A highway (although everyone on the East Coast uses "route" rather than "highway" - like pop/soda argument).
It runs through campus, from east to west.
Or west to east.
Depending on which way you want to look at it.
According to Prof. Wood, Route 2 cutting through the middle of campus would make Williams College very difficult to defend were we attacked by two Roman legions.
Bob Quay '04 authored a senior history thesis about its history.
In response to the comment above—"everyone on the East Coast uses 'route' rather than 'highway'"—several things should be noted.
1. The East Coast of the United States is not homogenous. What people do in Massachussetts is not necessarily the same as what people do in Georgia. Just because people from MA call it "Route 2" doesn't mean that everyone else on the East Coast calls it "Route 2." Be wary of assuming that everything you observe in Williamstown is true of the entire East Coast.
2. Those of us in MA who do call highways "routes" do so in very particular circumstances. We might call it "Route 495," but we'll also refer to Route 495 as a "highway" when saying something like, "I live just a few miles from the highway." This is a little more nuanced than the pop/soda argument.
3. It's worth noting the logic behind highway and road numbers, because it can give you a clue about where they go. A highway is assigned 3 digits if it circumscribes a major metropolitan area. That's why the highway that circumscribes Boston is 495. A road/highway that runs north/south is assigned an odd number. Thus, the highway that runs from Montreal all the way down the east coast to Florida is numbered 95. A road/highway that runs east/west is assigned an even number. Thus, the one that runs west from downtown Boston all the way out through Williamstown (and beyond) is numbered 2. Similarly, anyone who's travelling from one coast to the other might drive on the famed Highway/Route 66, which also runs east/west. So, if you're ever completely lost, but you know the general direction that you want to travel, you can sort of navigate by the road/highway number. Sort of.
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