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Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway)
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Interstate 495 (abbreviated I-495) is an Interstate Highway that circles Washington, D.C. and its inner suburbs in Maryland and Virginia. I-495 is widely known as the Capital Beltway or simply the Beltway, especially when the context of Washington, D.C. is clear. It is the basis of the phrase "inside the Beltway", used when referring to issues dealing with American government and politics. Interstate 95 utilizes the southern and eastern half of the Capital Beltway to circumnavigate Washington, D.C., and is cosigned with Interstate 495 along that route.
The circumferential roadway is located not only in the states of Virginia and Maryland, but also crosses briefly through the District of Columbia over the Potomac River on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.
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Encyclopedia
Interstate 495 (abbreviated I-495) is an Interstate Highway that circles Washington, D.C. and its inner suburbs in Maryland and Virginia. I-495 is widely known as the Capital Beltway or simply the Beltway, especially when the context of Washington, D.C. is clear. It is the basis of the phrase "inside the Beltway", used when referring to issues dealing with American government and politics. Interstate 95 utilizes the southern and eastern half of the Capital Beltway to circumnavigate Washington, D.C., and is cosigned with Interstate 495 along that route.
The circumferential roadway is located not only in the states of Virginia and Maryland, but also crosses briefly through the District of Columbia over the Potomac River on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. There is also a short spur of the Beltway in Maryland. The Cabin John Parkway, a short connector between I-495 and the Clara Barton Parkway near the Maryland-Virginia border, is considered an Interstate spur by the Maryland State Highway Administration, and is designated I-495X. The Beltway passes through the Maryland counties of Prince George's County and Montgomery County, the Virginia county of Fairfax County and the independent city of Alexandria, Virginia.
Route description
I-95/I-495 concurrency in Maryland
Major cities
Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs |
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- Forest Heights, Maryland
- Oxon Hill, Maryland
- Temple Hills, Maryland
- Forestville, Maryland
- Landover, Maryland
- Glenarden, Maryland
- New Carrollton, Maryland
- Greenbelt, Maryland
- College Park, Maryland
- Beltsville, Maryland
- Silver Spring, Maryland
- Bethesda, Maryland
- Kensington, Maryland
- Tysons Corner, Virginia
- Falls Church, Virginia
- Fairfax, Virginia
- Springfield, Virginia
- Alexandria, Virginia
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The two routes, eight lanes wide, travel together over the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and touch down in Prince George's County west of Forest Heights. I-95/I-495 immediately encounter the southern terminus of Interstate 295, known as the Anacostia Freeway, a route that serves downtown Washington D.C. and connects to the planned alignment of I-95 through D.C., Interstate 395. Passing through the interchange, currently under major reconstruction as part of the bridge replacement and National Harbor projects, the two routes interchange with MD 210, a major north-south route into southern D.C. Beyond the MD 210 interchange (also under construction) the Beltway exits the eastern edge of the bridge replacement project.
The two Interstates continue along the Capital Beltway, interchanging with various local highways such as MD 5 and MD 4 on either side of Andrews Air Force Base, which the Beltway travels very close to near its northern edge. Turning north past the MD 4 interchange, the Beltway runs through Glenarden, interchanging with MD 202, US 50/unsigned I-595, and MD 450, the latter route offering access to the New Carrollton metro station and the New Carrollton area.
Turning northwest the Beltway enters Greenbelt Park, intersecting the Baltimore-Washington Parkway in the northeastern edge of the park. Just after the B-W Parkway, the two routes interchange with MD 201, which connects to the southern terminus of the B-W Parkway at US 50 near the D.C. line. Now turned fully west, the Beltway runs through the northern edge of College Park, interchanging with the Greenbelt metro station's access roadway and US 1.
Beyond the US 1 interchange, Interstate 95 encounters its own route at the College Park Interchange and separates from Interstate 495 within this interchange. I-495 continues west, alone, on the Capital Beltway, while I-95 turns north onto its own planned alignment towards Baltimore, Maryland. The interchange includes access to a Park and Ride.
