Capital Beltway
The Capital Beltway (in green)
The Capital Beltway (Interstate 495) is an expressway-class interstate highway which circles the Washington, DC area. It is the basis for the phrase "inside the Beltway", used when referring to issues dealing with American government and politics.
The federal government gave final approval for the construction of the Capital Beltway (also known as the Circumferential Highway in the planning stages) on September 28, 1955. The first section of the 64-mile long Beltway (including the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge over the Potomac River) was opened on December 21, 1961; the highway was completed on August 17, 1964.
Originally designated I-495, in 1977 the eastern portion of the Beltway was re-designated I-95 when a proposed alignment of I-95 from New York Avenue in Washington, DC, through Prince George County in Maryland to I-495 was cancelled. Motorists never fully adjusted to the two halves of the Beltway having different numbers, so in 1989 the I-495 designation was restored to the eastern portion, making it a dual I-95/I-495.
Traveling clockwise, the Beltway is signed as the Inner Loop, and it is signed as the Outer loop traveling counter-clockwise.
Traffic volume on the Beltway can be as high as 225,000 vehicles per day. Despite numerous widening projects during its history, heavy traffic on the Beltway is a continuing problem.
