View source for Maryland Route 8

{{Short description|State highway in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, US}}
{{redirect|MD 8|the congressional district|Maryland's 8th congressional district}}
{{Infobox road
|state=MD
|type=MD
|route=8
|map={{maplink-road}}
|map_custom=yes
|map_notes=Maryland Route 8 highlighted in red
|length_mi=8.37
|length_round=2
|length_ref=<ref name="Maryland HLR"/>
|established=1960
|direction_a=South
|terminus_a=Romancoke Pier in [[Romancoke, Maryland|Romancoke]]
|junction=
*{{jct|state=MD|MD|802}} near [[Matapeake, Maryland|Matapeake]]
*{{jct|state=MD|MD|835A}} in [[Stevensville, Maryland|Stevensville]]
*{{jct|state=MD|US|50|US|301}} in Stevensville
|direction_b=North
|terminus_b={{jct|state=MD|MD|18}} in Stevensville
|counties=[[Queen Anne's County, Maryland|Queen Anne's]]
|previous_type=MD
|previous_route=7
|next_type=MD
|next_route=10
|browse=
}}

'''Maryland Route 8''' ('''MD 8''') is a [[state highway]] in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Maryland]].  Known for most of its length as Romancoke Road, the state highway runs {{convert|8.37|mi|km}} from Romancoke Pier in [[Romancoke, Maryland|Romancoke]] north to [[Maryland Route 18|MD 18]] in [[Stevensville, Maryland|Stevensville]].  MD 8 is the main north&ndash;south highway of [[Kent Island, Maryland|Kent Island]] in western [[Queen Anne's County, Maryland|Queen Anne's County]].  The state highway is also the first highway encountered on [[U.S. Route 50 in Maryland|U.S. Route 50]] (US 50)/[[U.S. Route 301 in Maryland|US 301]] east of the [[Chesapeake Bay Bridge]].  South of Matapeake, MD 8 is paralleled by the [[Kent Island South Trail]].

The section of MD 8 from Stevensville to [[Matapeake, Maryland|Matapeake]] was constructed in 1930 to serve the [[Annapolis, Maryland|Annapolis]]&ndash;Matapeake ferry service of the [[Claiborne-Annapolis Ferry Company]].  The highway between Matapeake and Romancoke was constructed in 1938 to serve that company's Romancoke&ndash;[[Claiborne, Maryland|Claiborne]] ferry.  The Stevensville&ndash;Matapeake road was originally designated [[Maryland Route 404|MD 404]] and was briefly part of US 50 in the early 1950s.  The Matapeake&ndash;Romancoke highway was briefly MD 17 before becoming [[Maryland Route 33|MD 33]].  After the Chesapeake Bay Bridge opened in 1952, the MD 33 designation was extended north to Stevensville.  MD 8 replaced MD 33 on Kent Island in 1960.

==Route description==
[[File:2022-06-29 10 38 14 View south along Maryland State Route 8 (Business Parkway) at Maryland State Route 18 (Main Street) in Stevensville, Queen Anne's County, Maryland.jpg|thumb|right|View south along MD 8 at MD 18 in Stevensville]]
MD 8 begins at the Romancoke Pier in the unincorporated community of Romancoke.  The state highway heads west as two-lane undivided Romancoke Road.  MD 8 curves to the north, intersecting Kent Point Road on a tangent.  The state highway passes a mix of farmland, forest, and residential subdivisions on its way north.  In the hamlet of [[Normans, Maryland|Normans]], the old alignment of MD 8, [[Maryland Route 802|MD 802]] (Batts Neck Road), splits off and later rejoins the present alignment.  MD 8 continues north through Matapeake, where the highway passes east of [[Matapeake State Park]], the former site of the cross-bay ferry.  Just north of [[Bay Bridge Airport]], the state highway expands to a four-lane [[divided highway]] and intersects [[Maryland Route 835|MD 835A]] (Thompson Creek Service Road), which provides access to a [[park and ride]] lot serving [[MTA Maryland]] commuter buses that is located to the east of the road. Immediately to the north, MD 8 meets US 50/US 301 (Blue Star Memorial Highway) at a [[diamond interchange]]; this interchange, Exit 37, is the first exit east of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.  The highway's name changes to Business Parkway at the interchange, shortly before MD 8 reaches its northern terminus at MD 18.  MD 18 heads north as Business Parkway toward [[Love Point, Maryland|Love Point]] and east as Main Street toward the [[Stevensville Historic District]] and [[Chester, Maryland|Chester]].<ref name="Maryland HLR"/><ref name="Google Maps MD 8"/>

==History==
The first section of present MD 8, from Stevensville to the Matapeake ferry landing, was paved in 1930 to serve the newly inaugurated Annapolis&ndash;Matapeake ferry across the Chesapeake Bay in 1930.<ref name="1930 map"/>  The highway was designated as a westward extension of MD 404 in 1933.<ref name="1933 map"/>  The highway from Matapeake to Romancoke was built in 1938 to serve the newly inaugurated Romancoke&ndash;Claiborne ferry across [[Eastern Bay]].<ref name="1938 src report"/><ref name="1938 map"/>  In 1939, the Romancoke&ndash;Matapeake highway was designated as a western extension of MD 17, which ran from Claiborne to [[Easton, Maryland|Easton]].<ref name="1939 map"/>  The highway became part of MD 33 in 1940 when old MD 33&mdash;now modern [[Maryland Route 17|MD 17]] in [[Frederick County, Maryland|Frederick County]]&mdash;and old MD 17 swapped numbers.<ref name="1940 map"/>