I-495 in Maryland
Continuing west from the College Park Interchange, I-495 enters a heavily developed and populated area. Passing underneath MD 212 with no interchange, the route interchanges with MD 650 near the George Washington Cemetery. After bisecting the Northwest Branch Park, the Beltway interchanges with MD 193 and US 29 south of Four Corners; the interchanges are little more than half a mile apart. Southbound US 29 is the main route into downtown Silver Spring.
Squeezing past Argyle Park and Sligo Creek Golf Course, the Beltway interchanges with MD 97 northwest of Silver Spring and follows an alignment formerly known as Rock Creek Parkway. Twisting along the alignment, through and around Rock Creek Park, the route interchanges with MD 185 near the National Naval Medical Center. Turning northwest, I-495 soon encounters the southern terminus of Interstate 270.
I-270 and I-495 split at a highly complex Y-junction, with separate HOV connections to I-270's HOV lanes and separate ramps to and from MD 355 (formerly known as US 240). The old Rock Creek Parkway alignment follows I-270 north, while I-495 turns west and enters the only other six-lane segment of the Beltway still in existence; significant levels of traffic exit onto I-270 north, leaving the six-lane segment west of the split adequate.
Interchanging with MD 187, I-495 soon meets Interstate 270 Spur, the other side of the I-270/I-495 triangle. I-495 joins I-270 Spur at a converging wye junction; Inner Loop traffic exits from itself at the southern terminus of I-270 Spur, while Outer Loop traffic crosses the spur and enters it from the right. The two carriageways of I-495 temporarily widen to ten lanes and remain ten lanes as far as the MD 190 and Cabin John Parkway interchanges, where the route narrows to eight lanes again. Turning sharply to the west, I-495 meets the Clara Barton Parkway just to the north of the Potomac River, and soon crosses into Virginia over the American Legion Memorial Bridge.
I-495 in Virginia
Immediately after crossing into Virginia, I-495 encounters the western terminus of the George Washington Memorial Parkway at a trumpet interchange. Continuing south the Beltway interchanges with VA 193 south of Dranesville District Park, then reaches the massive triangle of interchanges between itself, the Dulles Airport Access Road, VA 267, and VA 123. The former interchange with the toll road is a directional interchange, while the latter is a cloverleaf; the entire complex occurs east of Tysons Corner, near the massive Tysons Corner Center shopping mall.
Now running south, the Beltway interchanges with VA 7, the Leesburg Pike, east of the shopping center; passing Dunn Loring to the east the route soon reaches the complex interchange with Interstate 66. In a similar setup as the I-270/I-495 interchange, dedicated HOV connections exist between I-495 and I-66, with many reversible and other directional ramps providing the remaining connections. There is no access between the Outer Loop and I-66 east at this interchange. Instead, Outer Loop traffic must use the eastbound Dulles Access Road exit three miles (5 km) previous to travel to I-66 East. If a driver gets onto westbound I-66 at the Leesburg Pike (VA 7) entrance, the only choice for getting to northbound I-495 is to take I-66 West to the Nutley Street exit and then get back on I-66 East. A similar situation occurs for going from the Dulles Access Road at Chain Bridge Rd (VA 123) to southbound I-495. It is assumed that the driver will know to continue along VA 7 or VA 123 directly to the Beltway. Also, there are multiple ramps from I-66 east to the Inner Loop, with one ramp exiting from the left side of I-66 east and the other exiting from the right.
South of the I-66 interchange, the Beltway crosses under US 29 and VA 237 with no access, then encounters a large braided interchange between itself, US 50, and two local roads; the direct interchange between I-495 and US 50 is a full cloverleaf, while the braided local interchanges between I-495, US 50 and the local roads are modified SPUIs. The entire complex is bounded on the northeast side by Fairview Lake and on the southwest side by an office complex occupied by Mobil.
Continuing due south, the route interchanges with Gallows Road south of the Mobil offices, then skirts the eastern edge of Mill Creek Park before interchanging with VA 236 southwest of Annandale Community Park. Running along the eastern edge of Wakefield Park the Beltway turns southeast and interchanges with the nearly straight VA 620 before turning east near Flag Run Park and running into Springfield, meeting the Springfield Interchange southeast of the Shirley Industrial Complex.
