Interstate 395 (District of Columbia–Virginia)

Interstate 395
Route information
Length:	13.39 mi (21.55 km) 9.91 miles (15.95 km) in Virginia 3.48 miles (5.60 km) in the District of Columbia
Major junctions
South end:	I-95 / I-495 in Springfield, VA
	US 1 in Arlington, VA GW Parkway in Arlington, VA US 1 in East Potomac Park I-695 in Washington, DC
North end:	US 50 in Washington, DC
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Business Virginia Routes Interstate U.S. Primary Secondary History Turnpikes Numbered Highways in Washington, D.C.

Interstate 395 (I-395) in Washington, D.C., and Virginia is a 13-mile-long (21 km) spur route that begins at a junction with I-95 in Springfield and ends in northwest Washington, D.C. It passes underneath the National Mall near the U.S. Capitol and ends at a junction with U.S. Route 50 (US 50) at New York Avenue, roughly a mile (1.6 km) north of the 3rd Street Tunnel. Despite its proximity to Interstate 395 in Maryland, the route is unrelated and unconnected.

Route description

Springfield Interchange

The intersection where I-395, I-95, and the Capital Beltway meet is called the Springfield Interchange.

Unofficially, this interchange is also referred to as The Mixing Bowl. This moniker causes confusion, because the intersection of I-395, Washington Boulevard, and Columbia Pike several miles north was historically known by that name, and continues to be recognized by the Virginia Department of Transportation as such.

HOV facility

Cars on I-395, leaving Washington, D.C. (in distance) and passing by the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.

I-395 contains a reversible, barrier-separated HOV facility, also known locally as the "express lanes", with its own entrances and exits, provided as a third roadway of Interstates 395 and 95 between South Eads Street near the Pentagon in Arlington County and State Route 234 in Prince William County, Virginia. During rush hour, the HOV facility operates in the direction of rush-hour traffic and is restricted to vehicles containing three or more passengers. Motorcycles, alternative fuel cars, hybrids registered in Virginia before July 1, 2006, and federal law enforcement vehicles are also permitted to use HOV lanes, even if carrying only one occupant. At other times, the facility is either open to all traffic in one direction or closed to all traffic. In 2012, the exemption was modified to be "open-ended" rather than year-to-year.

The facility was initially constructed with a single lane as the first busway in the United States before being expanded and converted to HOV use. Approximately 65% of travelers on I-395 (61,000 commuters) utilized the HOV lanes during the morning rush hour: 32,000 rode transit and 29,000 used private vehicles with 2 or more people. 33,000 commuters (35% of total users) drove alone.

Potomac River Bridges

The Arland D. Williams Jr. Memorial Bridge as seen from a Yellow Line train on the nearby Washington Metro bridge

I-395 and US 1 cross the Potomac River from Virginia to Washington, D.C., on three parallel four-lane bridges, together known as the 14th Street Bridge. Potomac River crossings for the Washington Metro's Yellow Line and for a major CSX railroad line are immediately downstream here. This site has long been a major Potomac River crossing, with the first bridge constructed here in 1809. Of the present highway spans, the eastern one was built in 1950, the western one in 1962, and the central one in 1972.

During an evening rush-hour snowstorm in 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 crashed on take-off from National Airport, hitting the easternmost of the three highway bridges. The oldest span, formerly named the Rochambeau, is now named the Arland D. Williams, Jr. Memorial Bridge, in honor of a passenger of Flight 90 who survived the crash, escaped from the sinking aircraft, and perished in the Potomac River while saving others from the icy waters. The center span is now called the Rochambeau Bridge, and the western span, the George Mason Memorial Bridge.

Washington, D.C.

I-395 bridge over 12th Street SW in Washington, D.C.

The following names are used for I-395 in the District: 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, and the Third Street Tunnel for the segment of the Center Leg under the National Mall.

History

Shirley Highway

I-395 in Alexandria, Virginia

Main article: Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway

The portion of Interstate 395 between the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the interchange with Interstate 95 and the Capital Beltway in Springfield is part of the Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway, named for a Virginia Highway Commissioner who died on July 16, 1941, just a few weeks after approving work on the new expressway. Originally State Route 350, the full length of the Shirley Highway was opened on September 6, 1949, from south of the Pentagon to Woodbridge, Virginia, along what is now better known as the Interstate 95 corridor. The Shirley Highway featured the nation's first reversible bus lanes, a precursor to today's HOV lanes.

Interstate Highway through Washington

Original plans called for I-95 to travel through Washington, D.C., and Prince George's County, Maryland, toward the northeastern portion of the Capital Beltway, from which I-95 presently continues its northbound route. However, neighborhood opposition in the District halted this plan in 1977, diverting planned funding toward construction of the Washington Metro. The only remnant of the Maryland extension is a series of ramp stubs near College Park, which now lead to a Park & Ride. The portion of I-95 within the Beltway became I-395, while the eastern half of the Beltway was re-designated I-95 (and, later, co-signed I-95/I-495). I-395 currently terminates in Washington, D.C., at a traffic signal at U.S. Route 50, which is New York Avenue, near Mount Vernon Square.

