Maryland Route 2 partially coincident with Maryland Route 4
Route description
MD 2 serves as a north–south route located a short distance to the west of the Chesapeake Bay in Calvert and Anne Arundel counties and in the city of Baltimore in Maryland. In Calvert County, the route runs through mostly rural areas, passing through the communities of Solomons Island, Lusby, Port Republic, Prince Frederick, Huntingtown, Sunderland, and Owings. Between Solomons Island and Sunderland, the route runs concurrent with MD 4. In Anne Arundel County, MD 2 runs through rural areas of the southern part of the county before reaching the Annapolis area, where it shares a concurrency with US 50/US 301 on the John Hanson Highway. From Annapolis, the route heads through suburban areas in the northern part of Anne Arundel County as the Ritchie Highway, passing through Arnold, Severna Park, Pasadena, Glen Burnie, and Brooklyn Park. It continues north into Baltimore, where it heads toward its terminus north of the downtown area. At 79.24 mi (127.52 km), it is the longest state highway in Maryland.Calvert County
MD 2 heads north on Solomons Island Road, a two-lane undivided road in Solomons Island, Calvert County from an intersection with Lore Road and an off-ramp from northbound MD 4 known as MD 2G. A short distance later, a portion of MD 765 called MD 765R continues north along Solomons Island Road, while MD 2 merges onto MD 4 at an interchange to form a concurrency with that route on a four-lane divided highway a short distance north of where MD 4 crosses the Patuxent River over the Governor Thomas Johnson Bridge. Upon merging with MD 4, the road continues north as Solomons Island Road, passing commercial areas to the east and a U.S. Navy Recreation Center to the west. It continues north-northeast into wooded areas, with MD 765 running a short distance to the east of the road. This portion of the road, also known as the Louis L. Goldstein Highway in honor of Louis L. Goldstein, a former Comptroller of Maryland, intersects with MD 760 (Rousby Hall Road). MD 2/MD 4 heads north to an intersection with MD 497 (Cove Point Road) and turns north-northwest, passing near Calvert Cliffs State Park.MD 765 eventually crosses the route in Lusby and runs to the west of it as Pardoe Road, where it is officially called MD 765Q. MD 765 ends at the road a short distance to the north and emerges to the east of the road again as Nursery Road a short distance later. Solomons Island Road intersects MD 2N (Calvert Cliffs Parkway), which provides access to the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant and another segment of MD 765 which runs to the west of the route on Saw Mill Road. MD 2/MD 4 turns to the west, intersecting MD 765 before turning north-northwest again with MD 765 running to the east of the route as St. Leonard Road through the community of  St. Leonard. At the intersection with Ball Road/Calvert Beach Road in St. Leonard, the road passes east of a park and ride lot serving MTA Maryland commuter buses.  MD 2/MD 4 continues through woodland with some residences and businesses, before turning west at a junction with the western terminus of MD 509 (Governor Run Road) into a mix of farmland and woodland, intersecting MD 264 (Broomes Island Road) and MD 765 again in Port Republic.
Past this intersection, the road continues west through a mix of farms, woods with some residences and businesses.  MD 2/MD 4 turns north as it intersects MD 506 (Sixes Road) and a different segment of MD 765 known as MD 765A branches off to the east of MD 2/MD 4 onto Main Street as the road approaches Prince Frederick. The road passes woodland before heading northwest into commercial areas of Prince Frederick. Here, MD 2/MD 4 widens to six lanes before it crosses MD 231. Beyond this intersection, the road passes more businesses, turning north and intersecting MD 765 (Main Street) again. A short distance past MD 765, Solomons Island Road intersects MD 402 (Dares Beach Road). MD 2/MD 4 narrows back to four lanes as it passes more businesses as well as the Calvert Health Medical Center east of the road before heading into areas of farms, woods, and residences.  It intersects the western terminus of MD 263 (Plum Point Road),  then continues to Huntingtown, where MD 524 loops west of the route into Huntingtown as Old Town Road. A park and ride lot is located southwest of the intersection with the southern terminus of MD 524. Along this stretch, the roadway passes west of Huntingtown High School. Past Huntingtown, the road continues through more rural areas of woodland and farmland with residential areas before MD 2 splits from MD 4 in Sunderland.At the split, MD 4 heads northwest on four-lane divided Southern Maryland Boulevard while MD 2 heads northeast on two-lane undivided Solomons Island Road. Shortly after splitting from MD 4, the route intersects the eastern terminus of MD 262 (Lower Marlboro Road) before passing east of a park and ride lot serving MTA Maryland commuter buses and heading into woodland with areas of residences and businesses. Another section of MD 765 called Wayside Drive loops to the west of MD 2 for a distance before MD 765 loops again to the east on Mt. Harmony Lane. MD 765 returns to MD 2 past this intersection and MD 778 then loops to the east of the route on Old Solomons Island Road. The route continues north to an intersection with MD 260 (Chesapeake Beach Road) near Owings.In Calvert County, the daily traffic counts on MD 2 range from a high of 47,681 vehicles at the intersection with MD 402 along the MD 4 concurrency in Prince Frederick to a low of 6,051 vehicles at the southern terminus in Solomons Island in 2007.In 1960, MD 416 was designated concurrent with MD 2 between Solomons and Sunderland. In 1965, the MD 416 concurrency was replaced by an overlap with MD 4. Also, MD 2 was shifted to a new alignment between Sunderland and Owings, with the former route becoming MD 765. MD 2/MD 4 was widened to a divided highway between Huntingtown and the split in Sunderland in 1967. The divided highway was extended to south of Huntingtown in 1969, bypassing Huntingtown to the east. The former alignment through the community became MD 524. In 1970, MD 2/MD 4 became a divided highway between Prince Frederick and south of Huntingtown. In January 1978, MD 4 was rerouted north of Solomons onto the Governor Thomas Johnson Bridge over the Patuxent River. In 1979, the divided highway was extended south from Prince Frederick to Port Republic. MD 2/MD 4 was shifted west to a new divided highway between south of St. Leonard to Port Republic in 1981, with the former two-lane routing designated part of MD 765. In 1987, MD 2/MD 4 between Solomons and south of St. Leonard was shifted to a new divided highway. The bypassed alignment through Lusby and Solomons became another part of MD 765.The Ritchie Highway was originally the main route between Baltimore and Annapolis prior to the completion of I-97 in 1995. Originally, MD 10 was intended to provide a limited-access route between Baltimore and Annapolis, but this route was not completed south of Pasadena after it was deemed that an alternative freeway along the MD 3 corridor (present-day I-97), which required less destruction of residences and businesses, should be built.In 2010, construction took place to improve the intersection of MD 2/MD 4 and MD 231 in Prince Frederick, widening the road to six lanes in the vicinity of the intersection. This project was the first phase of a larger project to expand MD 2/MD 4 to six lanes between MD 765 south of Prince Frederick and Stoakley Road north of Prince Frederick. In 2018, construction began on the second phase of widening between north of the MD 231 intersection and Fox Run Boulevard. The widening of this section was completed on November 23, 2020.
partially overlapping with partially intersecting with partially sharing with partially matching with partially aligning with