Springfield Interchange

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The Springfield Interchange. Note that the ramp for I-495 North is no longer off of this roadway, but rather is the ramp to the right.
The Springfield Interchange. Note that the ramp for I-495 North is no longer off of this roadway, but rather is the ramp to the right.

The Springfield Interchange, unofficially known as the "Mixing Bowl", is an interchange located in Springfield, Virginia, USA, which is in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and is comprised of Interstate 95, Interstate 395, and Interstate 495. Currently, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is reconstructing the interchange, which will be completed in 2007.

This interchange is sometimes nicknamed the "Mixing Bowl" because local and long distance travelers share the same lanes and travelers have to merge to the right or left to get to where they want. The interchange is one of the busiest highway junctions on the East Coast, serving between 400,000 and 500,000 cars a day traveling on Interstate 95, Interstate 395, and Interstate 495, the Capital Beltway.

The eight-year, seven-phase Springfield Interchange project also involves the reconstruction of the I-95/Route 644 interchange. This interchange is complete. Construction is currently focused on the final phases of the project, which is the realignment of I-395 south and the HOV lanes.

The Springfield Interchange project, at exit 57 on the Capital Beltway and exit 170 on I-95, is one of the largest highway construction projects in the U.S., having a price tag of $676 million. During a two-year study, VDOT found 179 accidents, making this interchange the most dangerous spot on the 64-mile-long (103 km) Beltway.

VDOT's information center in Springfield Mall, located near the interchange, has additional information on this project. They have bus and transit tickets, a model of the completed interchanges, several TV cameras showing the Springfield Interchange and Woodrow Wilson Bridge, and other items.

Before and after of the Springfield Interchange.
Before and after of the Springfield Interchange.

Contents

[edit] Phases

[edit] Phase 1

Completed 1996

  • Add another lane to southbound Interstate 95.

[edit] Phases 2 and 3

Completed November 2001

  • Reconstruct the I-95/Route 644 interchange
  • Make the I-95 Northbound entry ramp from eastbound Route 644 enter on the right
  • Reconstruct the Commerce Street bridge
  • Improve the Amherst bridge
  • Construct a flyover from westbound Route 644 onto I-95 south and therefore demolish the original cloverleaf that served this purpose
  • Add an express bridge for Route 644
  • Make the I-95 North ramp onto Exit 169 separate from I-95
  • Add a cloverleaf ramp from I-95 North onto Route 644 westbound
  • Construct a bridge from eastbound Route 644 onto the I-95 HOV Lanes (northbound only)
  • Reconstruct the I-95 HOV Lane ramp (southbound only) onto Route 644 westbound

[edit] Phase 4

Completed October 2004

  • Relocate the Outer Loop, eastbound I-495, of Interstate 495 at where it crosses I-395, this time making it a higher bridge
  • Add a two-lane flyover bridge from I-495 West/I-95 South/Capital Beltway Inner Loop, back to I-95 South (even this bridge is sometimes congested during afternoon hours)

[edit] Phase 5

Completed May 2004

  • Reconstruct the ramp from I-395 Southbound onto I-495 North/Capital Beltway Inner Loop
  • Widen a small portion of the Capital Beltway northwest of I-395

[edit] Phases 6 and 7

  • Construct a one-lane flyover connecting I-395 South onto I-95 North/I-495 Outer Loop, opened on October 2, 2005
  • Construct a flyover connecting I-395 South and I-495 Outer Loop onto the Route 644 exit, opened on October 5, 2005, but not all of the lanes are open (see below)
The I-95 South and I-95 North ramps.
The I-95 South and I-95 North ramps.
  • Construct a two-lane flyover for I-95 North express travelers onto I-495 Outer Loop, opened on January 19, 2006
  • Construct a three-lane flyover connecting I-95 North onto I-495 Inner Loop and therefore demolish the old cloverleaf ramp serving this purpose, opened on August 24, 2006. Note that demolition of the old ramp is currently taking place.
  • Construct a new two-lane bridge, exiting the Beltway from the right lane as opposed to the old ramp that exited on the left, connecting I-495 Outer Loop with I-395 North, opened on March 15, 2007. See New Beltway Outer Loop Ramp to I-395 North Opens Thursday Morning.
  • Separate travelers heading onto I-395 North/I-495/I-95 North from Route 644 westbound by giving them their own lanes and reconstructing the original ramp connecting I-95 North with the Outer Loop, set for completion in 2007. The ramp to I-395 will join the main northbound lanes to the north of the previous merge after passing under the Outer Loop; the advantage of this design is that it will eliminate the need for traffic taking this route to merge left onto I-395 at the same spot where traffic exiting I-95 onto the flyover ramp to the Inner Loop is required to move right.
  • Separate travelers from I-495 and I-395 South heading onto Route 644 by giving their own lanes, set for completion in mid to late 2007. The two-lane ramp from the Outer Loop (I-495 East) to I-95 South opened on December 15, 2006. Workers planned to open the ramp on December 6, but between December 6 and 15, the 5:00-9:00 temperature was below 45°F (about 7°C) (see New Ramp Opening: I-495 East (Outer Loop) to I-95 South), preventing the lane markings from sticking. The original ramp from the Outer Loop to I-95 South was temporarily closed when this new ramp opened to allow for sound wall work. The old ramp is scheduled to reopen during May 2007 ([1]) and will carry traffic from the Outer Loop to westbound Route 644 (Old Keene Mill Road). Outer Loop traffic heading to eastbound Route 644 (Franconia Road) will continue to use the new ramp opened in 2006. A barrier will separate traffic connecting to Route 644 so as to eliminate the merging and weaving across lanes that historically occurred in this area. Traffic using the ramp from I-395 and the Inner Loop that opened in 2005 (described above) will see the ramp divide in accordance with the new barrier; the remaining lanes on this ramp that have gone unused will open to traffic at that time.

[edit] Phase 8

This phase was originally planned to be part of the Springfield Interchange Project but due to cost overruns on the Springfield Interchange project was moved to the future Capital Beltway widening project, which was to include HOV Lanes on the Capital Beltway. However, VDOT, due in part to lack of funds for the Capital Beltway widening project and due in part to public outrage at its plan to remove hundreds of homes as part of the project, has entered into an agreement with Fluor Enterprises, Inc. -- under the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 -- to instead build HOT lanes where the collected tolls would offset construction costs. VDOT is not requiring Fluor to complete Phase 8, and it is not in Fluor's 2003 proposal to do so. Thus there are no plans at this time to connect the Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway (I-95 and I-395) HOV Lanes to the HOT Lanes on the Capital Beltway.

[edit] Trivia

The "Mixing Bowl" nickname technically does not refer to the Springfield Interchange but rather refers to an interchange further north on I-395 at State Route 27 in Arlington, near The Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery; this interchange, like the Springfield one, contains a massive tangle of through lanes and ramps. However, in recent years, the "Mixing Bowl" nickname has generally been accepted as being applicable to the Springfield Interchange, and most news reports on the Springfield Project refer to it as the "Mixing Bowl." See Pentagon road network for information on the original "Mixing Bowl."

[edit] External links

[edit] Sources

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