Interstate 97
Interstate 97 (I-97) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs entirely within Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The intrastate Interstate runs from U.S. Route 50 (US 50) and US 301 in Parole near Annapolis north to I-695 and I-895 in Brooklyn Park near Baltimore. The Interstate is the primary highway between Baltimore and Annapolis. I‑97 connects Annapolis with Baltimore–Washington International Airport and links the northern Anne Arundel County communities of Crownsville, Millersville, Severna Park, Glen Burnie, and Ferndale. It is the shortest primary Interstate Highway.
Interstate 96
Beyond Marne, I-96 passes the western end of M-11 and crosses into Kent County, curving around a rest area for the eastbound lanes. The freeway runs eastward through a light industrial area of the suburb of Walker as it enters the Grand Rapids metropolitan area. At the interchange with Alpine Avenue, M-37 merges onto the freeway and the two run concurrently past the studios for WZZM-TV with its iconic weatherball, a sphere above the ground that uses colored lights to display a weather forecast. Adjacent to the studios are the ramps from eastbound I-96 to southbound US 131 and from northbound US 131 to westbound I-96. These ramps mark the northern end of I-296, an unsigned auxiliary Interstate Highway designation applied to them and the US 131 freeway south to downtown Grand Rapids. I-96 turns northeasterly past a commercial area to a three-quarter cloverleaf interchange that provides all of the other connections with US 131 next to a crossing of the Grand River.
East of the river, I-96 and M-37 pass through the northern suburb of Comstock Park, intersecting Connector M-44 (CONN M-44, Plainfield Avenue) near Lamberton Lake. Past that interchange, the freeway angles southeasterly and then southward, bypassing Grand Rapids to the northeast. East of downtown, I-96/M-37 meets I-196 (Gerald R. Ford Freeway) at a partial interchange; traffic headed eastbound on I-196 must enter I-96 eastbound and only westbound I-96 traffic may enter I-196. Immediately east of the interchange is another for M-44 (East Beltline Avenue) where M-37 separates from the freeway to turn southward. Through this series of interchanges, I-96 curves to the east and then turns back southward after passing through them. There are two more interchanges for M-21 (Fulton Street) and Cascade Road before I-96 meets the eastern end of M-11 at 28th Street. The next interchange for 36th Street provides access to the Gerald R. Ford International Airport. The freeway continues to the east of the airport and then intersects the eastern end of M-6 (Paul B. Henry Freeway, South Beltline Freeway) at an interchange over the confluence of the Thornapple and Grand rivers.