Route 32 East

MD 32 descends toward its freeway beginning at the Exit 20 diamond interchange with MD 108 (Clarksville Pike).

08/27/05

MD 108 meets MD 32 at the Clarksville community. Traveling 34.23 miles, MD 108 begins at MD 27 in Damascus and ends at MD 175 near Interstate 95.

08/27/05

MD 32 widens from a two lane rural road into a four lane suburban freeway from MD 108 (Exit 20) southeast to its terminus at Interstate 97 and MD 3. Use MD 108 west to Olney and east to Columbia.

08/27/05

Heading east, MD 32 next meets U.S. 29 in three miles, followed by the directional cloverleaf interchange with Interstate 95 in seven miles.

08/27/05

A half diamond interchange joins MD 32 west with Great Star Drive. One mile east of that on-ramp is the Exit 17 diamond interchange with Cedar Lane north and Sanner Road south.

08/27/05

Cedar Lane travels north from MD 32 to Atholton, Hickory Ridge, and Columbia. Sanner Road continues the road southward to Holiday Hills and the John Hopkins Applied Physics Lab.

08/27/05

Exit 17 leaves MD 32 eastbound for Sanner Road south and Cedar Lane north. Cedar Lane provides the second exit serving the Columbia area. Sanner Road meanwhile replaced Pindell School Road as the second street mentioned on Exit 17 signs. Pindell School Road stems southwest from Guilford Road nearby to MD 216 near Fulton.

08/27/05

MD 32 spans the Little Patuxent River on the one mile approach to the cloverleaf interchange with U.S. 29 (Exits 16A/B).

10/04/09

A collector distributor lane facilitates the movements to U.S. 29 (Columbia Pike) from MD 32 east. U.S. 29 follows a freeway northward from the Patuxent River / Montgomery County line to its terminus at Mt. Hebron.

10/04/09

Traveling southwest, U.S. 29 (Columbia PIke) serves the Montgomery County suburbs to Silver Springs the District of Columbia. The freeway portion of U.S. 29 extended further south with the completion of the Inner County Connector (ICC) / MD 200 construction at Burtonsville.

10/04/09

Exit 16A loops onto U.S. 29 northbound ahead of Columbia. The freeway travels east of the Town Center to Ellicott City and Interstate 70.

10/04/09

08/27/05

A modified cloverleaf interchange ties MD 32 in with adjacent Old Columbia Road to connect with Eden Brook Drive south and Shaker Drive north.

10/04/09

Exit 15 loops onto Old Columbia Road west to Eden Brook and Shaker Drives. Eden Brook Drive serves the King's Contrivance area; Shaker Drive curves northwest to Atholton.

10/04/09

A six-ramp parclo immediately follows with Broken Land Parkway (Exits 14B/A) on MD 32 east. Broken Land Parkway stems north from Guilford Road at King's Contrivance to the Owen Brown community.

10/04/09

Heading north, Broken Land Parkway constitutes a four lane divided highway to Lake Elkhorn and Columbia, meeting U.S. 29 at Exit 18.

10/04/09

MD 32 next meets Interstate 95 at Exits 13B/A amid a wooded area near Savage.

10/04/09

Eastbound MD 32 expands to three lanes with a dedicated lane for Exit 13B, Interstate 95 south to Laurel, College Park, and Washington, DC.

10/04/09

A left exit connects MD 32 east with the left side of Interstate 95 north via Exit 13A.

10/04/09

Interstate 95 angles southwest parallel to U.S. 1 by Laurel 11 miles to the Capital Beltway.

10/04/09

A remaining button copy sign pictured here directs motorists onto Interstate 95 northbound for the city of Baltimore.

10/04/09

U.S. 1 (Washington Boulevard) meets MD 32 at a cloverleaf interchange between Savage and Jessup.

10/04/09

Passing under the Vollmerhaussen Road overpass ahead of the Exit 12B/A c/d roadway for U.S. 1. U.S. 1 (Washington Boulevard) travels south to downtown Laurel and north to Elkridge outside Baltimore.

10/04/09

Eastbound at the Exit 12 c/d roadway departure for U.S. 1. U.S. 1 travels 81.00 miles between the District of Columbia at Cottage City to Pennsylvania north of Rising Sun.

10/04/09

A white Interstate shield erroneously directs motorists onto the Exit 12 c/d roadway in lieu of a standard U.S. 1 shield.

10/04/09

MD 32 bisects an industrial area dotted with warehouses between U.S. 1 (Exit 12) and Dorsey Run Road (Exit 11).

10/04/09

Dorsey Run Road travels south to Brock Ridge Road from the parclo interchange (Exit 11) at Annapolis Junction.

10/04/09

MD 32 eastbound at Exit 11 to Dorsey Run Road. Dorsey Run Road continues northeast to Guilford Road and MD 175 (Jessup Road).

10/04/09

Exits 10B/A serve not only Baltimore-Washington Parkway, but also Canine Road east to the National Security Agency (NSA) complex at Fort George G. Meade. Despite the shared exit numbers, these are three separate ramps.

10/04/09

Another in the series of cloverleaf interchanges facilitates the movements between MD 32 (Patuxent Freeway) and the National Park Service-maintained portion of Baltimore-Washington Parkway. B-W Parkway leads southwest to Greenbelt, Bladensburg, and Washington, DC.

10/04/09

Baltimore-Washington Parkway north provides the most direct route to Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI) via Interstate 195 east.

10/04/09

Exit 10A loops onto Baltimore-Washington Parkway northbound to Landsdowne and Baltimore. The parkway transitions to MD 295 north of the MD 175 cloverleaf interchange nearby. The Canine Road off-ramp departs just beyond Exit 10A; Canine Road connects with Colony Seven Road nearby and the NSA north parking area.

