This large interchange also connects to National Harbor Boulevard, which links the National Harbor with the beltway and I-295. After crossing the Potomac River, I-95/I-495 narrows to eight lanes with two local and two express lanes in each direction and immediately meets the southern terminus of I-295, known as the Anacostia Freeway, a route that serves Downtown to the north, connecting in Washington, D.C., to I-695. The beltway (where I-95 and I-495 together) enters Maryland during its Potomac River crossing over the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, west of Forest Heights and National Harbor as a 10-lane highway with a local–express lane configuration including three local lanes and two express lanes in each direction. "Maryland Welcomes You" sign on the Outer Loop over the Woodrow Wilson Bridge In 1989, the I-495 designation was also returned to the eastern portion, with the highway cosigned as I-95 and I-495 along this route. ![]() I-95 was then rerouted (and so signed) along the eastern side of the beltway, with the I-495 designation left only along the western side. The small built portion from the north was converted into a park-and-ride lot. However, environmental litigation stopped the completion of this plan, and the built portion of I-95 inside the beltway from the south northward into Downtown was redesignated I-395 in 1977. Initially, the entire beltway was simply I-495, and I-95 was planned to serve Downtown from the south and north, intersecting the beltway in Virginia and Maryland. More scenic routes from the beltway into DC are offered by the George Washington Memorial Parkway along the Virginia side of the Potomac River, the Clara Barton Parkway along the Maryland side of the river, and the Baltimore–Washington Parkway (B–W Parkway), approaching Washington DC from the northeast. Route 50 (US 50) from the west and the east are among the most frequently used. Most beltway interchanges provide access to Washington, with I-95 and I-295 from the south, I-66 from the west, and U.S. I-495/Capital Beltway signage in Virginia The route descriptions below follow the direction of the Outer Loop, starting at the Woodrow Wilson Bridge over the Potomac River, south of Washington. The two directions of travel, clockwise and counterclockwise (looking at a map), have become known respectively as the " Inner Loop" and the " Outer Loop". The Cabin John Parkway, a short connector between I-495 and the Clara Barton Parkway near the Potomac River along the Maryland–Virginia border, is considered an Interstate spur (I-495X) by the Maryland State Highway Administration (MDSHA).Įxcept for the westernmost part of Woodrow Wilson Bridge south of Downtown (the water below is considered part of the District of Columbia), the Capital Beltway encircles Washington, D.C., in adjacent Maryland and Virginia. ![]() The beltway passes through Prince George's and Montgomery counties in Maryland and Fairfax County and the independent city of Alexandria in Virginia. This circumferential roadway is located not only in the states of Maryland and Virginia, but also crosses briefly (for about 0.11 miles (0.18 km)) through the District of Columbia, near the western end of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge over the Potomac River. The highway is signed as Interstate 495 ( I-495) for its entire length, and its southern and eastern half runs concurrently with I-95. ![]() It is the basis of the phrase " inside the Beltway", used when referring to issues dealing with US federal government and politics. The Capital Beltway is a 64-mile (103 km) auxiliary Interstate Highway in the Washington metropolitan area that surrounds Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and its inner suburbs in adjacent Maryland and Virginia.
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