Maryland Route 218 is a state highway

State highway

State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

. Known as Suitland Road, the route runs 1.64 mi (2.6 km) from Southern Avenue

Southern Avenue (Washington, D.C.)

Southern Avenue is one of three boundary streets between Washington, D.C., and the state of Maryland. Following a southeast-to-northeast line, Southern Avenue begins at the intersection of South Capitol Street, Southeast and Indian Head Highway on the Maryland side. It runs for approximately seven...

 at the Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 border east to Maryland Route 458

Maryland Route 458

Maryland Route 458 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known as Silver Hill Road, the route runs from Maryland Route 5 in Hillcrest Heights north to Walker Mill Road in District Heights.-Route description:...

 in Suitland. MD 218 provides access to the Suitland Federal Center, which is home to the United States Census Bureau

United States Census Bureau

The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

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Route description

Maryland Route 218 begins at Southern Avenue on the District of Columbia boundary. Suitland Road continues west into D.C. until it meets Alabama Avenue. After providing access to a couple of apartment complexes immediately to the east of Southern Avenue, the route crosses Oxon Creek

Oxon Creek

Oxon Creek is a cove on the Potomac River which straddles the border between Washington, D.C. and Prince George's County, Maryland just north of Interstate 495 at Woodrow Wilson Bridge. The tributary stream is Oxon Run. Oxon Creek is in length and empties into the Potomac at Goose Island across...

 and heads east as a two-lane road with a speed limit of 30 mph (48.3 km/h) through the grounds of three cemeteries, Cedar Hill Cemetery to the north and Lincoln Memorial and Washington Memorial cemeteries to the south. After passing the cemeteries, MD 218 expands to a three-lane road with a center turn lane and passes a mix of apartment complexes and commercial establishments on the north and the Suitland Federal Center on the south. The road meets its eastern terminus at Maryland Route 458 (Silver Hill Road) in Suitland. Suitland Road continues east as a county-maintained road toward the Capital Beltway

Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway)

Interstate 495 is a Interstate Highway that surrounds the United States' capital of Washington, D.C., and its inner suburbs in adjacent Maryland and Virginia. I-495 is widely known as the Capital Beltway or simply the Beltway, especially when the context of Washington, D.C., is clear...

 and Andrews Air Force Base

Andrews Air Force Base

Joint Base Andrews is a United States military facility located in Prince George's County, Maryland. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force 11th Wing, Air Force District of Washington ....

. MD 458 south leads to the Suitland Parkway

Suitland Parkway

The Suitland Parkway is a parkway in Washington, D.C., and Prince George's County, Maryland, maintained by the U.S. National Park Service. Conceived in 1937, it was built during World War II to provide a road connection between military facilities in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, and...

 and the Suitland

Suitland (Washington Metro)

Suitland is an island platformed Washington Metro station in unincorporated Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The station was opened on January 13, 2001, and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority...

 station of the Washington Metro

Washington Metro

The Washington Metro, commonly called Metro, and unofficially Metrorail, is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C., United States, and its surrounding suburbs. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority , which also operates Metrobus service under the Metro name...

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History

Maryland Route 218 was paved from the D.C. line to Oxon Creek by 1927 and out to Suitland by 1930. The 1939 Maryland state highway map shows MD 218 assigned to its present course.

Junction list

The entire route is in Prince George's County

Prince George's County, Maryland

Prince George's County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland, immediately north, east, and south of Washington, DC. As of 2010, it has a population of 863,420 and is the wealthiest African-American majority county in the nation....

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Location	Mile	Destinations	Notes
Suitland	0.00	Southern Avenue Southern Avenue (Washington, D.C.) Southern Avenue is one of three boundary streets between Washington, D.C., and the state of Maryland. Following a southeast-to-northeast line, Southern Avenue begins at the intersection of South Capitol Street, Southeast and Indian Head Highway on the Maryland side. It runs for approximately seven... Suitland Road	Western terminus
	1.23	Shadyside Avenue
	1.86	Suitland Road	Eastern terminus

External links

• MD 218 @ MDRoads.com