June 26, 2009: This sweet old sign on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, will have to come down, if it hasn’t already. Notice the faint markings of a previous interstate shield under the DC-marked I-395 shield.
The AASHTO’s Special Committee on Route Numbering, in its fall meeting, approved new designations for much of the interstate system inside the District of Columbia. (h/t AARoads)
The northernmost part of what was I-395, with a tunnel under the Capitol Reflecting Pool and ending at US 50/New York Avenue, will become I-195. The I-395 designation will be continued eastward on the Southeast Freeway, which has been I-695 since the formation of the interstate system but was only signed in 2011. The extended I-395 will terminate at the Anacostia Freeway, which runs south of this junction as I-295 and north of there as “state highway” DC 295. (DC 295 does not rejoin any interstate, but terminates at the DC/MD line and becomes MD 201.) This means one interchange will be the terminus for two three-digit interstates, and DC I-695 will be no more.
Since I-295 is more of a spur to Anacostia, it should have had an odd number. Further renumbering would probably create more confusion, considering that this is being done because drivers don’t know their maps. (Drivers not knowing their maps seems to be an increasing problem.) Also, since there’s an I-195 about 30 miles away nearby serving BWI airport, I-595 might have been a better idea for the Capitol tunnel spur, and almost unique; the only I-595 is in southern Florida.
WTOP Radio has more information, with pictures. The reporter seems to be pretty roadgeeky, as he uses all the right terminology, made a tweet about speculative exits with the Freeway font, and wrote about a discovery in 2018 of an ancient sign that pointed to a “ghost road”.
I had traveled — but not been the driver on — about 40% of DC’s interstates. It appears I will have to brave the world inside the Beltway to clinch the renumbered routes.