10/04/09

The second Fort Meade exit of MD 32 east connects with Canine Road north and Samford Road east via Exit 9.

10/04/09

Exit 9 is unusual in that it utilizes a roundabout to handle movements from MD 32 east to Samford Road and from Samford Road west to MD 32 east. This exit is otherwise restricted to government employees.

10/04/09

MD 198 (Laurel Fort Meade Road) meets MD 32 at the final Fort Meade interchange (Exit 8).

10/04/09

One half mile west of the Exit 8 diamond interchange with MD 198 (Laurel Fort Mead Road) west and Mapes Road north to Fort Meade.

10/04/09

MD 32 (Patuxent Freeway) eastbound at the Exit 8 off-ramp to MD 198 and Mapes Road. Roundabouts lie at the end of both on and off-ramps. Beginning at Exit 8, MD 198 constitutes a 12.98 mile route west to MD 650 at Spencerville.

10/04/09

This distance sign along eastbound MD 32 is located immediately after the MD 198/Laurel-Fort Meade Road interchange. It is seven miles from here to the eastern terminus at Interstate 97. Crownsville is 11 miles east of here via MD 178/Generals Road (take Exit 5 from southbound Interstate 97), and Annapolis is 18 miles southeast of here via Interstate 97 south and U.S. 50-301 (Interstate 595) east.

10/04/09

Like other state route freeways in the vicinity, Maryland uses larger sized shields for MD 32 as it follows the freeway corridor between U.S. 29 and Interstate 97. A commuter route, MD 32 carries significant traffic during the morning and afternoon rush hours. As a bypass route, it also affords a controlled access route from Annapolis to Interstate 70 westbound without passing through Baltimore or using the Interstate 695 Baltimore Beltway.

06/07/04

The next exit along eastbound after MD 198 is with MD 175 to Odenton and Fort Meade. Odenton is located south of MD 32.

10/04/09

MD 175 follows Annapolis Road southeast into Odenton and northwest into Fort George G. Meade. Between U.S. 29 and MD 3, MD 175/Annapolis Road parallels MD 32 along its 17.01 mile path. The state route connects the freeway with the nearby MARC commuter rail station.

10/04/09

As eastbound MD 32 reaches Exit 6 to MD 175, overhead signage indicates Annapolis as the control point. Although the route to Annapolis is entirely freeway from here, motorists must take MD 32 east to its end, then follow Interstate 97 south to U.S. 50-301 (Interstate 595) east.

06/07/04

Upcoming MD 170 (Telegraph Road) is a major arterial heading south into downtown Odenton and north to Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI). The state route culminates at the Baltimore city-county limits and MD 2 (Governor Ritchie Highway / Potee Street).

10/04/09

MD 170 is not to be confused with the once proposed but unconstructed Interstate 170 spur in Baltimore, which was to connect once-proposed Interstate 70 with downtown Baltimore via the Mulberry Street viaduct. Other duplications of route numbers between Interstates and state routes include Interstate 68 and MD 68 in the panhandle and Interstate 97 and MD 97 in central Maryland.

06/07/04

Exit 5 leaves MD 32 east for MD 170 (Telegraph Road) south to Odenton and north to Severn and MD 174 (Donaldson Avenue). Overall MD 170 totals 12.98 miles between Baltimore and MD 677 at Odenton.

10/04/09

The penultimate exit along eastbound is Exit 3, Burns Crossing Road to Gambrills and Odenton.

10/04/09

Burns Crossing Road meets MD 32 (Patuxent Freeway) at a folded diamond interchange east of the MD 175 roundabout with MD 677 and Sappington Station Road at Gambrills. Burns Crossing Road north meanders northward to Mayfield and Ridgeway.

10/04/09

The final exit along eastbound MD 32 connects with Interstate 97 and MD 3. I-97 heads south to Annapolis, and through lanes directly connect from MD 32 onto the freeway. MD 3 travels south to Bowie, where it meets U.S. 50-301 (I-595). U.S. 301 extends from that point south into Southeastern Maryland, then crosses the Potomac River en route to Richmond, Virginia. In addition to the two exits heading south, an exit onto northbound MD 3 will funnel traffic directly onto I-97 north en route to Glen Burnie and Baltimore.

06/07/04

One of the newer two-digit Interstate highways in the country, Interstate 97 is a fairly short route, connecting southeastern Baltimore at the Interstate 695 beltway with U.S. 50-301 (Hidden Interstate 595) in northwestern Annapolis via Glen Burnie. The highway is well traveled, and it carries four to eight lanes of traffic.

06/07/04

While Interstate 97 heads north to Baltimore, MD 3 heads south to Bowie, where it meets U.S. 50-301 (I-595) midway between the Capital Beltway (Interstates 95-495) and Annapolis (I-97). Although MD 3 ends here, U.S. 301 continues south.
Historically, MD 3 was at one time part of U.S. 301, before it was rerouted onto the Eastern Shore.

06/07/04

A junction sign that is more typically found on rural highways in Maryland is found along eastbound MD 32 as it approaches Interstate 97 and MD 3.

06/07/04

As MD 32 comes to its end, drivers are afforded three options: Exit 1C, MD 3 south to Bowie and U.S. 301; Exit 1B, MD 3 north to I-97 en route to Glen Burnie and Baltimore; and Exit 1A, I-97 south to Annapolis.

06/07/04

Eastbound MD 32 reaches the ramp for MD 3 north to Interstate 97 north. All through traffic otherwise is defaulted onto southbound I-97.

06/07/04