Interstate 95 in Virginia

Infobox road
state=VA
type=I
route=95
length_mi=178.73
length_ref=Federal Highway Administration Route Log and Finder List, [http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/reports/routefinder/table1.htm Main Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System Of Interstate and Defense Highways as of October 31, 2002] ]
length_round=2
established=1957
direction_a=South
direction_b=North
starting_terminus=
junction=
ending_terminus=
previous_type=
previous_route=94
next_type=
next_route=96

In the Commonwealth of Virginia, Interstate 95 runs convert|179|mi|km through the state. It runs concurrently for convert|3|mi|km with Interstate 64 in Richmond, and meets the northern terminus of Interstate 85 in Petersburg. Though Interstate 95 was originally planned to go straight through Washington, DC, it was instead routed around it, along the eastern portion of the Capital Beltway. From Petersburg to Richmond, I-95 was the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike.

The point where it enters the Capital Beltway, the Springfield Interchange, is one of the busiest interchanges in the U.S. I-95 continues into Maryland along the Beltway over the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

Major cities

Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs." (listed from south to north)"
*Miami, Florida
*Rocky Mount, North Carolina
*Emporia, Virginia
*Petersburg, Virginia
*Richmond, Virginia
*Fredericksburg, Virginia
*Washington, D.C. (via I-395)
*Baltimore, Maryland

Auxiliary routes

*Interstate 195 is a short spur from north of downtown Richmond south into downtown.
*Interstate 295 is a bypass to the east of Richmond, from I-95 south of Petersburg, across Interstate 64 east of Richmond and I-95 north of Richmond to I-64 west of Richmond.
*Interstate 395 is a branch from Springfield north into downtown Washington, D.C. It was part of I-95 until 1977.
*Interstate 495 is the Capital Beltway, a full loop around Washington, D.C. Since 1977, I-95 has run along its east half.
*Interstate 595 was a planned branch from I-395 south to Washington National Airport along U.S. Route 1.
*State Route 895 is the Pocahontas Parkway, a connection from I-95 south of Richmond east to I-295. It was not numbered as an Interstate because the project used federal funds, and opened as a toll road, disqualifying any Interstate status.

HOV facilities

Interstate 95 extends the twin-lane barrier-separated high-occupancy vehicle lanes that begin on I-395 at the 14th Street Bridge in Washington. These lanes have been extended several times, most recently to just south of Woodbridge.

As part of the Quantico Creek bridge rebuilding project, a currently unused three-lane convert|300|ft|m|sing=on long bridge was constructed in the median just south of the southern HOV terminus for use if and when the HOV facilities are extended. It was previously used as a detour bridge and retains its lane striping from such use. [Thr orphaned bridge over Quantico Creek is located at coord|38.568175|N|77.335274|W|type:landmark] [ [http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/const-project.asp?ID=159 I-95 Quantico Creek bridge reconstruction project from VDOT] ]

Maps

Exit list

As was common in other states, the present Interstate 95 routing in Virginia utilized pre-existing expressways and turnpikes. As sections opened, the existing sequential exit numbering was not modified; as a result, travelling from an old turnpike onto a new section of pavement (or vice versa) could result in a jump in exit numbers up or down. For instance, when entering from the south the section of I-95 previously signed only as the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike, the exit number jumped from 13 to 2. Similarly, when travelling from the Turnpike onto a new section of I-95 north of it, the exit number jumped from 17 to 35. Comically, one result of this was that a driver travelling from border to border in the state on the same Interstate routing would encounter "three" Exit 2s before leaving.

In the late 1980s, VDOT undertook a major redesignating of exit numbers throughout the state from the haphazard sequential system to the mileage-based scheme used today.

References