What is Coastal Highway?
Coastal Highway is Maryland Route 528, the spine of Ocean City, running the full length of the island from downtown north to the Delaware line. It becomes a wide divided highway north of downtown, where it is called Philadelphia Avenue and Baltimore Avenue in the older grid. Nearly all north-south traffic, the Coastal Highway Beach Bus, and most commercial addresses sit on it, so directions in Ocean City are usually given as a street number plus a bayside or oceanside qualifier.
Also called: Route 528, MD 528, Philadelphia Avenue.
Crossing Coastal Highway safely
Treat it as a highway, not a street. Coastal Highway carries multiple lanes, a bus lane, heavy summer traffic, and long gaps between signals. Pedestrian crossings are marked and signaled for a reason, and mid-block crossing is both illegal in places and genuinely dangerous at night. Groups walking back from dinner should plan the crossing point, not improvise it.
Traffic patterns worth planning around
The backups are predictable. Saturday rental turnover, event weekends, weekday late afternoons when the beach empties, and any evening with fireworks or a festival. Cyclists and bus riders often move faster than cars in July. Building a day around one district instead of three removes most of the highway from the itinerary.
How addresses work along Coastal Highway
Businesses are located by street number and side of the road, so "94th Street bayside" is a complete address to a local. The numbering climbs from the Inlet to 146th Street. Once you internalize that, navigating Ocean City stops requiring a map for anything except the named streets downtown.
Getting up and down the island
Drive
Choose it when: You are carrying gear or leaving the island.
Tradeoff: Traffic and parking at both ends.
Beach Bus
Choose it when: You want to skip parking, especially at night.
Tradeoff: Stops, waits, and crowding at peak hours.
Bike
Choose it when: The trip is a few dozen blocks in daylight.
Tradeoff: Traffic exposure; use side streets where possible.
Current source: Town of Ocean City transportation. Fees, hours, posted rules: all of it moves without much notice, so confirm anything time-sensitive on the day you go.