Interstate 97 - Route Description

Route Description

Interstate 97 begins at US 50/US 301/unsigned I-595 with a pair of collector distributor roadways feeding directly into I-97 at a directional-T interchange. To the south, the same C/D roads become Maryland Route 665 as a direct freeway spur into Annapolis. Directly afterward, I-97 passes over Maryland Route 450 with no interchange. The road continues northwest, weaving through a heavily wooded area with very few interactions with other roads. Its first interchange is with Maryland Route 178, though it is only accessible from the southbound carriageway, and traffic only enters into the northbound. There are no northbound off-ramps until exit 7, where the route interchanges with the ends of both Maryland Route 3 and Maryland Route 32. Within this interchange, Interstate 97 turns to the northeast and follows the former Maryland Route 3, shifting from a rural Interstate with few exits to a more urban one.

Along the former MD 3 corridor that Interstate 97 now follows, development begins to grow closer to the highway, and the route's road surface changes from asphalt to concrete for the remainder of the route. In Glen Burnie the route interchanges with Maryland Route 3 Business, a former alignment of MD 3 that now no longer connects directly to its parent route. Beyond this, it interchanges with Maryland Route 100, another important freeway in Anne Arundel County. It passes over the Baltimore Light Rail as it crosses and interchanges with Maryland Route 648 a little while later, near Cromwell Station.

Interstate 97 ends outside of Baltimore at an interchange with the Baltimore Beltway, one of a series of interconnected interchanges which includes Maryland Route 2 and a spur of Interstate 895. The main carriageways become the I-895 spur, while the ramps to the westbound Beltway become the latter route's main travel lanes.