In 1949, US 50 was extended east of Annapolis and replaced MD 404 west of Wye Mills.  As a result, the highway between Matapeake and Stevensville became US 50.<ref name="1949 map"/>  When the Chesapeake Bay Bridge was completed in 1952, US 50 followed a new divided highway east toward Queenstown.  MD 33 was extended north from Matapeake to MD 18 in Stevensville.<ref name="1952 map"/>  The Romancoke&ndash;Claiborne ferry was discontinued by 1954, but MD 33 remained on Kent Island until it was replaced with the MD 8 designation in 1960.<ref name="1954 map"/><ref name="1960 map"/>  MD 8's interchange with US 50/US 301 was completed by 1987.  A divided highway, Business Parkway, was completed at the same time from south of the interchange to Love Point Road where MD 18 presently intersects [[Maryland Route 835|MD 835C]] north of the Stevensville Historic District.<ref name="1987 map"/>  MD 8's northern terminus moved south to its present location when MD 18 was extended west to Business Parkway in 1989.<ref name="1989 map"/>

==Junction list==
{{jcttop|length_ref=<br><ref name="Maryland HLR"/>|state=MD|county=Queen Anne's}}
{{MDint
|location=Romancoke
|mile=0.00
|road=Romancoke Pier
|notes=Southern terminus
}}
{{MDint
|location=Normans
|mile=4.23
|road={{jct|state=MD|MD|802|dir1=north|name1=Batts Neck Road}}
|notes=Southern terminus of MD 802
}}
{{MDint
|location=Matapeake
|mile=5.24
|road={{jct|state=MD|MD|802|dir1=south|name1=Batts Neck Road}}
|notes=Northern terminus of MD 802
}}
{{MDint
|location=Stevensville
|lspan=3
|mile=7.87
|road={{jct|state=MD|MD|835A|name1=Thompson Creek Service Road}}
|notes=MD 835A is signed as such
}}
{{MDint
|mile=8.05
|road={{jct|state=MD|US|50|US|301|name2=Blue Star Memorial Highway|city1=Easton|city2=Annapolis}}
|notes=US 50 / US 301 Exit 37; diamond interchange
}}
{{MDint
|mile=8.37
|road={{jct|state=MD|MD|18|name1=Main Street/Business Parkway|city1=Chester|city2=Love Point}}
|notes=Northern terminus
}}
{{jctbtm}}

==Auxiliary route==
MD 8A is the designation for the {{convert|0.10|mi|km|adj=on}} section of two-lane undivided Batts Neck Road between MD 8 and MD 802 south of Matapeake. Batts Neck Road continues east from MD 802 as a county highway.<ref name="Maryland HLR"/><ref name="Google Maps MD 8A"/>

==See also==
*{{Portal-inline|Maryland Roads}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em|refs=

<ref name="Maryland HLR">{{Maryland HLR|year=2013|county1=Queen Anne's|accessdate=2010-09-29}}</ref>

<ref name="Google Maps MD 8">{{google maps|url=https://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=MD-8+N%2FRomancoke+Rd&daddr=MD-8+N%2FBusiness+Pkwy%2FRomancoke+Rd&geocode=FRBHUQId6Dpz-w%3BFdbUUgIdPHhz-w&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=38.931955,-76.3371&sspn=0.122584,0.308647&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=12|title=Maryland Route 8|accessdate=2010-09-29}}</ref>

<ref name="1930 map">{{Maryland road map|year=1930}}</ref>

<ref name="1933 map">{{Maryland road map|year=1933}}</ref>

<ref name="1938 src report">{{Maryland SRC report|year=1938|page=105|accessdate=2010-09-29}}</ref>

<ref name="1938 map">{{Maryland road map|year=1938}}</ref>

<ref name="1939 map">{{Maryland road map|year=1939}}</ref>

<ref name="1940 map">{{Maryland road map|year=1940}}</ref>

<ref name="1949 map">{{Maryland road map|year=1949}}</ref>

<ref name="1952 map">{{Maryland road map|year=1952}}</ref>

<ref name="1954 map">{{Maryland road map|year=1954}}</ref>

<ref name="1960 map">{{Maryland road map|year=1960}}</ref>

<ref name="1987 map">{{Maryland road map|year=1987}}</ref>

<ref name="1989 map">{{Maryland road map|year=1989}}</ref>

<ref name="Google Maps MD 8A">{{google maps|url=https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Batts+Neck+Rd&daddr=Batts+Neck+Rd&hl=en&ll=38.937865,-76.354712&spn=0.004081,0.010568&sll=38.93819,-76.354326&sspn=0.00204,0.005284&geocode=FUQmUgIdLOhy-w%3BFdgjUgIdnu5y-w&t=h&mra=ls&z=17|title=Maryland Route 8A|accessdate=2012-09-14}}</ref>

}}

==External links==
{{commonscat|Maryland Route 8}}
{{Attached KML|display=inline,title}}
*[http://www.mdroads.com/routes/007-011.html#md008 MDRoads: MD 8]
*[https://www.alpsroads.net/roads/md/md_8/ Maryland Roads - MD 8]


[[Category:Kent Island, Maryland]]
[[Category:State highways in Maryland|008]]
[[Category:Roads in Queen Anne's County, Maryland|Maryland Route 008]]