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[Beltway]

I really don't understand why traffic is so bad from the I-495 beltway until MD-100, exit 43.

Someone dig up the volume?  Probably over 120,000 AADT.  Plus heavy B-W area commuting in peak hours.  That would be the explanation.

It hovers around 200k between 495 and 895, not changing too much at 100. The Capital Beltway has similar volumes between MD 4 and I-95.

That explains the congestion!! 

[Mapmikey]

From 2017 figures - https://www.roads.maryland.gov/Traffic_Volume_Maps/Traffic_Volume_Maps.pdf#page=1&zoom=100

I-95 just inside I-695 - 186k
I-95 btw MD 43 and MD 152 - 166k
I-95 btw MD 152 and MD 24 - 155k
I-95 btw MD 24 and MD 543 - 125k
I-95 btw MD 543 and MD 22 - 105k
I-95 btw MD 22 and MD 155 - 89k

compare with:

I-95 btw MD 100 and I-895 - 206k
I-95 btw MD 175 and MD 100 - 209k
I-95 btw MD 32 and MD 175 - 216k
I-95 btw MD 216 and MD 32 - 204k
I-95 btw MD 198 and MD 216 - 200k
I-95 btw MD 200 and MD 198 - 206k
I-95 btw MD 212 and MD 200 - 219k
I-95 btw I-495 and MD 212 - 199k

I-495 w of I-95 is 253k and e of I-95 is 211k, with 495 traffic neither entering/leaving 95 there at 144k.

[Beltway]

I didn't realize that I-95 between I-495 and I-695 carried that much traffic, around 200,000+ AADT, which is in the same range as that of the Capital Beltway. 

I-95 has multiple relief routes, the 4-lane freeway B-W Parkway, the 4-lane arterial US-1, and US-29 with 4 and 6 lane sections some of which are freeway and others which are arterial.

So even with 8 lanes I-95 will see lots of congested times.

[froggie]

^ Although I don't have a lot of recent experience with "95 between the Beltways" (in part because I only get down once a year these days), my earlier-this-decade experience is that 95 will still generally move unless there's a crash or inclement weather.

[mrsman]

I didn't realize that I-95 between I-495 and I-695 carried that much traffic, around 200,000+ AADT, which is in the same range as that of the Capital Beltway. 

I-95 has multiple relief routes, the 4-lane freeway B-W Parkway, the 4-lane arterial US-1, and US-29 with 4 and 6 lane sections some of which are freeway and others which are arterial.

So even with 8 lanes I-95 will see lots of congested times.

That's exactly right.  There are many decent options and traffic can use whichever route works better.  BW Pkwy is closer to more job sites (BWI, Fort Meade) and is generally narrower so it tends to back up more.  I-95 gets a lot of interregional traffic.  US 29 seems to be a great shortcut for local traffic that is aware of it, but there are signals south of MD 198.

From my experience, I-95 is just not as crowded as 270, BW Pkwy, or the Beltway and does move well for most of the day and usually maintains respectable speed even at the height of rush hour.

[cpzilliacus]

From my experience, I-95 is just not as crowded as 270, BW Pkwy, or the Beltway and does move well for most of the day and usually maintains respectable speed even at the height of rush hour.

The Baltimore-Washington Parkway is usually the "first to fail" in terms of severe traffic congestion - because it is either four or six lanes total all the way from the Tuxedo area of Prince George's County  to South  Russell Street in Baltimore City.

For I-95 drivers on long  trips, especially persons using GPS that does not include congestion feedback, they are nearly all  routed onto the Parkway, which causes it to carry more traffic than it might otherwise.  And then there's the matter of employment centers at Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County (biggest in the state); BWI also in Anne Arundel; downtown Baltimore City; and at the USDA Henry Wallace Beltsville Agriculture Research Center (and other federal agencies within that footprint, including the U.S. Secret Service facility on Powder Mill Road, the Food and Drug Administration and especially the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt), all in Prince George's County.

[Mapmikey]

^ Although I don't have a lot of recent experience with "95 between the Beltways" (in part because I only get down once a year these days), my earlier-this-decade experience is that 95 will still generally move unless there's a crash or inclement weather.

Of course, you need for there not to be a crash on not just I-95, but also US 29 and the B-W Pkwy.  If all 3 are crash free then 95 is crowded but moving...

[bluecountry]

Its really too crowded and the volume warrants an expansion of I-95, especially given how much of that stretch has so much of a large median.
Can't understand why this isn't a priority.

[Duke87]

A perusal of Google Maps indicates that typical rush hour traffic on the beltway is definitively worse than on I-95 between the beltways, in spite of the similar volumes. Particularly earlier in the week (on Thursdays and Fridays congestion on I-95 gets closer in severity to that on the beltway).

The obvious reason is that the beltway, especially west of the I-95 interchange, has generally inferior geometry - sharper and more numerous curves, shorter accel/decel lanes, short weaves that are not given C/D roads, tight loop ramps, narrower left shoulder, etc.

[froggie]

^ Geometry's part of it, but the Beltway does consistently have more traffic than I-95, typically about 10-20K vpd more on the leg between 270 and 95, and 40-50K more between the 270 Spur and the Legion Bridge.  270 between the Beltway and Rockville also has a bit more than 95, with the segment just north of the Beltway split being the busiest road segment in all of Maryland.

[bluecountry]

A perusal of Google Maps indicates that typical rush hour traffic on the beltway is definitively worse than on I-95 between the beltways, in spite of the similar volumes. Particularly earlier in the week (on Thursdays and Fridays congestion on I-95 gets closer in severity to that on the beltway).

The obvious reason is that the beltway, especially west of the I-95 interchange, has generally inferior geometry - sharper and more numerous curves, shorter accel/decel lanes, short weaves that are not given C/D roads, tight loop ramps, narrower left shoulder, etc.

I-95 between the DC and Baltimore beltway is always crowded, even when 'free flowing.'
It just really needs to be like the NJTP is in Central Jersey with 6 lanes in each direction.

[famartin]

A perusal of Google Maps indicates that typical rush hour traffic on the beltway is definitively worse than on I-95 between the beltways, in spite of the similar volumes. Particularly earlier in the week (on Thursdays and Fridays congestion on I-95 gets closer in severity to that on the beltway).

The obvious reason is that the beltway, especially west of the I-95 interchange, has generally inferior geometry - sharper and more numerous curves, shorter accel/decel lanes, short weaves that are not given C/D roads, tight loop ramps, narrower left shoulder, etc.

I-95 between the DC and Baltimore beltway is always crowded, even when 'free flowing.'
It just really needs to be like the NJTP is in Central Jersey with 6 lanes in each direction.

It is often crowded but usually moves OK unless there's an incident or its at true peak on that segment of it. I think the bad BW Parkway pavement recently may have nudged the traffic numbers a bit higher than usual, though.