Severn River Bridge

Severn River Bridge
Severn River Bridge
Coordinates	39°00′23″N 76°30′13″W / 39.006389°N 76.503542°W
Carries	Six lanes of US 50 / US 301 / MD 2
Crosses	Severn River
Locale	Annapolis, Maryland
Official name	Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge
Other name(s)	Severn River Bridge
Maintained by	Maryland State Highway Administration
Characteristics
Clearance above	80 Feet Vertical, 134 Feet Horizontal
History
Opened	1953; 71 years ago
Statistics
Daily traffic	115,000
Location

The Severn River Bridge, officially known as the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge, is a bridge that crosses the Severn River northwest of the city limits of Annapolis, Maryland. The bridge serves as part of the John Hanson Highway, which is signed as U.S. Route 50 (US 50) and U.S. Route 301 (US 301). Maryland Route 2 also traverses the bridge, but no MD 2 signs exist along the section of highway the route traverses. MD 2 separates from US 50/301 east of the bridge and becomes Governor Ritchie Highway, and to the west of the bridge it leaves the highway along Solomons Island Road. The bridge serves as the main connection between Annapolis and points east, including the Eastern Shore via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge; however, unlike the rest of US 50/301 in the area, the bridge lacks shoulders and is often a point of traffic congestion and numerous accidents.

History

The first road bridge across the Severn River was a drawbridge built in the late 1920s. The bridge served as part of MD 2 and later US 50 after the later route was extended across the Chesapeake Bay. (This original bridge was replaced with the current Naval Academy Bridge in 1994.) When the John Hanson Highway was built, the current Severn River Bridge was built to carry it across the river. Originally, the bridge carried only 4 lanes, but was later expanded to 6 when the surrounding parts of the highway were upgraded, leaving the bridge without shoulders, and a high accident rate.^[3] The Severn River Bridge was officially renamed the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge in December 2006 in honor of the 65th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.