I-95 in Washington
Overview:
Route Description
Unlike I-95 in Boston, most of the route is already built. The route follows current day Interstates 395, 695, the Anacosta River Freeway, and then follows a new alignment along the Anacosta River northward before following freight track to Paint Stream, where it merges onto the existing I-95 freeway. Near the Pentagon, Interstate 66 becomes concurrent with I-95 and leaves I-95 at the same interchange where the Baltimore-Washington Parkway diverges from Interstate 95. Several businesses will regrettably have to be compacted and moved to different areas.
Why it is needed: The D.C. Freeway Revolts.
Initial plans (lower left, or top if you view this on a mobile device) showed the plan to route I-95 on the Baltimore Washington Parkway (in this plan an extension of I-895) north to Baltimore. However, these plans were abandoned in place of a plan (lower left) to have I-295 extend along the originally planned I-95 right of way. These plans were drafted to make Interstate 95 run through a thin strip of minority inhabitants that ran from Beltsville south to the existing I-95 (now I-395 and still bears that title in this plan north of South DC) which would be razed and replaced with the Expressway. Not surprisingly, the revolts destroyed any possibility of this alignment being built. The idea presented today shows not the originally planned freeway, but a connector that would connect the Deanwood Interchange (Baltimore Washington Parkway (Future I-95) - (US-50) (Future I-66)) to the College Park Interchange. The concurrency between I-66 and I-95 begins at the Pentagon Interchange and is shared throughout Washington to the Deanwood Interchange.
Block by Block Plan:
