runs concurrent with MD 4 through much of Calvert County along a four-lane divided highway known as Solomons Island Road. In Sunderland, MD 2 splits from MD 4 and continues north as two-lane undivided Solomons Island Road into Anne Arundel County. Upon reaching Annapolis, the route runs concurrent with US 50 and US 301 around the city. Between Annapolis and Baltimore, MD 2 runs along the Governor Ritchie Highway, a multilane divided highway that heads through suburban areas. In Baltimore, the route heads north on city streets and passes through the downtown area of the city. What would become part of MD 2 was originally planned as two different state roads in 1909 and was built in the 1910s and 1920s. MD 2 was designated in 1927 between Solomons and Baltimore, using Solomons Island Road, streets through Annapolis, the Baltimore–Annapolis Boulevard, and the state road between Glen Burnie and Baltimore. MD 2 was marked up to US 1 in Baltimore in 1939. In the 1930s, MD 2 was realigned onto the four-lane Governor Ritchie Highway between Annapolis and Baltimore, the former routing along Baltimore–Annapolis Boulevard became MD 648. Ritchie Highway became a divided highway in 1950. Between the 1930s and the 1950s, several upgrades and realignments occurred to the portion of MD 2 between Solomons and Annapolis. MD 2 was realigned to bypass Annapolis on the US 50 freeway in 1955. The route between Solomons and Sunderland became concurrent with MD 416 in 1960, which was renumbered to MD 4 in 1965. Between the 1960s and the 1980s, MD 2/MD 4 between Solomons and Sunderland was widened into a divided highway. (more...)

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