Center Leg Freeway development

The District government finalized a deal in 2010 with the Louis Dreyfus Group to construct a 2,100,000-square-foot (200,000 m²) mixed-use development in the airspace over the Center Leg Freeway portion of Interstate 395. The $425 million office, residential, and retail project at the east end of the Judiciary Square neighborhood will also restore the area's original L'Enfant Plan street grid by reconnecting F and G Streets over the freeway. The project is awaiting final regulatory approval and is expected to be complete by 2016.

Exit list

Exits in Virginia are numbered south to north, in accordance with AASHTO guidelines. Exits in the District of Columbia were unnumbered until 2008, when signs were posted numbering them sequentially south to north.^{[citation needed]}

State	County	Location	Mile	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Virginia	Fairfax	Springfield	0.00	0.00	1A	I-95 south – Richmond	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
					1B	SR 644 – Springfield	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
					1C	I-95 north / I-495 east – Baltimore, MD	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
					1D	I-495 north – Tysons Corner	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
					2	SR 648 (Edsall Road)	Signed as exits 2A (east) and 2B (west)
						I-395 (HOV-3)	No northbound exit from HOV lanes to main carriageway (under construction as of December 2012)
	City of Alexandria				3	SR 236 (Duke Street) – Landmark, Lincolnia	Signed as exits 3A (east) and 3B (west)
					4	Seminary Road
					5	SR 7 (King Street)
	City of Arlington				6	Shirlington	Via SR 402; Southbound exit is via exit 7
					7	SR 120 (Glebe Road) – Marymount University	Signed as exits 7A (south) and 7B (north) northbound
					8A	SR 27 west (Washington Boulevard) to SR 244 (Columbia Pike)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
					8A	SR 27 (Washington Blvd) / Carpool Staging Area / Pentagon South Parking / Arl Ridge Road	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
					8B	SR 27 west (Washington Boulevard) – Pentagon, Arlington Cemetery, Rosslyn	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
					8B	SR 110 north to I-66 west – Rosslyn	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
					8C	To US 1 south / Army Navy Drive – Reagan National Airport, Crystal City, Pentagon City	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
					8C	US 1 south – Pentagon City, Crystal City, Alexandria	Southern terminus of concurrency with US 1 Southbound exit and northbound entrance
						I-395 north (HOV-3)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
					9	Clark Street	Northbound exit is via exit 10A
					10	Boundary Channel Drive – Pentagon North Parking GW Parkway – Reagan National Airport, Memorial Bridge	Signed as exits 10A (Boundary Channel Drive), 10B (GW Parkway south), and 10C (GW Parkway north)
District of Columbia	Potomac River		9.91 0.00	15.95 0.00	14th Street Bridges Arland D. Williams Jr. Memorial Bridge (northbound) / George Mason Memorial Bridge (southbound) / Rochambeau Memorial Bridge (HOV lanes)
	City of Washington				1	US 1 north – National Mall	Northern terminus of concurrency with US 1; Northbound exit and southbound entrance
					2	Potomac Park / U.S. Park Police	No trucks
						I-395 south (HOV-3)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; Northern terminus of I-395 HOV lanes
	Washington Channel				Francis Case Memorial Bridge
	City of Washington				3	12th Street Expressway – Verizon Center	Entrances via the 9th Street Expressway; 12th Street Expressway Exit 9
					4	Maine Avenue – SW Waterfront, Nationals Park	No southbound entrance
					5	6th Street SW / 7th Street SW – L'Enfant Promenade	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
					6	C Street SW – U.S. Capitol, The House	All Haz-Mat vehicles and vehicles over 13 feet must exit
					7	I-695 east (Southeast Freeway) to I-295 – Anacostia	I-695 not signed; Unnumbered exit northbound, signed southbound
					8	2nd Street SW – U.S. Capitol	Southbound exit only; Within the 3rd Street Tunnel
					9	C Street NW / D Street NW – U.S. Senate	Northbound exit only; Within the 3rd Street Tunnel
					10	Massachusetts Ave – Union Station	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; Within the 3rd Street Tunnel
					11	3rd Street NW	Southbound exit only
			3.48	5.60		US 50 east (New York Avenue NW) to I-95 / I-295 / I-495 / Balt-Wash Parkway	Northern terminus at a signalized intersection with New York Avenue
Concurrency terminus       Closed/former       HOV only       Incomplete access       Tolled/ETC       Unopened

External links

Template:Attached_KML/Interstate 395 (District of Columbia–Virginia)

• Kurumi - I-395 Washington, D.C.; Virginia
• HOV in Northern Virginia, from the Va. Dept. of Transportation
• Springfield Interchange reconstruction, from the Va. Dept. of Transportation