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Interstate 395
I-395 highlighted in red
Route information
Auxiliary route ofI-95
Maintained byVDOT andDDOT
Length	13.79 mi[1] (22.19 km)
Existed	1977–present
NHS	Entire route
Restrictions	Nohazardous goods or vehicles over 13 ft (4.0 m) in 3rd Street Tunnel
Major junctions
South end	I-95 /I-495 inSpringfield, VA
Major intersections	US 1 inArlington, VA George Washington Parkway in Arlington, VA US 1 inWashington, DC I-695 in Washington, DC
North end	US 50 (New York Ave) in Washington, DC
Location
Country	United States
States	Virginia,District of Columbia
Counties	VA:Fairfax,City of Alexandria,Arlington DC:City of Washington
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future
Virginia Routes Interstate US Primary Secondary Byways History HOT lanes
Streets and Highways of Washington, DC Interstate US DC State-Named Streets
←SR 394 VA →SR 396 ←DC 295 DC →I-495

Interstate 395 (I-395) inVirginia andWashington, D.C., is a 13.79-mile-long (22.19 km)spur route ofI-95 that begins at an interchange with I-95 inSpringfield and ends at an interchange withUS Route 50 (US 50) inNorthwest Washington, D.C. It passes underneath theNational Mall near theUS Capitol and ends at a junction with US 50 atNew York Avenue, roughly one mile (1.6 km) north of the 3rd Street Tunnel.

I-395 is known by three names over its various segments. The Virginia portion is part of the largerShirley Highway that continues southward on I-95 beyond the terminus of I-395. In the District of Columbia, it is known as theSouthwest Freeway from the14th Street bridges to the Southeast Freeway interchange (I-695) and the Center Leg orCenter Leg Freeway from the Southeast Freeway interchange to New York Avenue.

It is unrelated and unconnected toI-395 in Maryland.

I-395, I-95, and theCapital Beltway (I-495) meet in theSpringfield Interchange, a complex intersection often referred to as the "Mixing Bowl"—even though that name was historically applied to the intersection of I-395, Washington Boulevard, and Columbia Pike (SR 244) several miles north, which continues to be recognized by theVirginia Department of Transportation as such.

I-395 contains a third roadway: reversible, barrier-separatedVirginia high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes with their own entrances and exits, also known locally as the "express lanes", between South Eads Street nearThe Pentagon inArlington and Route 17 inFredericksburg.^[2] During morning and evening rush hour, traffic on this roadway flows in the direction of rush-hour traffic.

This third roadway was built as a single-lanebusway, the first in the U.S., before being expanded and converted tohigh-occupancy vehicle HOV use. A 2007 survey found that during the morning rush hour, the HOV lanes carry about 65 percent of travelers on I-395 (61,000 commuters), including 32,000 in transit busses and 29,000 in private vehicles with two or more people. The other 33,000 commuters (35 percent of total users) drove alone.^[3]

I-395 andRoute 1 cross thePotomac River from Virginia to Washington, D.C. on three parallel four-lane bridges, together known as the14th Street bridges. The Potomac River crossings for theWashington Metro'sYellow Line and for a majorCSX Transportation railroad line are immediately downstream here. This site has long been a major Potomac River crossing, with the first bridge constructed here in 1809. Of the present highway spans, the eastern one was built in 1950, the western one in 1962, and the central one in 1972.

After crossing the 14th Street Bridges, the freeway has a left-side exit allowing access toRoute 1 (exit 1). The southbound side of I-395 has no access to northbound US 1 here. I-395 crossesEast Potomac Park (exit 2) and a second bridge, theFrancis Case Memorial Bridge over theWashington Channel. Here, the route bends from a generally northeast direction to a due east direction, interchanging (exit 3) with the12th Street Expressway, two tunnels that carry traffic under theNational Mall. A series of complex interchanges (numbered 4, 5, 6, and 7) provide partial access toMaine Avenue and C Street SW, as well as connections toI-695. Immediately after I-695, the freeway makes a hard turn to the due north to follow the3rd Street Tunnel immediately underUnion Square, just to the west of theUS Capitol building and underneathits reflecting pool and theFrances Perkins Building. I-395 follows a depressed roadway (the Center Leg Freeway), which was placed underground in 2019, that has three more partial interchanges (exits 8, 9, and 10) with local streets before terminating at the intersection ofNew York Avenue (Route 50).

