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U.S. Route 50 west/301 south - Queenstown to Bowie
The eastern merger between U.S. routes 50 and 301 occurs in Queenstown, Maryland, about 9 miles from the east end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The two routes will overlap for a total of about 33 miles. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Access to Nesbit Road at exit 45B is half a mile away. There is also an emergency room that can be reached from this exit. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Winchester Creek Road can be reached from each of the next 3 exits. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Bay Bridge-bound drivers are instructed to remain on US 50, bypassing all local exits along the next 8½ miles. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Exit 45B offers return access to US 50 east and can also be used to reach westbound Maryland Route 18, which is US 50's parallel local route along the Kent Narrows/Kent Island corridor. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Exit 45B, one of the only proper freeway interchanges along US 50 east of the Bay Bridge, is the first of four exits over a two-mile span. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The Nesbit Road overpass over US 50. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center can be reached from exit 44A. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Meanwhile, exit 45A leads to Hissey Road straight ahead. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The next three exits after 45A follow over 1½ miles. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Exit 45A is the first of several right-in/right-out (RIRO) interchanges along this portion of US 50, many of which replaced traffic signals. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Exit 44B is at Winchester Creek Road; exit 44A leads to Chester River Beach Road and the area of Grasonville. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Exit 44B consists of a hard-right turn to Winchester Creek. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Exit 44A, meanwhile, is at VFW Avenue. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
There is a subtle curve to the right between exits 44B and A. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Exit 44A is located two miles from the eastern Kent Narrows exit. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The exit 44A gore sign, typical of the RIROs along this corridor. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Just behind mile marker 44, the AM radio frequency 1610 is displayed for travel information, particularly bridge info. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Chester River Beach Road (spelled with a slash on this overpass) crosses at this spot. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
As the highway passes by a marsh, a lane to the far right is set aside for those wishing to exit at exit 43A at Jackson Creek Road. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The next two exits after Jackson Creek serve each side of Kent Narrows. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The exit 43A gore sign. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
There is then more signage reminding bridge traffic to remain on US 50 to the bridge. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Between exits, there is a US 50/301 shield assembly which also indicates the highway's status as a hurricane evacuation route. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Exit 42 leads to Maryland Route 18 (Main Street) and serves the east side of Kent Narrows, including the Cedar Point and Wells Cove marinas. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Exits at Piney Narrows and Piney Creek roads are on the other side of exit 42 and the forthcoming bridge. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
A Kent Narrows sign approaching the bridge is behind a pole. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
On the other side of the narrows, exit 41 also leads to MD 18 and serves Kent Narrows West, along with the Maryland Watermens Monument. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
As a through trafficway, this bridge replaced a parallel bridge to the immediate south now used by MD 18. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The westbound iteration of exit 41 is a cloverleaf offramp. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
After exit 41, a sign at right directs drivers bound for the Baltimore/Washington International (BWI) Airport on the opposite side of the Chesapeake to remain on US 50 to Interstate 97 west of Annapolis. This is likely the only instance of an Interstate shield on the Eastern Shore. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
At right, exit 40A services Piney Creek Road. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Both of the next two exits, Piney Creek Road (39B) and Castle Marina Road (39A), lead to Maryland Route 552, the community of Chester and Cox Neck Road. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The next 4 exits, up to the Bay Bridge, all serve Stevensville. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
MD 18 uses this overpass to cross US 50; it will end about two miles to the west. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Exit 39A leads to Castle Marina Road, ¾ mile prior to exit 38A at Duke Street. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The exit 39A gore sign. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Annapolis, Baltimore and Washington are located a respective 16, 43 and 44 miles away. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Services for drivers are located at exit 38A. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
After Duke Street, an interchange with MD 8 and the start of the Bay Bridge occur over the course of a mile. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Approaching Stevensville, US 50 crosses Bay tributary the Cox Creek. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Duke Street is the final RIRO before the bridge. The eastbound counterpart of this exit is Thompson Creek Road. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The first of many Bay Bridge lane indicators appears prior to exit 37. The left lane of the westbound span is reversible and is switched for eastbound traffic during peak beach travel times, usually at the onset of a weekend. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Exit 37, which intersects Maryland Route 8 (Romancoke Road) with control cities of Romancoke and Stevensville, is explicitly marked as the last exit before the bridge. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Exit 37 contains a number of services and landmarks, including the Bay Bridge Marina and Bay Bridge Airport. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The sign on the right of this gantry points the way to exit 37. MD 8 is the lowest-numbered state highway on the Eastern Shore; the state's single-digit highways are otherwise situated in central and southern Maryland. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The exit 37 gore sign. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The highway's speed limit drops to 50 MPH prior to the bridge. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The flashers on this overhead sign are activated when two-way traffic is in effect on the westbound span. That was the case on this day. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) oversees the Bay Bridge as is the case with every tolled facility in the state. However, on the Bay Bridge, tolls are not charged for westbound drivers. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
