I-695



         


Interstate 695 (I-695) is the designation for three existing spurs of Interstate 95. Several more routes called I-695 were planned (including those around Boston and Philadelphia), but they were cancelled.

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District of Columbia

I-695 is a secret route for the Southeast Freeway in Washington. It serves as a connector between I-395 and I-295. Plans were made to extend I-695 to the northeast to meet with DC 295, but they were rejected by local government. A ghost ramp rests at the freeway's eastern end, and like I-170 in Baltimore, traffic is shunted to an exit ramp onto Pennsylvania Avenue. However, I-695 could still be extended to DC 295 in the future. There is no current timetable for it.

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Maryland

I-695 is a full beltway around Baltimore. It serves the suburbs of Glen Burnie and Linthicum in Anne Arundel County, plus Lansdowne, Halethorpe, Arbutus, Catonsville, Woodlawn, Pikesville, Brooklandville, Towson, Parkville, White Marsh, Essex, Sparrows Point and Dundalk in Baltimore County. It also passes through the city of Baltimore for a brief duration. As opposed to the I-495 Capital Beltway around Washington, whose exit numbers are arranged counterclockwise, the exit numbers for the Baltimore Beltway are arranged clockwise. Six interstates form junctions with it: I-97, I-895, I-95 (twice), I-70, I-795 and I-83. I-83 goes by two names: It is the Jones Falls Expressway inside the Beltway, and the Harrisburg Expressway outside it (due to the fact that I-83 goes into Pennsylvania's capital city). The Francis Scott Key Bridge, a high-arcing cantilever bridge opened in 1977 as the Beltway's final link, carries I-695 over the Baltimore Harbor, and it provides an attractive option to motorists who wish to avoid downtown Baltimore. The toll bridge lies in the southeastern section of I-695, and although it is formally called the Outer Harbor Crossing, this stretch is still known as the Beltway, like the rest of I-695. The Outer Harbor Crossing was first signposted as MD 695 because it was a substandard four-lane expressway, but improvements to the road have allowed the entire Beltway to be signed as I-695. On a clear day, the bridge is visible from downtown Baltimore and other various points in the city (particularly in the southwestern part of it). Unlike the Fort McHenry or Harbor Tunnels, HAZMAT trucks are allowed to cross the Key Bridge.

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Exits

STARTING/ENDING POINT: Francis Scott Key Bridge

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New York

I-695 in the Bronx is a short connector route between I-95 and I-295 into Queens and Long Island.







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