Southwest/Southeast Freeways (Interstates 395/695) North/Eastbound
4Interstate 395 (I-395) in Washington, D.C., and Virginia is a 13.39-mile-long (21.55 km) spur route of I-95 that begins at an interchange with I-95 in Springfield and ends at an interchange with U.S. Route 50 (US 50) in northwest Washington, D.C. It passes underneath the National Mall near the U.S. Capitol and ends at a junction with US 50 at New York Avenue, roughly one mile (1.6 km) north of the 3rd Street Tunnel. Despite its proximity to I-395 in Maryland, the route is unrelated and unconnected.
I-395 is known by three different names over its various segments. The Virginia portion is part of the larger Shirley Highway that continues southward on I-95 beyond the terminus of I-395. In the District of Columbia, it is known as the Southwest Freeway from the 14th Street Bridge to the Southeast Freeway interchange (I-695), the Center Leg or Center Leg Freeway from the Southeast Freeway interchange to New York Avenue.
Interstate 695 (I-695) is a 2-mile-long (3.2 km) auxiliary Interstate Highway in Washington, D.C..[1] It is also known as the Southeast Freeway. It travels from an interchange with I-395 south of the United States Capitol building east then south across the 11th Street Bridges to an intersection with I-295 and District of Columbia Route 295 (DC 295) in Anacostia.
Access also exists from eastbound I-695 to Pennsylvania Avenue at Barney Circle, just northwest of the John Philip Sousa Bridge. Stub ramps at Pennsylvania Avenue, once meant to continue the freeway (as part of I-295) to I-95 and U.S. Route 50 northeast of Union Station, now provide access to Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium.
Though the I-695 designation has existed since near the birth of the Interstate Highway System, the route was only signed in late 2011 along with the 11th Street Bridges reconstruction project.
Highlights: 14th Street Bridge (VA/DC City Line), JCT 14th Street Expressway, Potomac Park, Jefferson Memorial, Washington Channel Bridge, JCT 12th Street Expressway, L'Enfant Plaza, Downtown Washington, JCT I-395; BEGIN I-695, Nationals Park, Washington Navy Yard, 11th Street Bridge, Anacostia Park, END I-695; JCT I-295; JCT DC 295