• Images from I-395, from south to north
• 
  Southern terminus of I-395 at the Springfield Interchange
• 
  I-395 in Alexandria
• 
  I-395 northbound at Glebe Road in Arlington
• 
  Cars on I-395, leaving Washington, D.C. (in distance) and passing by The Pentagon in Arlington
• 
  US 1 exit on I-395 northbound, just after crossing the 14th Street bridges into the District of Columbia
• 
  Interstate 395 northbound along the Southwest Freeway at exit 3
• 
  The Southwest Freeway northbound at L'Enfant Plaza
• 
  Entrance to the 3rd Street Tunnel under the National Mall
• 
  I-395 northbound along the Center Leg Freeway at exit 10

The portion of I-395 betweenThe Pentagon in Arlington, and the interchange withI-95 and the Capital Beltway inSpringfield is part of the Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway, named forthe Virginia Highway Commissioner who died on July 16, 1941, just a few weeks after approving work on the new expressway. OriginallySR 350, the full length of the Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway was opened on September 6, 1949, from south of the Pentagon toWoodbridge, Virginia,^[4] along what is now better known as the I-95 corridor. The Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway featured the nation's firstreversible bus lanes, a precursor to today's HOV lanes.

During an evening rush-hour snowstorm in 1982,Air Florida Flight 90 crashed on takeoff from what was then known asWashington National Airport, hitting the easternmost of the three highway bridges known as the 14th Street bridges. The oldest span, formerly named theRochambeau, is now named the Arland D. Williams Jr. Memorial Bridge, in honor ofa passenger of Flight 90 who survived the crash, escaped from the sinking aircraft, and perished in the Potomac River while saving others from the icy waters. The center span is now called the Rochambeau Bridge and the western span the George Mason Memorial Bridge, aftera US delegate to theConstitutional Convention.

Original plans called for I-95 to travel throughWashington, D.C. andPrince George’s County, toward the northeastern portion of theCapital Beltway (I-495), from which I-95 presently continues its northbound route. However, neighborhood opposition in D.C. halted this plan in 1977, diverting planned funding toward construction of theWashington Metro. The only remnant of the Maryland extension is a series oframp stubs nearCollege Park, which now lead to apark and ride. The portion of I-95 within the beltway became I-395, while the eastern half of the beltway was redesignated I-95 (and, later,cosigned I-95/I-495). I-395 terminates in Washington, D.C. at a traffic signal atRoute 50, which isNew York Avenue, nearMount Vernon Square.

The DC government finalized a deal in 2010 withLouis Dreyfus Company to construct a 2.1-million-square-foot (200,000 m²)mixed-use development in theairspace over the Center Leg Freeway portion of I-395. The $425-million (equivalent to $595 million in 2024^[5]) office, residential, and retail project at the east end of theJudiciary Square neighborhood will also restore the area's originalL'Enfant Plan street grid by reconnecting F and G streets over the freeway. The project was awaiting final regulatory approval and expected to be complete by 2016.^[6]

In 2015, work began on I-395 in conjunction withCapitol Crossing, a major real-estate project in DC, part of which lies on top of the highway. The work involves adding a $200-million (equivalent to $258 million in 2024^[5]) concrete platform that connects neighborhoods that have been severed by the freeway, creating a better community atmosphere in the eastern edge of downtown. TheDistrict Department of Transportation (DDOT) expected the work would take up to four years.^[7]

In 2015, the commonwealth of Virginia announced that the HOV lanes between the Turkeycock Run Bridge and South Eads Street (at the Pentagon) would be converted to toll lanes as part of the I-395 Express Lanes Extension project. The existing HOV lanes, which ran in both directions in some areas, became reversibleHOT lanes for the entire scope of this project, spanning eight miles (13 km).^[8]