A newer overhead lane marker assembly alerts drivers of the two-way arrangement to the left. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Each direction of the bridge is also equipped with congestion flashers. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The east entrance of the bridge is here. Maryland's longest and largest bridge, the Bay Bridge is often considered one of the scariest in America, especially since it sits above a major estuary. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
At the very first lane westbound lane marker assembly sits a mounted speed trap. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Small signs on each end of the span mark the highway's transition from Queen Anne's into Anne Arundel County. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
More congestion flashers sit to the right of these lane markers. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The westbound span reaches its midway point right around here before it starts descending. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Downtown Annapolis sits just off to the left of this photo. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The bridge curves near its west end, one mile from a weigh station. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The bridge ends on Anne Arundel County's Broad Neck near E-ZPass Adminstration offices. To the left is where the eastbound tollbooths used to sit before removal in 2021. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Exit 32 intersects Oceanic Drive in ¼ mile. This provides access to Sandy Point State Park which sits beside the west end of the Bay Bridge. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Exit 32 is on the other side of the overpass ahead. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The westbound ramp to Oceanic Drive is a cloverleaf that parallels US 50 as it passes under Oceanic Drive. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Past exit 32, the SHA regains control of US 50. The median changes from grass to a concrete barrier, and the highway begins paralleling College Parkway. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
To the left, there used be access from US 50 east to Skidmore Drive and Whitehall Road at a crossover marked as exit 31. This was permanently blocked off in 2023 for safety reasons. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
In half a mile, US 50 will meet Cape St. Claire Road and Maryland Route 179 (St. Margarets Road) at exit 29. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Buschs Frontage Road, Whitehall Road and College Parkway are all accessible from the next exit. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Exit 28 lies straight ahead. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Exit 28 intersects Bay Dale Drive in one mile. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Exit 28 can also be used to reach Old Mill Bottom Road. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Exit 27B, which sits one mile past exit 28, leads to northbound Maryland Route 2 (Ritchie Highway) which leads northwest to the area of Severna Park. To the left, the two exits serving downtown Annapolis have their distances posted. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The Bay Dale overpass. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Exit 27A leads to southbound Maryland Route 450 (West Street) toward the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. Prior to exit 27B, US 50 has separate westbound access to one of many disconnected segments of Maryland Route 648 (Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard). Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Before exit 27B there is a US 50/301 reassurance assembly. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The portion of MD 648 intersected here is officially MD 648F. Photo taken 06-24-2025.
From exit 27B, MD 2 makes a beeline northwest through Arnold, Severna Park, Pasadena and Glen Burnie, where it turns north toward Brooklyn Park and south Baltimore. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Approaching exit 27A, a ramp from MD 2 south to US 50 east/301 north flies overhead. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The exit 27A gore sign. Exit 27A is a cloverleaf ramp. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Below this overpass, exit 27A merges with a ramp from MD 2 south to provide the through movement between MD 2 south and MD 450 south. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
There is now a three-way route concurrency or triplex at play (US 50, US 301 and MD 2). Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge over the tidal Severn River begins one mile before exit 24 with Maryland Route 70 (Bestgate Road/Rowe Boulevard). Meanwhile, in addition to (rightfully) disregarding MD 2, the sign at left makes it seem as though US 301 in general is an east-west highway, even though it is trying to convey that US 50 is the through route along this corridor. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
After the Severn bridge, signs bill historic Annapolis and its State House, the football stadium of the Navy Midshipmen, and the Maryland Fire Rescue Memorial to exit 24A. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
On the right, a small blue sign states an AM radio frequency, 1620, for Annapolis event info and parking. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Exit 24B, to Bestgate, sits on the other side of an overpass carrying Ridgely Avenue over the highway. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
One mile after exit 24A, exit 23A facilitates MD 2's departure from the US 50 corridor as Solomons Island Road, with control cities of Parole (the census-designated place containing the swath of retail and suburbia to the west and north of Annapolis city limits) and Prince Frederick, the seat of Calvert County located 33 miles' drive to the south. It is also right around the point pictured here where the unsigned designation of Interstate 595 begins, thus making a quadruplex (four-way concurrency) - the only such instance in Maryland. Photo taken 06-24-2025.
