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.