Interstate 695 (I-695) is a

auxiliary Interstate Highway Auxiliary Interstate Highways (also called three-digit Interstate Highways) are a supplemental subset of the freeways within the Interstate Highway System of the United States. Auxiliary routes are generally classified as spur routes, which con ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

It is also known as the Southeast Freeway. It travels from an

interchange Interchange may refer to: Transport * Interchange (road), a collection of ramps, exits, and entrances between two or more highways * Interchange (freight rail), the transfer of freight cars between railroad companies * Interchange station, a rai ...

with

I-395 Interstate 395 may refer to: *Interstate 395 (Connecticut–Massachusetts), a spur from I-95 to Auburn, Massachusetts *Interstate 395 (Delaware), a proposed portion of I-95 in Delaware, when it was under construction *Interstate 395 (Florida), a spu ...

south of the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the Legislature, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is form ...

building east then south across the

11th Street Bridges The 11th Street Bridges are a complex of three bridges across the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C., United States. The bridges convey Interstate 695 across the Anacostia to its southern terminus at Interstate 295 and DC 295. The bridg ...

to an intersection with

I-295 Interstate 295 is the designation for several Interstate Highways in the United States: *Interstate 295 (Delaware–Pennsylvania), a bypass of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania *Interstate 295 (Florida), a beltway around central Jacksonville *Interstate 29 ...

and

District of Columbia Route 295 District of Columbia Route 295 (DC 295), also known as the Anacostia Freeway as well as the Kenilworth Avenue Freeway north of East Capitol Street, is a freeway in the District of Columbia, and currently the only signed numbered route in the ...

(DC 295) in

Anacostia Anacostia is a historic neighborhood in Southeast Washington, D.C. Its downtown is located at the intersection of Good Hope Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. It is located east of the Anacostia River, after which the neighborhood is na ...

. Access also exists from eastbound I-695 to

Pennsylvania Avenue Pennsylvania Avenue is a diagonal street in Washington, D.C., and Prince George's County, Maryland, that connects the White House and the United States Capitol and then crosses the city to Maryland. In Maryland it is also Maryland Route 4 (MD ...

Barney Circle Barney Circle is a small residential neighborhood located between the west bank of the Anacostia River and the eastern edge of Capitol Hill in southeast Washington, D.C., in the United States. The neighborhood is characterized by its sense of c ...

, just northwest of the

John Philip Sousa Bridge The John Philip Sousa Bridge, also known as the Sousa Bridge and the Pennsylvania Avenue Bridge, is a continuous steel plate girder bridge that carries Pennsylvania Avenue SE across the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C., in the United States ...

. Stub ramps at Pennsylvania Avenue, once meant to continue the

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

(as part of I-295) to

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

and U.S. Route 50 northeast of

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

, now provide access to

Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, commonly known as RFK Stadium and originally known as District of Columbia Stadium, is a defunct multi-purpose stadium in Washington, D.C. It is located about due east of the U.S. Capitol building, near the ...

. 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. The route is planned to be decommissioned in favor of an extension of I-395, but the re-signing work is yet to commence as of July 2022.

Route description

Interstate 695 begins at an interchange with Interstate 395, following through the densely populated areas of Washington, D.C. The road comes to an interchange with

South Capitol Street South Capitol Street is a major street dividing the southeast and southwest quadrants of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It runs south from the United States Capitol to the D.C.–Maryland line, intersecting with Southern Avenue. Afte ...

, providing access to the

Nationals Park Nationals Park is a baseball stadium along the Anacostia River in the Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Home to Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals since its completion in 2008, it was the first LEED-certified green major prof ...

baseball stadium. It then continues east, passing over 6th Street SE. The interstate comes to another interchange, providing access to I-395 north (westbound only) and 11th Street and Southeast Boulevard (eastbound). It then proceeds to cross the

over the

Anacostia River The Anacostia River is a river in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Channel to empty into the Potomac River at Buzzard Poi ...

before reaching its terminus at Interstate 295 and Route 295.

History

Plans from 1955 (numbered in 1958) took

through Washington on what is now

, turning east at US 50 and leaving along the

Baltimore–Washington Parkway The Baltimore–Washington Parkway (also referred to as the B–W Parkway) is a highway in the U.S. state of Maryland, running southwest from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. The road begins at an interchange with U.S. Route 50 (US 50) ...

was to travel along its current route to south of the

, but then would have continued northeast along DC 295, ending at I-95 just outside the District. I-695 was to travel from I-295 over the 11th Street Bridges, turning west on what is now I-695 to end at I-95 (now I-395). Soon—possibly by 1958, when numbers were assigned—I-95 between

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

and Washington was shifted to a new alignment, splitting from the US 50 corridor northeast of

. I-295 was shifted to cross the 11th Street Bridges, and then turn east in the median of present I-695 (where the ramps to

RFK Stadium Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, commonly known as RFK Stadium and originally known as District of Columbia Stadium, is a defunct multi-purpose stadium in Washington, D.C. It is located about due east of the U.S. Capitol building, near the ...

now lie), continuing north and northwest to end at I-95 and US 50 at their split. I-695 would be the short section of freeway between I-95 and I-295, and ramps on both sides of the

East Capitol Street Bridge The Whitney Young Memorial Bridge is a bridge that carries East Capitol Street across the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. in the United States. Finished in 1955, it was originally called the East Capitol Street Bridge. It was renamed for civil ...

would provide a freeway-to-freeway connection between I-695 and DC 295 (via I-295). By 1971, an extension was added to the planned I-695. It would travel

concurrent Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

with I-95 west to

Maine Avenue Maine Avenue is a diagonal avenue in the Southwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. Maine Avenue connects Independence Avenue with M Street SW, and has an interchange with Interstate 395. Route description Maine Avenue begins at 17th Street SW an ...