The exit 24A gore sign. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Driver services are available at exits 23A and B. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Jennifer Road and the Anne Arundel Medical Center can be reached from exit 23A. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
One mile past exit 23A, exit 23B leads to MD 450, which has gone through downtown Annapolis in the meantime, leading to Maryland Route 178 and Crownsville. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Approaching exit 23B, there is one-mile advance signage for exit 21 at the south end of Interstate 97, which heads north toward Baltimore. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The highway goes over MD 2 and is once again a triplex (US 50, US 301 and I-595). Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Annapolis' Government Park can be reached from exit 22 just ahead. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Sandwiched between MD 450 and I-97, exit 22 intersects the west end of Maryland Route 665 (Aris T. Allen Boulevard). Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The westbound iteration of exit 21 begins as a lengthy collector-distributor; the actual interchange is almost a mile away from the start of the ramp. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The US 50/I-97 split is seen here. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
This sign, situated below the ramp from MD 665 west to US 50 west, points toward exit 22, which going west is a long ramp essentially forming a U-turn to MD 665 east. Just to the east of here, MD 665 has an interchange with Riva Road, the main road through the south side of Parole and the namesake community of Riva just across the South River. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The exit 22 gore sign. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The ramp to MD 665 east passes overhead here; its sharp turnaround curve is faintly visible. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Drivers coming in from westbound MD 665 who intend to take US 50 anywhere west of I-97 must navigate through the exit 21 C-D first. On the flipside, the C-D provides a measure of convenience to drivers needing to get to I-97 from MD 665. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Surrounded by bushes, the highway glides downhill before going back up and passing by exit 21. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
After sending off the ramp to northbound I-97 proper, the C-D merges back onto westbound US 50 to the right. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The sweeping ramp from I-97 south to US 50 east passes under US 50 below. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Then, the ramp from US 50 east to I-97 north flies overhead. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
At right, the highway collects traffic entering from I-97 south. Leaving the Annapolis hub behind, US 50 now suddenly finds itself in a relatively rural area. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
This next portion of US 50/301 is known as the John Hanson Highway, after the Revolutionary War Continental Congressman and Articles of Confederation signee from Maryland. It was upgraded to Interstate Highway standards as I-595 between exits 24 and 7 during the first half of the 1990s. After signs intended to display I-595 shields had been put up, however, the SHA decided at the last minute to leave it unmarked, as they believed US 50's status among central Marylanders as "the way to the ocean" made I-595 superfluous. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The highway soon crosses South Haven Road, which turns into Crownsville Road to the north. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The city of Bowie is 7 miles' drive from this sign. An interchange with Interstate 95/495 (Capital Beltway) is 15 miles ahead, and downtown Washington, DC is 25 miles away. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Within a small dip in the highway, US 50 crosses a non-tidal portion of the South River. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The median then expands slightly, filling with grass and a guardrail, and curves slightly to the left. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
This blue sign posts attractions that can be reached from the forthcoming exit 16: the Renditions Golf Course beside the Patuxent River in the exurb of Davidsonville, and the Homestead Gardens a mile or so to the east of that. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Exit 16 intersects Maryland Route 424 (Davidsonville Road) with control cities of Davidsonville to the south and Crofton to the north, and is a mile away. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
US 50 crosses Rutland Road prior to exit 16. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Exit 16 is the site of an MTA park and ride lot. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Trucks over 13 tons are prohibited on MD 424 north. They must remain on US 50 for one more exit and take MD 3 north along the west side of Crofton. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Exit 16 is a type of partial cloverleaf interchange or "parclo" where the offramps to MD 424 from each direction of US 50 are diamond-style, whereas the onramps to US 50 from MD 424 are cloverleaf in style. This leaves nothing at the northwest or southeast quadrants of the interchange. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
After it receives traffic from MD 424 to the right, US 50 passes under MD 424. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The final US 301 shield along US 50 west sits alongside the US 50 shield at right. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Washington and Richmond, Virginia are a respective 20 and 128 miles away. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Blue service signs, beginning with lodging, now begin to appear for the two exits serving Bowie. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Located two miles away, exit 13 is where US 301 splits from US 50 toward southern Maryland and Richmond, Virginia. The other leg of that interchange is a movement to northbound Maryland Route 3, the main drag through the densely-developed communities of Crofton and Gambrills. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The highway then crosses Patuxent River Road. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
One mile out, exit 13 is revealed to have three offramps lettered C, B and A. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Six Flags America, which announced its impending closure prior to these photos being taken in 2025, can be reached from exit 13A by taking US 301 south to Central Avenue west. Old Town Bowie can be reached from exit 11. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
US 50 then crosses the Patuxent River, which serves as the line between the Baltimore and Washington metropolitan areas for much of its course. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The highway's crossing of the Patuxent takes it from Anne Arundel into Prince George's County. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
Exit 13C leads to Belair Drive, the historic Melford mansion and the modern commercial complex surrounding it. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The stadium of minor league baseball's Chesapeake Baysox, formerly the Bowie Baysox, is located at the first traffic light southbound on US 301. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The highway reaches exit 13 and US 301 splits from US 50, which continues west to Washington. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
The offramps to both MD 3 north and US 301 south are off a collector-distributor; in turn, the ramp to Belair Drive is off the ramp from US 50 west to MD 3 north. Photo taken 06-04-2025.
