Route information | ||||
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Maintained by MDSHA | ||||
Length | 8.37 mi[1] (13.47 km) | |||
Existed | 1960–present | |||
Major junctions | ||||
South end | Romancoke Pier in Romancoke | |||
North end | MD 18 in Stevensville | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | Maryland | |||
Counties | Queen Anne's | |||
Highway system | ||||
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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 8.37 miles (13.47 km) from Romancoke Pier in Romancoke north to MD 18 in Stevensville. MD 8 is the main north–south highway of Kent Island in western Queen Anne's County. The state highway is also the first highway encountered on U.S. Route 50 (US 50)/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 was constructed in 1930 to serve the Annapolis–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–Claiborne ferry. The Stevensville–Matapeake road was originally designated MD 404 and was briefly part of US 50 in the early 1950s. The Matapeake–Romancoke highway was briefly MD 17 before becoming 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.