Interstate 95

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Route information
Length1,925 mi (3,098 km)
Existed1957–present
Major junctions
South end US 1 in Miami, FL
Major intersections I-10 in Jacksonville, FL
I-20 near Florence, SC
I-40 near Benson, NC
I-85 in Petersburg, VA
US 50 near Washington, DC
I-76 in Philadelphia, PA
I-80 near New York City, NY
I-90 near Boston, MA
North end Route 95 at Canadian border near Woodstock, NB

Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main highway on the East Coast of the United States,[1] paralleling the Atlantic Ocean from Maine to Florida and serving some of the most populated urban areas in the country, including Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Miami. It is one of the north-south routes of the Interstate Highway System, and replaced older U.S. Highways, mainly U.S. Route 1. The oldest sections of I-95, including several toll roads, predate the Interstate System; the route has yet to be completed in the Pennsylvania-New Jersey area. Construction of the missing connection is scheduled to be completed by the 2010s.

I-95's two pieces total 1,925 miles (3,098 kilometers).[2][3] The southern terminus of I-95 is at U.S. Route 1 in southern Miami, Florida. The highway heads north along the Atlantic past Jacksonville, Florida to Savannah, Georgia, and then takes a slightly more inland route through South Carolina and North Carolina to Richmond, Virginia. From Richmond past Washington D.C. to Baltimore, Maryland, I-95 follows the fall line, where the Atlantic Coastal Plain meets the Appalachian Piedmont. The highway continues northeast through Wilmington, Delaware and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after which traffic must use other roads to continue towards Newark, New Jersey until the completion of the Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 95 Interchange Project (planned for 2014). I-95 crosses the George Washington Bridge into New York City, and then passes through New Haven, Connecticut and Providence, Rhode Island, around Boston, Massachusetts, and through Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Augusta, Maine on its way to the Houlton/Woodstock Border Crossing to the short New Brunswick Route 95, which connects to the Trans-Canada Highway.

It is the longest north-south Interstate highway (five east-west routes — Interstate 10 (2,460 mi), Interstate 40 (2,555 mi), Interstate 70 (2,153 mi), Interstate 80 (2,899 mi), and Interstate 90 (3,099 mi) — are longer),[4] and it passes through more states - fifteen - than any other Interstate; the Interstate that passes through the second-most number of states is Interstate 90, at thirteen. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only five counties along the route - two in South Carolina, one in southern Virginia, and two in northern Maine - are completely rural.[5] According to the I-95 Corridor Coalition, the region served by I-95 is "Over three times more densely populated than the U.S. average and as densely settled as much of Western Europe."[6]

As of 2007, I-95 is the only non-cancelled long-distance Interstate in the original plans that has not been completed. A discontinuity exists between two separate sections in New Jersey due in part to the freeway revolts of the 1960s and 1970s; thus it is not possible to directly travel the entire length of I-95 without interruption, since the two sections are about 10 miles (16 km) apart from each other (though this gap is currently being addressed).

Route description

Major cities
Cities in boldface are officially-designated control cities for signs[7]
Lengths
  mi km
FL 382.17[8] 615.04
GA 112.03[9] 180.29
SC 198.76[10] 319.87
NC 181.71[10] 292.43
VA 178.73[10] 287.64
DC 0.11[10] 0.18
MD 109.05[11] 175.50
DE 23.43[10] 37.71
PA 51.08[10] 82.21
NJ 77.96 (main route)
8.77 (Trenton area)
11.03 (west spur)
97.76 (total)[12] 		125.46
14.11
17.75
157.33
NY 23.50[10] 37.82
CT 111.57[13] 179.55
RI 43.3[14] 69.7
MA 91.95[10] 147.98
NH 16.20[15] 26.08
ME 303.2[16] 488.0

Florida to South Carolina

Main articles: Interstate 95 in: Florida | Georgia | South Carolina

Interstate 95 begins at U.S. Route 1 just south of downtown Miami, Florida[17], and follows a path north along the Atlantic coast of Florida, passing near such locations as Florida's Space Coast and Daytona Beach before continuing north past Jacksonville and entering Georgia. Interstate 95 in Georgia travels through the marshlands of eastern Georgia, closely following the coast to Savannah, where it crosses into South Carolina. In South Carolina, I-95 travels further inland than its paths to the south, and passes the South of the Border attraction immediately before crossing into North Carolina.

