It enters the Capital Beltway at the Springfield Interchange, also known as the Mixing Bowl. I-95 continues over the Potomac River on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge into Washington, D.C. (for 0.11 miles [0.18 km] on the bridge) and then into Maryland on the Capital Beltway.
The route between Fredericksburg and Springfield is consistently one of the most congested routes of highway in the US, particularly during holidays and rush hours. The causes for this congestion are lack of alternative routes, fewer lanes than needed, and the spread-out suburbs of the Washington, D.C. area.[3] To solve this problem, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) started a project to widen I-95 to six lanes between the cities, as well as adding express lanes and new offramps to U.S. Route 17 (US 17) and State Route 3 (SR 3) through Fredericksburg. The project was started in 2018 and is planned to be completed by the end of 2023.[4][needs update]
On January 4, 2022, a major traffic jam occurred, leaving some people stuck in traffic for more than 24 hours due to heavy snowfall.[5]
Route description
North Carolina to Petersburg
I-95 northbound entering Virginia from North Carolina in Greensville County
I-95 continues the pattern of being a four-lane highway from North Carolina. The northbound welcome center forbids trucks, but truck stops at the first two interchanges provides a substitute place for truckers to stay before reaching Emporia.[6][7] In Emporia, the freeway has an interchange with US 58. North of here, I-95 and US 301 are often intertwined with each other as they encounter interchanges with Virginia Secondary State Routes. In the Owens–Stony Creek area in Sussex County, the road not only runs parallel to US 301 but shares bridges with I-95, many of which have access to US 301 from connecting roads. This pattern ends at exit 33 at the corner of a truck stop and travel center. Crossing the Sussex–Prince George county line, the first site along I-95 is another rest area that also serves as the Petersburg Area Tourist Information Center. The road makes a slight northeast turn between Carson and Templeton, then turns straight north again before approaching the south end of I-295 just before crossing the southern border of the city of Petersburg at exit 47. A series of frontage roads connect the interchanges with US 460, US 301 and the northern terminus of I-85. Immediately after the interchange with I-85, remnants of the former toll booths for the Richmond–Petersburg Turnpike can be found.[8] Also, the I-95/I-85 interchange was formerly marked with signs directing southbound travelers to the long-distance cities of Miami, Florida, and Atlanta, Georgia, respectively.
Petersburg to Richmond
View of I-95 southbound past SR 144 in Colonial HeightsI-95 northbound at the SR 802 interchange in Hanover County
North of Petersburg, I-95 crosses the Appomattox River and enters the city of Colonial Heights and then Chesterfield County. An extraordinarily high Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge carries SR 895 (Pocahontas Parkway) over I-95 and the James River just south of the Richmond city limits. A CSX Transportation railroad line runs parallel to the northbound lane in the vicinity of the Port of Richmond, and the Commerce Road Industrial Area, a region that includes a Philip Morris USA office and an old bridge manufacturing plant.[9] As I-95 itself crosses the James River, Richmond Main Street Station can be seen on the north bank, and the road winds around the station itself.[10] The first interchange after it crosses the James River is the tolled SR 195 freeway and from there the road winds toward the concurrency with I-64. I-64/I-95 curves to the northwest to cross under US 1/US 301, only to turn back north briefly, and curve northwest again, as it approaches SR 161. This pattern ends when I-64 turns west at the same interchange as the northern terminus of I-195. From here I-95 curves back to the northeast and has two interchanges with US 1, and later US 301 separately, the latter of which has separate carriageways on both side of I-95. Another interchange with I-295 exists in Glen Allen. However, I-295 does not terminate there, and the south-to-eastbound and west-to-northbound offramps between the two can be accessed in the medians of both roads.
Central Virginia to Washington, D.C.
