Battle of The Beltways I-495(Washington DC) vs. I-695 ( Baltimore Beltway)

[1995hoo]

I am partial to I-495, in part because of the excellent HO/T lanes on the Virginia side. We don't drive to work every day, but when we do, we come home via I-66 (HOV) and the HO/T lanes and we make the 26-mile drive in maybe 25 minutes. If we take the more direct 13-mile route down I-395 or the parallel streets, it's usually closer to 45 minutes at that time of day.

I feel like–and this is a totally unscientific observation made based on my general feeling–there is a lot more ridiculously aggressive driving on the western half of I-695 than there is on I-495, even compared to the PG County section of I-495. My impression is probably skewed because usually if I'm on I-695 it's on a weekend or an off-peak hour. It's not a road I ever have reason to use during peak commuting hours.

[froggie]

I've typically seen the opposite...more asshattery on the PGC side of 495 than on 695.  And I took both on a regular basis.

[davewiecking]

What is posted as an alleged quote of mine omits about 5 sentences spanning multiple paragraphs, leaving 2 sentences that had nothing to do with each other appearing in one paragrph.

the I-95 braiding and left hand exits were marvels for their time. Were/are either possible on the Baltimore Beltway?

Due to the addition of the Express I-95 Toll lanes & corridor, only I-695 mainline is still braided through the northern I-95 interchange.

I've seen other sloppy quoting recently which makes it difficult to discern what the new poster is adding to the discussion, because whatever is newly typed appears as part of the original quote. Note https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=4000.0 . Thank you.

[PHLBOS]

What is posted as an alleged quote of mine omits about 5 sentences spanning multiple paragraphs, leaving 2 sentences that had nothing to do with each other appearing in one paragrph.

the I-95 braiding and left hand exits were marvels for their time. Were/are either possible on the Baltimore Beltway?

Due to the addition of the Express I-95 Toll lanes & corridor, only I-695 mainline is still braided through the northern I-95 interchange.

I've seen other sloppy quoting recently which makes it difficult to discern what the new poster is adding to the discussion, because whatever is newly typed appears as part of the original quote. Note https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=4000.0 . Thank you.

Two things:

1.  While it's not always easy to interpret one's tone just by looking at the words; the above-comment's appears to be a bit over the top IMHO (the pan smiley's the dead give-away).

2.  The point I was trying to make was that the I-95 braids that you were referring to (which is why I only included that part of your quote rather than the whole thing) have since been eliminated. 

Current I-95/695 interchange in Rossville, MD (mainline I-695 still braided)
vs.
2005 Aerial showing the still-fully-braided I-95/695 Rossville interchange

That's all; nothing more/nothing less.

No malice was intended.

[cpzilliacus]

I've typically seen the opposite...more asshattery on the PGC side of 495 than on 695.  And I took both on a regular basis.

The Prince George's County side of the Capital Beltway appears to me to have the worst amount of reckless and aggressive driving, followed by U.S. 50 in Prince George's.

IMO, I-695 is relatively mild-mannered by comparison. 

One reason may be lanes.

Most of I-95/I-495 (Capital Beltway) is at least four lanes in each direction (only a short section of I-495 in Montgomery County is less than that). Long sections of I-695 are three or even two lanes each way.

Another reason may be no overlap on I-695 with I-95, since it runs through Baltimore City via the Fort McHenry Tunnel.

By far the most-blatant problem on the Capital Beltway and U.S. 50 in Prince George's County is that of "sport bike" (or "crotch rocket") type motorcycles, who are attracted to those roads for several reasons:

(1) It is relatively straight and wide (no "roller coaster" section like Montgomery County);

(2) It is not in Virginia, which means that this (which we have discussed many times here) does not apply;

(3) There are several reasonably fast ways to flee into the District of Columbia, where Maryland police will not usually pursue, except in relatively rare cases, and the sport bike riders know that D.C. municipal cops (MPD-DC) will not chase them (though the U.S. Park Police will sometimes give chase, as they are not bound by MPD general orders); and

(4) No toll section like I-695 at the Francis Scott Key Bridge - toll maintenance also usually means more police enforcement (the MDTA Police are the primary law enforcement on I-695 from Md. 10 north of Glen Burnie (I-695 Exit 3) in Anne Arundel County to Md. 151 at Sparrows Point (Exit 42) in Baltimore County).