Interstate 295 (District of Columbia)

Interstate 295 (I-295) in the U.S. state of Maryland and in Washington, D.C. is a 8.05-mile (12.96 km) spur route connecting I-95/I-495 and Maryland Route 210 (Indian Head Highway) on the Potomac River (just outside the District's boundary with Maryland) to Interstate 695 in downtown Washington.

Route description

Although I-295 technically begins at the Capital Beltway (I-95/I-495), a pair of mainline ramps connects the southern terminus of the route to the nearby MD 210. Continuing north from this interchange, I-295 enters the District of Columbia; the route is only 0.8 miles (1.3 km) long in Maryland. The highway is known throughout as the Anacostia Freeway.

Passing to the west and north of Oxon Cove Park, the route parallels the Potomac River, running through the Southeast quadrant of D.C. It passes close to Shepard Parkway and forms the eastern boundary of Bolling Air Force Base and the Anacostia Naval Station. Near the southern end of Anacostia Park the route turns east and begins to parallel the Anacostia River, interchanging with South Capitol Street near the latter's crossing of the river.

Within the park, I-295 encounters the southern end of the 11th Street Bridges and exits from itself onto the bridges; the mainline freeway through the interchange assumes the identity of D.C. Route 295. The route continues to Baltimore, though it changes identities several times: I-295, DC 295, MD 201, the Baltimore-Washington Parkway (an unnumbered federally owned expressway operated by the National Park Service), and MD 295.

I-295 then crosses the Anacostia River and interchanges with I-695, an unfinished connector highway known as the Southeast Freeway. Officially I-295 comes to an end at the Southeast Freeway.

According to signage, I-295 continues along the Southeast Freeway to end at I-395 (I-295 is shown to do this in some road atlases).

History

The Anacostia Freeway was first conceived by the National Capital Park and Planning Commission in 1950 as a connector route between the Baltimore-Washington Parkway at Kenilworth Avenue and the Capital Beltway near Oxon Hill. The route would provide access to the Anacostia waterfront, which included Bolling Air Force Base and the Anacostia Naval Station. In 1955, District officials approved the portion of the route between Suitland Parkway and E Capitol Street; the remainder of the route was approved in 1956. The southern portion of the route, from the Beltway to the 11th Street Bridges, was given a financial boost when it was included in the Interstate Highway System. The route was designated I-295 by AASHO in 1958.

The first 7.8 miles (12.6 km) of the route opened on August 7, 1964 when the connecting segment of the Capital Beltway opened. In 1990, the freeway was extended 1.7 miles (2.7 km) south to connect with MD 210, to remove the significant traffic flow between the two routes from the segment of the Beltway between both interchanges.

East Leg

Under the 1971 D.C. freeway plans, I-295 would have turned east at the northern end of the 11th Street Bridges and followed the Southeast Freeway as far as East Capitol Street, where it would turn north and follow the East Leg of the Inner Loop freeway. The East Leg, six lanes wide, would have curved around the far eastern edge of the downtown area, passing beneath Mt. Olivet Road in a 1/2 mile tunnel, before terminating at I-66 and I-95 north of Union Station, providing access to the North Leg Freeway, the North Central Freeway, and the New York Avenue Industrial Freeway.

Future

One major interchange project was recently completed and another is under construction on I-295.

Woodrow Wilson Bridge project

As part of the larger Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge reconstruction project, the southern terminus of I-295 has been significantly rebuilt. Several new connections have been constructed to link the Beltway, MD 210 and I-295 with the new 300-acre (1.2 km²) National Harbor site, being built on the shore of the Potomac River in Prince George's County, Maryland. The interchange has been rebuilt to accommodate future ramps for proposed HOV lanes on the Beltway. The project was completed in stages starting in 2008 and ending in 2011.

11th Street Bridges project

A major project is currently underway to significantly rebuild the interchanges among the I-295, DC 295 and the 11th Street bridges. Due to the cancellation of both the remainder of the Southeast Freeway and the newer Barney Circle Freeway, there are no through connections between the 11th Street Bridges and DC 295, leading to severe congestion and major traffic routing problems. This project is in the process of constructing the missing movements at these interchanges, allowing direct freeway-grade access to and from DC 295 at the 11th Street bridges as well as providing a through grade-separated north–south route within D.C. Project construction began in 2011.

Exit list

See also

• U.S. Roads portal
• Maryland portal
• Washington, D.C. portal

References

External links

• I-295 @ MDRoads.com
• I-295 on Kurumi.com
• Steve Anderson's DCroads.net: Anacostia Freeway (I-295 and DC 295)
• Roads to the Future: Washington D.C. Interstates and Freeways