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Interstate 95:
I-95 in Virginia was largely built during the 1959 to
1963 time span. A few small sections were brought online
as late as 1982, with the last addition being the
southernmost 4.9 miles of roadway in Virginia. It is an
almost straight north – south route serving the
Chesapeake Bay coastal regions of Virginia.
The 179 mile roadway enters the state while crossing the
Potomac River at the District of Columbia (DC) border in
Alexandria, VA and exits to the south into North
Carolina’s Northampton County from rural Virginia’s
Greensville County.
I-95 in Virginia parallels either U.S. Route 1 or State
Route 301 for most all of its journey through the state.
I-95 serves all the major population centers of the
state, while making its way through some of the most
heavily forested regions as well. In Richmond, VA I-95
crosses and connects directly without spur routes to
I-64, the major East – West route linking I-81 and
Richmond with the Norfolk and Virginia Beach area. I-64
is the only Interstate that I-95 bisects. (Interstate 85
in Petersburg, Virginia terminates when it meets up with
I-95 just south of the city at the Petersburg National
Battlefield.)
There are six auxiliary routes spawned by I-95’s passage
through Virginia. The most infamous of these routes is
I-495, also known as “The Capitol Beltway”, as it forms
a loop around Washington, DC. The easternmost portion of
the loop is actually made from I-95 itself and is signed
as both I-95 and I-495. |