Part of the project involved the reconfiguring of The Pentagon interchange to provide greater access to Army Navy Drive, as well as the closing of the onramp—from the southbound HOV lanes to the mainline Interstate southbound—located just west of the Pentagon interchange. All existing HOV interchanges within the project's scope became tolled.^[9]

Vehicles carrying three or more passengers are still able to use the former HOV lanes for free if they haveE-ZPass Flex transponders in HOV mode.^[10][11] The express lanes opened on November 17, 2019.^[12] The lanes are operated byTransurban. The reversible portion runs toward the District of Columbia in the morning and toward Virginia in the afternoon.^[11]

In December 2023, the Virginia Department of Transportation permanently closed Exit 9 for Clark Street as part of construction on Boundary Channel Drive.^[13] As part of the project, the Virginia Department of Transportation converted Exit 10 to adumbbell interchange to "improve traffic operations and safety."^[14] VDOT also built new pedestrian and bicycle paths to connectCrystal City toLong Bridge Park, theMount Vernon Trail, andThe Pentagon.

I-395'sturn-off-to-stay-on movement into the3rd Street Tunnel causes confusion among drivers who intend to continue straight on the Southeast Freeway, but do not realize that they need to follow the posted "Exit 5" for I-695 to do so.WTOP traffic reporters monitor the area with their own cameras, and note numerous incidents of dangerous weaving, as well as trucks—which may be over-height or prohibited from the tunnel—reversing up the exit ramp to continue on the Southeast Freeway.^[15] Additionally, I-395 uses sequential exit numbering while I-695 uses mileage-based numbers, resulting in both roads having exits numbered 1 and 2.^[16] In January 2021, theAmerican Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials approved a request by the District of Columbia to eliminate the entirety of I-695 and renumber it as an extension of I-395. I-395's previous route along the 3rd Street Tunnel is to be renumbered as a new I-195.^[17] Although theFederal Highway Administration also approved the request on April 23,^[18] The District Department of Transportation subsequently delayed updating signage in the area. This prompted renewed pressure on the District Department of Transportation from the Federal Highway Administration in September 2023, as both printed and digital maps were beginning to show the long-since-approved but still unsigned designations. The Federal Highway Administration stated at the time they would work with District Department of Transportation to start resigning work before the end of 2023.^[15]

Instead, on March 15, 2024, the District Department of Transportation submitted a letter to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials asking for rescission of the numbering changes. The District Department of Transportation admitted that work on the re-signing had not started and would take an estimated two to three years, and sought to reduce the increasing confusion caused by updated third-party maps. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials approved this on May 7, with the District Department of Transportation stating it would re-apply for the same numbering changes when the work was closer to completion. The Federal Highway Administration, which is responsible for updating the designations within theNational Highway System, as well as producing maps, did not take any action on the request. The agency told WTOP that it had "reviewed and provided comments" and "expects an updated request from the District soon".^[16]

Plans to rehabilitate theArland D. Williams Jr. Memorial Bridge, which carries northbound I-395 andRoute 1 over thePotomac River, have been in the works since inspections between 2005 and 2009 revealed that the bridge was deteriorating. A small $27-million (equivalent to $37 million in 2024^[5]) project was done between 2010 and 2011, but a 2014 inspection revealed that the bridge still had problems. However, DDOT pushed the date to fix the problems until 2020 due to the expense and the need to replace or repair several deficient bridges elsewhere in DC.^[19] On April 13, 2023, the District Department of Transportation announced theUS Department of Transportation had provided $72 million to help fund the rehabilitation project. The $90-million project, which will also be funded in part by the DC government, would start with preliminary engineering and the environmental review for the project later that spring, with the preliminary design expected to be completed later that year. Construction is estimated to take two years.^[20]

Exits in Washington, D.C. were unnumbered until 2008.^{[citation needed]} In 2014, in conjunction with the rebuilding of the11th Street Bridges and theSoutheast Freeway, some exit numbers were converted to amileage-based numbering system.^[21]