I-95/I-495 concurrency in Virginia
I-95 joins the Beltway within the Springfield Interchange. I-495 also meets the southern terminus of Interstate 395 within the massive interchange complex.
Running due east away from the interchange, crossing to the south of Backlick Stream Valley Park, the two routes interchange with VA 613 a mile east of the Springfield Interchange. Continuing east, the Beltway encounters a diamond interchange with a connector road linking to Eisenhower Avenue, which parallels the Beltway for a short distance. Skirting the northern edges of Loftridge Park and Burgundy Park the two routes enter Alexandria and soon reach VA 241, a direct route into the city. Within the interchange, the Beltway enters the western edge of the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge replacement project.
Continuing east within the project limits, the two routes encounter US 1, whose interchange with the Beltway is also undergoing major reconstruction as part of the bridge replacement project. Finally, beyond the interchange, I-95 and I-495 cross Jones Point Park and exit Virginia via the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.
History
The federal government gave final approval for the construction of the Capital Beltway (also known as the Circumferential Highway in the planning stages) on September 28, 1955. The first section of the long Beltway (including the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge over the Potomac River) was opened on December 21, 1961; the highway was completed on August 17, 1964.
Originally designated I-495, in 1977 the eastern portion of the Beltway was re-designated I-95 when a proposed alignment of I-95 from New York Avenue in Washington, D.C., through Prince George's County, Maryland to I-495 was canceled. Motorists never fully adjusted to the two halves of the Beltway having different numbers. According to Ron Shaffer of the Washington Post, "There were signs stating that to continue on the Beltway, you had to get off at the next exit, when all you really had to do was keep going straight. Lots of resistance from bureaucrats, but eventually we got dual I-95/I-495 signs on the eastern half of the Beltway." So, in 1989, the I-495 designation was restored to the eastern portion, making it a dual I-95/I-495.
Traveling clockwise, the Beltway is designated as the "Inner Loop"; traveling counter-clockwise, it is designated as the "Outer Loop". This parlance too has led to its own confusion, with unfamiliar motorists imagining two separate, distinct highway alignments, one some distance inside the other. At entrance ramps to the Beltway and on the on-highway signage, "Inner Loop" and "Outer Loop" shields are posted in conjunction with the route marker shields, although the terms are not emphasized in signage.
The Beltway was originally envisioned as primarily a bypass for long-distance eastern seaboard traffic to avoid driving directly through Washington. However, the explosive growth both of housing and business in the Washington suburbs following the Beltway's completion quickly made the Beltway the area's "main street" for local traffic as well. Numerous large shopping malls, community colleges, sports and concert stadiums, and corporate employment centers were purposely built adjacent to the Beltway, and these added greatly to the traffic, as has the passenger growth of regional airports accessed by the Beltway. The formerly more affordable price of housing in Southern Maryland versus northern Virginia, also led tens of thousands of commuters to live in Southern Maryland and commute on the Beltway to Virginia. The newer Fairfax County Parkway in the 1990s helped ease some traffic on the Virginia beltway; however, various proposals to build another complete outer beltway in the outer suburbs cannot get off the ground, since local governments object to building additional Potomac River crossings as well as destroying protected "open space" and creating sprawl.
Traffic congestion
Traffic volume on the Beltway can be as high as 900,000 vehicles per day. Despite numerous widening projects during its history, heavy traffic on the Beltway is a continuing problem. The Woodrow Wilson Bridge – where eight lanes were squeezed into six – was particularly onerous, with miles-long backups daily during commuter rush hours and on heavily traveled weekends. Relief for this bottleneck came on May 30, 2008, when the 12-lane replacement bridge opened to traffic in both directions (the six-lane span carrying Outer Loop traffic had opened in June 2006).