, where it would split (the existing

provides for freeway-to-freeway ramps) and run northwest along Independence Avenue past the

Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a U.S. national memorial built to honor the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across from the Washington Monument, and is in ...

to end at

I-66 Interstate 66 (I-66) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. It runs from an interchange with I-81 near Middletown, Virginia, on its western end to an interchange with U.S. Route 29 (US 29) in Washing ...

, at the east end of the

Theodore Roosevelt Bridge The Theodore Roosevelt Bridge (also known as the Teddy Roosevelt Bridge or the Roosevelt Bridge) is a bridge crossing the Potomac River which connects Washington, D.C., with the Commonwealth of Virginia. The bridge crosses over Theodore Roosevelt ...

(that interchange also has the appropriate ramps). The Southeast Freeway, including the section planned as I-295 to Pennsylvania Avenue, was built in the late 1960s. Plans for the remaining Interstates in Washington were canceled in 1977 after much opposition, and I-295 was later truncated to I-695, with the former I-295 stub to Pennsylvania Avenue renumbered as part of I-695. In the 1990s, the Barney Circle Freeway was planned to travel from the east end of I-695 across the

to DC 295. This would have filled a hole in Washington's freeway system, which had no connection between I-395 and DC 295. (This would have been provided by I-295 and the

Whitney Young Memorial Bridge The Whitney Young Memorial Bridge is a bridge that carries East Capitol Street across the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. in the United States. Finished in 1955, it was originally called the East Capitol Street Bridge. It was renamed for civil ...

.) After the Barney Circle Freeway plan was canceled in 1996, a left-turn movement was added at the interchange between Pennsylvania Avenue and DC 295, allowing traffic coming from I-695 to cross the Anacostia on Pennsylvania Avenue and join DC 295 directly, albeit passing through two

traffic signal Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – known also as robots in South Africa are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control flows of traffic. Traffic light ...

s. No ramp was provided from DC 295 south to Pennsylvania Avenue west, however, and so traffic from DC 295 south to I-395 south needed to cross the Anacostia on

. That

decommissioning Decommissioning is a general term for a formal process to remove something from an active status, and may refer to: Infrastructure * Decommissioned offshore * Decommissioned highway * Greenfield status of former industrial sites * Nuclear decomm ...

was foretold in April 2003, when the DC Office of Planning stated that "the elevated Southeast Freeway and industrial landscape create formidable psychological barriers" between the surrounding neighborhoods. In October 2008, the freeway was named one of ten U.S. "Freeways Without Futures" by Congress for the New Urbanism. In December 2009, construction began on replacement of the 11th Street Bridges and their interchange with I-295/DC 295, including ramps that now allow for highway-only travel between DC 295, I-295, and I-395 in all directions. The renderings for that project also show a deletion of the connections between the bridge and I-695 east, indicating that the stretch of the Southeast Freeway between 11th St SE and Pennsylvania Avenue would soon be decommissioned and replaced by an at-grade

boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway. Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls. In American usage, boulevards may b ...

with

s. In 2011, as a part of the project, I-695 was signed along the Southeast Freeway. Prior to the 11th Street Bridge Project, the

unsigned Unsigned can refer to: * An unsigned artist is a musical artist or group not attached or signed to a record label ** Unsigned Music Awards, ceremony noting achievements of unsigned artists ** Unsigned band web, online community * Similarly, the ...

I-695 did not cross the bridges and terminated north of the Anacostia River. New signage installed by the District Department of Transportation in 2011-12 marks the first time I-695 has appeared on directional signs in the District of Columbia; some signs referring to I-695, however, still read "To I-295" along I-395, and some remaining "To I-395" signage can still be found along I-695 westbound. The new signs designate I-695 as extending from the point where I-395 branches off from the Southeast Freeway, with I-695 continuing along the Southeast Freeway and over the new 11th Street Bridge to the interchange with I-295. Some commentators contend the new signage is confusing and that the Southeast Freeway is often confused with Baltimore's Beltway, a highway with the same route designation. In January 2021, as part of an effort to eliminate driver confusion in the area of the Southeast Freeway, AASHTO approved a request by the District of Columbia to eliminate I-695 and renumber it as an extension of I-395. I-395's previous route along the

Center Leg Freeway Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

will be renumbered as a new I-195. The

FHWA The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program ...

approved the request of re-signing I-695 as I-395 on April 23, 2021, but no progress was made as of July 2022.

Exit list

The entire route is in

Exits were unnumbered until July 2014.

References

External links

kurumi - I-695 Washington, D.C.
* ttp://www.dcroads.net/roads/southeast Steve Anderson's DCroads.net: Southeast Freeway (I-695) and unbuilt Barney Circle Freeway {{Authority control 95-6 District of Columbia 95-6 6 District of Columbia