State/district	County	Location	mi[22][21]	km	Old exit	New exit[23]	Destinations	Notes
Virginia	Fairfax	Springfield	0.00	0.00		1A	I-95 south –Richmond	Southern terminus; part ofSpringfield Interchange
						—	I-95 Express south –Richmond	South end of I-395 Express lanes; part ofSpringfield Interchange
						1B	SR 644 –Franconia,Springfield	Part ofSpringfield Interchange; southbound exit and northbound entrance
						—	I-495 north (Capital Beltway Inner Loop) /I-95 Express north –Baltimore,Tysons Corner	Part ofSpringfield Interchange; southbound exit and northbound entrance for Express lanes only
						1C	I-95 north /I-495 east –Baltimore	Part ofSpringfield Interchange; southbound exit and northbound entrance
						1D	I-495 north –Tysons Corner	Part ofSpringfield Interchange; southbound exit and northbound entrance
			0.40	0.64		2	SR 648 (Edsall Road)	Signed as exits 2A (east) and 2B (west); access to Industrial Park northbound
			1.10	1.77		—	I-395 Express
	City ofAlexandria		2.00	3.22		3	SR 236 (Duke Street / Little River Turnpike) –Landmark,Lincolnia	Signed as exits 3A (east) and 3B (west) northbound; access to Quantrell Avenue southbound
			3.70	5.95		4	Seminary Road (SR 420)	Includes full access to and from Express lanes
			4.60	7.40		5	SR 7 (King Street) –Alexandria,Falls Church
	Arlington	Shirlington	5.40	8.69		6	Shirlington	Southbound access is part of exit 7; includes exit ramp to Quaker Lane
						—	Shirlington	Southbound exit and northbound entrance via Express lanes only
			5.90	9.50		7	SR 120 (South Glebe Road) –Marymount University,Shirlington	Signed as exits 7A (south) and 7B (north/Marymount) northbound; southbound exit includes exit ramp to Quaker Lane
		Arlington Ridge	6.90	11.10		8A	SR 27 west (Washington Boulevard) toSR 244 (Columbia Pike) / South Arlington Ridge Road –Pentagon South Parking	SR 244 (Columbia Pike) signed northbound only; Pentagon South Parking/South Arlington Ridge Road signed southbound only
		Pentagon City				—	SR 27 east –Arlington Memorial Bridge	Northbound exit and southbound entrance via Express lanes only
			7.50	12.07		8B	SR 27 east (Washington Boulevard) –Pentagon,Arlington Cemetery,Rosslyn	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
						—	Eads Street –Pentagon,Pentagon City	Express Lanes only
			8.00	12.87	9	8B	SR 110 north toI-66 west –Rosslyn	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		Crystal City	8.40	13.52		8C	US 1 south –Pentagon City,Crystal City,Reagan National Airport,Alexandria	Southern terminus of concurrency with US 1; left exit southbound; northbound signed as "To US 1"
			8.50	13.68		—	I-395 Express north	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
			8.70	14.00	10	9	Clark Street	Exit closed in 2023
		Long Bridge Park	8.90– 9.00	14.32– 14.48		10A	Boundary Channel Drive –Pentagon North Parking
Virginia–D.C. line	Arlington–Washington line				11	10B-C	George Washington Parkway –Memorial Bridge,Reagan National Airport,Mount Vernon	Signed as exits 10B (south) and 10C (north)
					14th Street Bridges over thePotomac River
District of Columbia	Washington	East Potomac Park	9.91	15.95		1	US 1 north (14th Street) –National Mall	Northern terminus of US 1 concurrency; northbound exit and southbound entrance; includes access to/from HOV lanes
			10.01	16.11		2	Potomac Park,U.S. Park Police	Access viaOhio Drive
			10.21	16.43		—	ToI-395 Express south	Northern terminus of I-395 Express Lanes
		Washington Channel			Francis Case Memorial Bridge over theWashington Channel
		Southwest Federal Center–Southwest Waterfront line	10.31	16.59		3	12th Street Expressway north –Capital One Arena	No entrance ramps; southbound exit is part of exit 4
							9th Street Expressway	No exit ramps
			10.71	17.24		4	Maine Avenue –Southwest Waterfront,Nationals Park	No entrance ramps
			10.91	17.56		5	6th Street SW /7th Street SW –L'Enfant Promenade	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
							I-695 east toI-295 /DC 295	Northbound left exit and southbound left entrance; future I-395 north
		I-395 north from this point on is futureI-195 (Center Leg Freeway)
		Southwest Federal Center	11.01	17.72	2B	6	C Street SW –U.S. Capitol,The House	Northbound exit only
			11.31	18.20	2A	7	I-695 east toI-295 /DC 295	Southbound left exit and northbound entrance; western terminus of I-695; future I-395 north
					Southern end ofThird Street Tunnel
		Capitol Hill	11.61	18.68	2B	8	U.S. Capitol	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; via 2nd Street SW
			11.81	19.01		9	U.S. Senate	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; via 1st Street SW
		Judiciary Square	12.11	19.49		10	Massachusetts Avenue –Amtrak	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		Mount Vernon Square			Northern end of Third Street Tunnel
			12.81– 13.79	20.62– 22.19		—	US 50 east (New York Avenue) toI-95 /I-295 /I-495 /Baltimore-Washington Parkway –Baltimore	At-grade intersection
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Closed/former       Concurrency terminus       Electronic toll collection       Incomplete access