Two intersections on the Capital Beltway are ranked in the top 20 on a study of the "worst bottlenecks in the nation." They are the I-495 at I-270 interchange in Montgomery County, Maryland, ranked third overall, which receives 400,425 cars daily, and the I-495 at I-95 interchange in Prince George's County, Maryland, ranked 11th, with 300,125 cars. The Springfield Interchange, where I-395, I-95, and I-495 meet, was previously ranked fifth worst in the nation, but recent improvements have taken it off the top 20. Local commuters refer to the Springfield Interchange as "The Mixing Bowl," although this designation is reserved by highway officials for the even more complicated interchange complex adjacent to the The Pentagon on the original Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway (currently better-known as Interstate 395) at State Route 27 in Arlington.
In April 2005, the Virginia Department of Transportation signed an agreement with two private companies to build high-occupancy toll lanes on the stretch of the Beltway between Springfield and Georgetown Pike. Maryland officials are considering such lanes on their segment of the Beltway, as well as other major commuter highways in the state. Locals who disapprove of these projects have nicknamed them "Lexus Lanes" because of the potential high price for using the lanes in exchange for bypassing congestion. These new lanes are one stage of a controversial project to widen the beltway, with the second stage involving widening the beltway to 12 lanes; opponents have called for various alternatives to this project (as well as the controversial Intercounty Connector project) which would divert many vehicles off the northern beltway. The proposed Purple Line of the popular Metro subway system is just one example.
Current roadworks
- Main articles: Springfield Interchange, Woodrow Wilson Bridge
The Springfield Interchange in Virginia completed reconstruction in 2007. The eight-year, nearly $676 million project worked to eliminate weaving among local and long-distance traffic between I-95, I-395, the Beltway, and State Route 644.
The Woodrow Wilson Bridge is undergoing reconstruction in a major project that began in 1999; it will provide express and local lanes for both the Inner and Outer Loops. The new Wilson Bridge is higher and wider than the original 1961 span, which was demolished in 2006. The Outer Loop span opened in June 2006, and the Inner Loop span opened in May 2008.
Also, in association with the Wilson Bridge project, many interchanges on the Virginia side in Alexandria and Exit 2 in Maryland (I-295/MD 210) are being reconstructed.
The Branch Avenue (Maryland Route 5) Interchange is also undergoing improvements.
Currently, the Virginia Department of Transportation is constructing high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes in Northern Virginia. Tolls will be waived for buses, carpools of at least three people, motorcycles, and emergency vehicles. Drivers with fewer than three passengers must pay a toll to use these lanes. The project will add two lanes in each direction from the Springfield Interchange to just north of the Dulles Toll Road, and may include repair of existing, aging infrastructure. This will include replacement of more than 50 bridges, overpasses, and major interchanges.
Exit numbering
Exit numbers on the Beltway have gone through several iterations. Originally, all exits on the Beltway were numbered sequentially in a clockwise direction, starting with exit 1 for US 1 in Alexandria. After the eastern half of the Beltway was renumbered in 1977 as Interstate 95, exits on the Maryland portion were renumbered to the current format, counterclockwise with exit numbers assigned to mileposts. This caused problems because there were some exits that had the same number in Maryland and Virginia. Around 2000, this problem was solved by renumbering all of the Virginia exits. The exit numbers between the American Legion Bridge and the Springfield Interchange – Interstate 495's intersection with Interstate 395 and Interstate 95 in Virginia – became a continuation of the Maryland exit numbers from the Woodrow Wilson Bridge to the American Legion Bridge. The exit numbers between the Springfield Interchange and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge became a continuation of the exit numbers of Interstate 95 in Virginia.
