10/14/01 photos taken by AARoads. 06/17/05 & 12/26/06 photos taken by Alex Nitzman. 07/01/05 photos taken by Carter Buchanan. 10/11/09 photos taken by Will Weaver.
Interstates 95 & 495 (Inner) South - Old Configuration
Originally a collector/distributor roadway departed the Interstates 95 & 495 (Inner) westbound mainline at Exit 177 for Washington Street (Virginia 400) and U.S. 1 (Richmond Highway). The c/d roadway carried traffic from U.S. 1 westbound onto the Capital Beltway as well. This interchange was reconfigured during the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Replacement Project and now all movements depart from the mainline of the local lanes. Photo taken 06/17/05.
U.S. 1 follows Patrick Street north to a carriageway split with Henry Street through downtown Alexandria. Virginia 400 (Washington Street) parallels the US route three blocks to the east between respective ends of the George Washington Memorial Parkway. Photo taken 06/17/05.
Next in line for westbound motorists is the Exit 176 directional cloverleaf interchange with Telegraph Road (Virginia 241). Photo taken 06/17/05.
Exit 176B connects the local lanes of Interstates 95 & 495 with Virginia 241 (Telegraph Road) north to the George Washington Masonic National Memorial and Eisenhower Avenue near the Metro Yellow Line station. Photo taken 07/01/05.
Virginia 241 tallies 1.88 miles northward from U.S. 1 (Richmond Highway) to a trumpet interchange with Virginia 236 (Duke Street) in Alexandria. Photos taken 07/01/05.
Interstates 95 south & 495 west now see a Local/Thru carriageway configuration through the interchange with Virginia 123 now. These two views show the westbound perspective from the Thru roadway ahead of Exit 176B. Photos taken 10/11/09.
A loop ramp carries drives from the local lanes of Interstate 95 & 495 west onto Virginia 241 (Telegraph Road) south at Exit 176A. Telegraph Road splits with the state route for Rose Hill nearby, as Virginia 241 turns southerly onto Kings Highway to Huntington. Photo taken 12/26/06.
Interstates 95 & 495 west span Cameron Run after the Virginia 236 on-ramps and next approach the Eisenhower Avenue Connector (Exit 174). Photo taken 06/17/05.
Interstates 95 & 495 (Inner) South
The local and thru carriageways of the Capital Beltway merge ahead of the Exit 174 diamond interchange with the Eisenhower Connector. The Connector joins Interstates 95 & 495 with parallel Eisenhower Avenue, spanning the Metro Blue Line in the process. Photo taken 06/17/05.
Westbound at the Exit 174 off-ramp to the Eisenhower Connector. The connector's south end does not connect with adjacent Clermont Drive south to Franconia Road. Eisenhower Avenue continues west from the connector north end to Virginia 401 (Van Dorn Street). Photo taken 07/01/05.
The final Alexandria area interchange joins Interstates 95 & 495 (Capital Beltway) west with Virginia Secondary 613 (Van Dorn Street) at Exit 173. Photo taken 12/26/06.
Reassurance shields posted for Interstate 95 south & 495 west amid the holiday traffic between Exits 174 and 173. Photo taken 12/26/06.
A trumpet interchange and access road comprise the Exit 173 interchange of Interstates 95 & 495 with Van Dorn Street (Virginia Secondary 613). Van Dorn Street exists as Virginia 401 north from the city of Alexandria line to Virginia 420 (Seminary Road). Southward SSR 613 follows Van Dorn Street to Telegraph Road (Virginia Secondary 611) near Kingstowne. Photo taken 06/17/05.
Exit 173 leaves the Capital Beltway Inner loop for Virginia Secondary 613. As for Van Dorn Street, the north-south arterial serves the suburb of Franconia (pop. 31,907) between Kingstowne Boulevard and Interstate 95 & 495. Northward Virginia State Secondary 613 continues into Alexandria (pop. 128,283) to Duke Street and the Landmark Mall. Photo taken 06/17/05.
Before 2001, the Van Dorn Street off-ramp was signed as Exit 3. The exit numbering system of the Capital Beltway saw numbers increase from the Potomac River westward along the Inner loop and decrease along the Outer loop. Interstate 95 mileage based exit numbers did not begin until the route departed the beltway at Springfield. Photo taken 08/12/00.
Interstates 95 & 495 approach the massive Springfield Interchange west of the Van Dorn exit. A two mile stretch of ten lane freeway traverses Backlick Streak Valley Park before entering the Exit 170 junction with Interstate 395 (Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway) north. Note the Interstate 95 guide sign replacement and the extra large highway shield. Interstate 95 once used a cloverleaf ramp to continue southward from the Beltway. That movement was replaced with a two-lane high speed flyover. Photos taken 06/17/05 & 07/01/05.
A look at the previous sign bridge posted on the one mile approach to the Springfield Interchange. A directional-cloverleaf interchange handled movements originally. Construction to upgrade the junction commenced in 1999 and was completed by 2007 at a cost of $676 million.1 Photo taken 10/14/01.
The Capital Beltway maintains six overall lanes through the Springfield Interchange. Movements to Interstate 395 north to Arlington and Virginia Secondary 644 (Exit 169 of Interstate 95) should use the Interstate 495 lanes for the respective right-hand ramps. Photo taken 07/01/05.
An auxiliary sign bridge for Exit 170 displayed the northern Virginia control points of Springfield (pop. 30,417) for Interstate 95 south and Arlington (pop. 189,453) for Interstate 395 north. The beginnings of the new flyover ramps took place in this westward looking scene. Photo taken 10/14/01.
Passing over the Metro Blue Line, Interstates 95 & 495 prepare to split. Interstate 95 turns southward from the Beltway to Fredericksburg and Richmond. Interstate 495 turns northwest to Annandale, Tysons Corner, and Rockville, Maryland. Interstate 395 meanwhile bends northeast to downtown Washington. Photo taken 07/01/05.
Portions of the high flyovers associated with the Springfield Interchange come into view as Interstates 95 & 495 descend from the Blue Line under crossing. Interstate 95 includes multiple carriageways leading south from the beltway to the stack interchange with Virginia Secondary 644 (Franconia Road). SSR 644 travels east to the sprawling Springfield Mall and west to Springfield Plaza amid the suburb of Springfield. Photo taken 06/17/05.
Ascending the highest flyover ramp of the Springfield Interchange that carries the Interstate 95 mainline southward from the beltway. Departing in one half mile below is the ramp to Interstate 395 north to Alexandria. Photos taken 10/11/09 & 07/01/05.
A look at the previous configuration of the Interstate 395 (Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway) northbound departure from the Capital Beltway via Exit 170B. Interstate 395 provides a 13.39 mile long freeway through Alexandria, Arlington, the Pentagon vicinity, and downtown Washington, D.C. The freeway continues the HOV-2 reversible lane system of Interstate 95 northward toward the Potomac River. Photo taken 10/14/01.
Interstate 95 used to leave the Capital Beltway via a two lane directional ramp. This ramp was overwhelmed at most times of the day due to the volume of traffic at the Springfield Interchange. The substandard nature of the ramp was one of the main reasons for the upgrading of the interchange into a multi-level stack. Photo taken 10/14/01.