View north along I-95 north of US 17 in Stafford County
Throughout much of central Virginia, I-95 climbs a series of hills and contains wide tree-lined medians. Near Doswell, the SR 30 interchange provides access to the Kings Dominion amusement park, with signs for the amusement park blended in with standard destination signs. US 17 overlaps I-95 from Massaponax at exit 126 north to Falmouth at exit 133 as the highway passes west of the city of Fredericksburg. The wide tree-line divider resumes north of here. At exit 143 in Aquia, the northbound off- and onramps connect directly to US 1, even though the interchange is specifically for SR 610.[11] The bidirectional high-occupancy toll lane (HOT lane) begins at the SR 610 interchange north of Stafford and runs through the center of I-95 through most of the rest of its journey toward Washington, D.C. Crossing over the Chopawamsic Creek takes I-95 through Marine Corps Base Quantico, which includes restrictive interchanges.[citation needed]
I-95 northbound at the SR 294 exit near Woodbridge
I-95 with reversible HOT lanes in northern Virginia
I-95 extends the twin-lane barrier-separated high-occupancy toll lanes (HOV lanes) that begin on I-395 at the 14th Street bridges in Washington. These lanes have been extended south several times, most recently to just north of Stafford right before the Garrisonville Road exit.
As part of the Quantico Creek bridge rebuilding project, a three-lane, 300-foot-long (91 m) bridge was constructed in the median just south of the old southern HOV terminus for use when the HOV facilities were extended. It was previously used as a detour bridge and retained its lane striping from such use.
In December 2014, this bridge became part of the Southern HOV/HOT lane extension project that now runs to just north of Garrisonville Road (exit 143) in Stafford.[12][13]
The new I-95 HOV/HOT lanes project created approximately 29 miles (47 km) of HOV/HOT lanes on I-95 from Garrisonville Road in Stafford County to the vicinity of Edsall Road on I-395 in Fairfax County.[14]
In July 2016, VDOT began construction of an additional one-mile (1.6 km) extension of the HOV/HOT lanes on I-95 south of Garrisonville Road in Stafford County. This addition opened in November 2017.[15]
Welcome centers, rest areas, and weigh stations
Virginia Welcome Center and rest area located northbound past the North Carolina state line
Northbound Virginia Welcome Center: Milepost 1, north of the North Carolina state line
Northbound Petersburg Welcome Center: Milepost 35 between exits 33 and 37
Carson Weigh Stations: Milepost 40 between exits 37 and 41
Ladysmith Rest Areas: Milepost 108 between exits 104 and 110
Southbound Fredericksburg Rest Area: Milepost 132 between exits 130 and 133
Dumfries Rest Area and Weigh Stations: Milepost 153 between exits 152 and 156
Dale City Rest Areas: Milepost 155 between exits 152 and 156
Usage
In 2010, volume at Newington, northbound, from 6:00–9:00 am, is about 8,800 vehicles in the two HOV lanes and 18,300 vehicles in the three lanes with no restriction.[16]
Auxiliary routes
Current
I-95/I-495 south coming off the Woodrow Wilson Bridge from MarylandView south along I-95 north of SR 150 and SR 895 in Bensley
I-195 is a short spur from north of downtown Richmond south into downtown.
I-295 is a bypass to the east of Richmond, from I-95 south of Petersburg, across I-64 east of Richmond and I-95 north of Richmond to I-64 west of Richmond.
I-795 was a planned number for present I-95 from I-295 south of Petersburg north to I-85 in downtown Petersburg; I-95 would have bypassed Petersburg and Richmond to the east on I-295. The renumbering was never done because tolls were removed from the Richmond–Petersburg Turnpike section of I-95.
SR 895 is the Pocahontas Parkway, a connection from I-95 south of Richmond east to I-295. It was not numbered as an Interstate because the project opened as a toll road using federal funds, thus disqualifying it from Interstate status.
Northbound signed as "US 460 east to SR 109/US 301/Wythe St./Washington St."; southbound signed as "US 301/US 460 Bus." only; signed as exits 50A (US 460), 50B-C (US 301), and 50D (Wythe St./Washington St.) northbound
Since 2012, signed as exits 156A (east) and 156B (west); northbound entrance includes direct entrance ramp from Opitz Boulevard, and direct exit ramp to I-95 Express lanes
Signed as exits 177A (south) and 177B (north); formerly signed as exit 1 (following old Capital Beltway numbering); entrances include direct entrance ramps onto Thru Lanes; no access to northbound Thru Lanes from US 1 north
I-95 at North Carolina border near Skippers
I-95 / I-495 at District of Columbia border in Alexandria on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge
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