Exit list
Exits are numbered in a counterclockwise (outer loop) direction, which is the opposite of AASHTO guidelines. The normal standard is overridden due to the presence of Interstate 95, which proceeds northward on the outer loop. Being a main interstate, its number sequencing (south-to-north numbering, which is in accordance with AASHTO guidelines) takes precedence, and the remaining exits are adjusted to conform.
| County | Location | # | Destinations | Notes |
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| Woodrow Wilson Bridge over Potomac River (state line) |
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| Prince George's | | 38 | 2B | | | | | | 2A | National Harbor | | | Forest Heights | 37 | 3 | | Signed as exits 3A (south) and 3B (north) on outer loop | | | 37A | 4 | | Signed as exits 4A (west) and 4B (east) | | | 36 | 7 | | Signed as exits 7A (south) and 7B (north) | | | 35 | 9 | | | | | 34 | 11 | | Signed as exits 11A (southeast) and 11B (northwest) | | | | 13 | Ritchie-Marlboro Road – Capitol Heights, Upper Marlboro | | | | 33 | 15 | | Signed as exits 15A (east) and 15B (west) | | | | 16 | Arena Drive | Open only for events at FedEx Field | | | 32 | 17 | | Signed as exits 17A (east) and 17B (west) | | | 31 | 19 | | Signed as exits 19A (east) and 19B (west) | | New Carrollton | 30 | 20 | | Signed as exits 20A (east) and 20B (west) | | Greenbelt | 29 | 22 | Baltimore/Washington Parkway – Baltimore, Washington | Signed as exits 22A (north) and 22B (south) | | 28 | 23 | | | | | 24 | Greenbelt Station | Inner loop exit and outer loop entrance | | College Park | 27 | 25 | | Signed as exits 25A (north) and 25B (south) on inner loop | | | 26 | 27 | | Counterclockwise end of I-95 overlap; no exit number on outer loop | | Montgomery | | 25 | 28 | | Signed as exits 28A (north) and 28B (south) | | | 24 | 29 | | Signed as exits 29A (west) and 29B (east) on outer loop; inner exit to MD 193 west is via exit 30A | | | 23 | 30 | | Signed as exits 30A (north) and 30B (south) on inner loop; outer exit to US 29 north is via exit 29B | | | 21 | 31 | | Signed as exits 31A (north) and 31B (south) on inner loop | | | 20 | 33 | | | | | 19 | 34 | | | | | 19 | 35 | | Outer loop exit and inner loop entrance | | | 18 | 36 | | | | | 17 | 38 | | Inner loop exit and outer loop entrance | | | 16 | 39 | | Signed as exits 39A (west) and 39B (east) on inner loop | | | 16 | 40 | Cabin John Parkway – Glen Echo | Outer loop exit and inner loop entrance | | | 15 | 41 | Clara Barton Parkway – Great Falls, Carderock | | | | 15 | 41 | Clara Barton Parkway – Glen Echo | Inner loop exit and outer loop entrance | | American Legion Memorial Bridge over Potomac River (state line) |
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| Fairfax | | 14 | 43 | George Washington Memorial Parkway – Washington | | | | 13 | 44 | | | | | 12 | 45A | | Signed as exit 45 on inner loop | | | 12 | 45B | | Outer loop exit and inner loop entrance | | | 11 | 46 | | Signed as exits 46A (south) and 46B (north) | | | 10 | 47 | | Signed as exits 47A (west) and 47B (east) | | | 9 | 49A | | Signed as exit 49 on outer loop; additional left exit (exit 49C) on inner loop | | | 9 | 49B | | Inner loop exit and outer loop entrance | | | 8 | 50 | | Signed as exits 50A (west) and 50B (east) | | | 7 | 51 | | | | | 6 | 52 | | Signed as exits 52A (west) and 52B (east) | | | 5 | 54 | | Signed as exits 54A (west) and 54B (east) | | | 4C | 57A | | Clockwise end of I-95 overlap; no exit number on inner loop | | | | 169 | | Signed as exits 169A (east) and 169B (west); outer loop exit is part of exit 57A | | | 4B | 57B | | Signed as exit 170B on inner loop | | | 3 | 173 | | | | | 3A | 174 | Eisenhower Avenue Connector – Alexandria | | | | 2 | 176 | | Signed as exits 176A (south) and 176B (north) | | City of Alexandria | 1 | 177 | | Signed as exits 177A (south) and 177B (north) | | 1 | 177C | Mount Vernon (SR 400) | |
See also
External links
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