The9th Street Expressway and the12th Street Expressway are aone-way pair of freeway spurs connecting I-395 (Southwest Freeway) with US 1 and US 50 (Constitution Avenue) in Washington, D.C. The expressways also provide connections to theL'Enfant Promenade andIndependence Avenue. Both highways pass through tunnels under theNational Mall and are named for the streets that extend northward from their respective northern termini. The 9th Street Expressway and the 12th Street Expressway run southbound and northbound, respectively, between I-395 and Constitution Avenue.

The 9th Street Expressway begins at the intersection of Constitution Avenue and 9th Street Northwest. The highway heads southbound along the east side of theNational Museum of Natural History and descends into the 9th Street Tunnel under the National Mall. The 9th Street Expressway emerges from the tunnel just north of L'Enfant Plaza and receives a ramp from Independence Avenue. At the south end of L'Enfant Plaza, ramps for northbound I-395 and southbound I-395 split from the roadway; the southbound I-395 also provides access toMaine Avenue in the direction of theTidal Basin. The highway continues south beyond I-395 to an intersection with Maine Avenue atThe Wharf (Washington, D.C.).^[24]

The 12th Street Expressway begins as a flyover ramp from northbound I-395 as the Interstate crosses theFrancis Case Memorial Bridge. Southbound I-395 also has a ramp to the expressway as part of its ramp to Maine Avenue. The two ramps both have exits for the L'Enfant Promenade, specifically D Street Southwest. The expressway's ramps from both directions of I-395 merge and the highway descends into the 12th Street Tunnel, before which the highway receives a ramp from Independence Avenue. The 12th Street Expressway passes under the National Mall and then ascends to the west of the National Museum of Natural History to its terminus at the intersection of Constitution Avenue and 12th Street Northwest.^[25]

• U.S. Roads portal
• Virginia portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related toInterstate 395 (District of Columbia – Virginia).

• Kurumi - I-395 Washington, D.C.; Virginia
• HOV in Northern Virginia, from the Va. Dept. of Transportation
• Springfield Interchange reconstruction, from the Va. Dept. of Transportation
• Shirley Highway (I-395) at Steve Anderson's DCRoads
• Southwest Freeway (I-395) at Steve Anderson's DCRoads
• Center Leg Freeway (I-395) at Steve Anderson's DCRoads

• Auxiliary Interstate Highways
• Interstate Highways in Washington, D.C.
• Interstate Highways in Virginia
• Interstate 95
• Northern Virginia
• Transportation in Fairfax County, Virginia
• Transportation in Alexandria, Virginia
• Springfield, Virginia
• Transportation in Arlington County, Virginia
• Tunnels in Washington, D.C.
• Road tunnels in the United States

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