page_title: U.S. Route 2
section_title: Montana
hierarchical_section_title: U.S. Route 2 / Route description / Western segment / Montana
caption_attribution_description: English: U.S. Route 2 in Essex, Montana.
context_page_description: U.S. Route 2 or U.S. Highway 2 is an east–west U.S. Highway spanning 2,571 miles across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected by various roadways in southern Canada. Unlike some routes, which are disconnected into segments because of encroaching Interstate Highways, the two portions of US 2 were designed to be separate in the original 1926 highway plan.
  The western segment of US 2 begins at an interchange with Interstate 5 and State Route 529 in Everett, Washington, and ends at I-75 in St. Ignace, Michigan. The eastern segment of US 2 begins at US 11 in Rouses Point, New York and ends at I-95 in Houlton, Maine.
  As its number indicates, it is the northernmost east–west U.S. Route in the country. It is the lowest primary-numbered east–west U.S. Route, whose numbers otherwise end in zero, and was so numbered to avoid a US 0. Sections of US 2 in New England were once New England Route 15, part of the New England road marking system.
context_section_description: US 2 is a vital northern corridor for Montana and has more mileage within Montana than in any other state. It intersects US 93 at Kalispell and passes through the southern end of Glacier National Park, crossing the continental divide at Marias Pass, before it enters the Great Plains west of Browning. It travels through Shelby where it meets Interstate 15, before it goes on to Havre and then onwards to Glasgow. The highway continues east and leaves the state near the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers.
caption: U.S. Route 2 in Essex, Montana
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "NIKON", "Image Model": "COOLPIX L840", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "COOLPIX L840V1.0", "Image DateTime": "2017:05:18 13:27:32", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "230", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "300", "Thumbnail YResolution": "300", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "58384", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3018", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1000", "EXIF FNumber": "6", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "125", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Standard Output Sensitivity", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2017:05:18 13:27:32", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2017:05:18 13:27:32", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "16/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "4", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4608", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3456", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "58354", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "23", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Landscape", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}