Interstate 695 (I-695) was an

auxiliary Interstate Highway Auxiliary Interstate Highways (also called three-digit Interstate Highways) are a subset of highways within the United States' Interstate Highway System. The 323 auxiliary routes generally fall into three types: spur routes, which connect to or i ...

that was proposed in 1964 to connect

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

in Southwest Philadelphia, at Philadelphia International Airport, with I-95 near the Delaware River waterfront near the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. Known as the Cobbs Creek Expressway between Southwest Philadelphia and I-76 and the Crosstown Expressway between I-76 and the waterfront, I-695 was designed to provide connections to Philadelphia International Airport and become part of a Center City Loop, with the Crosstown Expressway being the southern section of that loop (the Schuylkill Expressway was going to be the west section, the Vine Street Expressway as the north, and the Delaware Expressway as the east section).

Route description

I-695 was to begin at

near Philadelphia International Airport in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. The freeway would head north to the east of Darby Creek, crossing into Delaware County near 84th Street. The road would cross Cobbs Creek and continue to the west of the creek, passing through Colwyn and Yeadon before passing near Mount Moriah Cemetery. I-695 would cross back into Philadelphia and turn east, running through

West Philadelphia West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Although there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the n ...

. The freeway would cross the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river in eastern Pennsylvania. It flows for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map(). accessed April 1, 2011. from Pottsville, Pennsylvania, Pottsville ...

and intersect with the Schuylkill Expressway ( I-76, previously I-676) near exit 346B. The Cobbs Creek Expressway would end and the Crosstown Expressway would begin, following Grays Avenue up to South Street, where the route would borrow the cut-and-cover design (which is used on the Vine Street and Delaware expressways) between the South Street/Bainbridge Street corridor, before ending at an intersection with I-95 (near the current exit 20).

History

I-695 was first proposed in 1964. The project to build I-695 was canceled due to residential opposition in both Southwest Philadelphia and

South Philadelphia South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south, and the Schuylkill River to the west."." ''City of Philadelphia''. Retrieved November 8, ...

, as well as residents of Yeadon, in Delaware County over the proposed Interstate's right-of-way, which would have cut their communities in half, and would have spelled an end to Cobbs Creek Park. The money slated for construction of I-695 went to the purchase of buses and trains for

SEPTA SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people througho ...

, and for the construction of the Airport Line connecting Amtrak's

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston in the north to Washington, D.C., in the south, with major stops in Providence, Rhod ...

with Philadelphia International Airport.

Exit list

Exits were going to be located at these locations:

References

External links

{{3di, 95 95-6 (Pennsylvania) 95-6 95-6 6 (Pennsylvania) 95-6 (Pennsylvania) Transportation in Philadelphia Transportation in Delaware County, Pennsylvania

Route description

History

Exit list

See also

References

External links