The highway enters the city of Baltimore and curves to the east over Patapsco Avenue before Exit 7 with MD 2 (Potee Street), which includes a loop ramp to southbound MD 2 and a ramp from the intersection of MD 2 and MD 173 (Patapsco Avenue). I-895 parallels CSX's Curtis Bay Branch as the highway passes along the northern edge of the Brooklyn neighborhood. The highway crosses the Curtis Bay Branch on a steel K truss bridge ahead of Exits 8A and 8B. Exit 8A includes a loop ramp to and a flyover ramp from Shell Road, which heads toward the Curtis Bay, Baltimore neighborhood. Exit 8B includes ramps from eastbound Frankfurst Avenue and to westbound Frankfurst Avenue; that street leads to Hanover Street and downtown Baltimore. I-895 passes through the 14-booth toll plaza for the tunnel; immediately to the east of the toll plaza is Exit 9, a half-diamond interchange with Childs Street for traffic to and from the toll plaza. The speed limit decreases to as the highway curves to the northeast through the Fairfield unit of the Port of Baltimore and descends into the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel.