and I-495 (Capital Beltway)
Springfield Interchange, Wilson Bridge
Black backgrounds: the anti-RIDOT.

The Springfield Interchange, I-95 at I-495 and I-395, viewed from I-95 NB as it ramps onto I-495 and the Capital Beltway. I-395 into Washington, D.C. was I-95 for some time, as the FHWA tried to push I-95 through the northern suburbs of the District of Columbia to the northern I-95/I-495 junction in Maryland. Instead, the latter ends in a bus terminal/Park & Ride, and I-395 goes from the Springfield Interchange northward into the heart of D.C. If you're really smart, and not driving during rush hour, you can follow the old route of I-95 right to its end, turn onto New York Avenue, and come upon the end of the US 50 freeway 2 or 3 miles later. Or you could at least follow I-395 to secret I-695 and then up DC/MD 295 via Pennsylvania Avenue. If you're dumb, you go around the Beltway, I-495 in either direction and with an I-95 tacked on the eastern side for good measure.
Its history plays a role today, as VDOT tries to correct for the deficiencies in the original interchange, which was not built to handle through traffic going onto the Beltway. There is now a new two-lane flyover ramp for I-95 SB traffic, which you can see in this photo and which has greatly helped congestion across the Wilson drawbridge. That old drawbridge is also getting redone to finally be a fixed span, with many more lanes than before. There is a US 1 interchange just west of that bridge, and while work goes on, both the bridge and US 1 traffic back up trying to make it through the construction zone. Anyway, the other new ramps at Springfield have opened in the 2004-2005 window, and the new Wilson Bridge opened in late 2006. The US 1 interchange appears to be scheduled to open with the rehabilitation of the existing Wilson Bridge in 2008 or so.


Exiting Mount Vernon; VA 235 is a loop to and from US 1 that also goes straight ahead from here. Both shields are ugly and not up to standards.


Southbound, a very cluttered exit tab. Eventually some random third shield might be meant to occupy the rightmost sign, or else VDOT messed up.


Outlined BGS shield is a plus, but the font is a minus. Also southbound.


Driving southbound/westbound through the under-construction US 1 interchange from the just-opened Wilson Bridge (the new one's now carrying both sides of traffic while the old one gets rehabbed). The obelisk in the first photo is a Wilson Bridge plaque; to see the front side of the Maryland one, visit that state via the link at the bottom of the page.


Off of the Exit 177A loop ramp to US 1 South, whose interchange is being upgraded to be slightly overpowered instead of slightly underpowered. The flyover outside this ramp will carry US 1 SB traffic to I-95/495 NB across the Wilson Bridge.


Still more random overpasses to be constructed, continuing southwest toward the Springfield Interchange. The first photo looks back eastward at the dualization of US 1 over I-95/495.



Lou Corsaro's I-95/495 photos
I-95/495 HOT Lane construction
Walk the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge
Onto I-95 alone
Back to I-95 main page
Back to I-495 main page

Into Maryland on I-95/495
Exit 170B to I-395
Exit 177 to US 1
I-495 and 495/95 (Capital Beltway) on Steve Anderson's dcroads.net
Scott Kozel's Capital Beltway Highway Projects
Back to Virginia Roads
Back to Roads