North Carolina and Virginia

Main articles: Interstate 95 in: North Carolina | Virginia

Interstate 95 in North Carolina is one of four major north-south corridors through the state (the others being U.S. Route 220 (Interstate 73)/U.S. Route 29, Interstate 77, and Interstate 26). I-95 informally serves as separation between the piedmont and coastal plain regions of North Carolina. In Virginia, Interstate 95 roughly follows the same line between the regions, and passes by its state capital, Richmond, before entering into Northern Virginia and very briefly in Washington, D.C., via the Woodrow Wilson Bridge into Maryland.

Maryland to Pennsylvania

Main articles: Interstate 95 in: Maryland | Delaware | Pennsylvania

Interstate 95 enters Maryland on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, where a small, 0.11-mile (0.18 km) portion of the highway passes through the southernmost corner of the District of Columbia. In Maryland, I-95 follows the Capital Beltway around Washington, D.C. Once leaving the Beltway north of the city, I-95 travels diagonally through the middle of the state, through Baltimore (see Interstate 95 in Baltimore) and into Delaware, passing through Wilmington, passing the Maryland toll barrier north of the Millard E. Tydings Memorial Bridge, south of Exit 89, which collects tolls from northbound traffic only.

I-95 is the most heavily traveled route in Delaware, linking Washington and south with Philadelphia and north. A toll barrier is placed about two miles (3 km) north of the Maryland border.

Interstate 95 enters Pennsylvania along the Delaware River near Marcus Hook, traveling along its western bank through the city of Philadelphia, and heading north where it currently enters New Jersey near Trenton in Ewing Township via the toll-free Scudder Falls Bridge.

New Jersey and New York

Main articles: Interstate 95 in: New Jersey | New York
See also: List of gaps in Interstate Highways

There is currently a gap in I-95 that is in the process of being filled. I-95 ends north of Trenton, but begins on the New Jersey Turnpike south of Trenton.

Traffic is directed to continue south in Lawrence Township where I-95 becomes Interstate 295 south at I-95 milepost 8.7/I-295 milepost 68 near the U.S. 1 exit. Traffic is led down the 295 expressway, and directed to exit at Exit 60A for Interstate 195 east in Hamilton Township. Traffic is instructed to continue on the 195 expressway east upon reaching Exit 6 for the New Jersey Turnpike (NJ Turnpike Exit 7A) in Robbinsville Township.

I-95 then follows the New Jersey Turnpike north through Newark and into New York on the George Washington Bridge. I-95 travels through Upper Manhattan, The Bronx, and southern Westchester County before crossing into the state of Connecticut.

New England

Main articles: Interstate 95 in: Connecticut | Rhode Island | Massachusetts | New Hampshire | Maine

Interstate 95 enters New England in Connecticut, and follows along the southern part of the state within miles of the coast in a more east-west direction. It then curves back northward, passing into Rhode Island, and traveling through its capital of Providence. Interstate 95 then enters Massachusetts, heading not into but around Boston before passing briefly into and through New Hampshire, and then into Maine, following the Maine Turnpike to the Canadian border and entering the province of New Brunswick[18] as Route 95.

History

Plans for the Interstate Highway System, 1955

Portions of the highway have or used to have tolls. Many parts of I-95 were made up of various toll roads that had already been constructed or planned, particularly in the northeast. Many of these routes still exist today, but some have removed their tolls. An interesting aspect of the highway is that every current toll facility utilizes the E-ZPass electronic payment system.

Florida

Interstate 95 as it goes through Fort Lauderdale

The Fuller Warren Bridge spans the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. The old bridge was a drawbridge that until the 1980s was tolled. The current bridge was completed in 2002.

The other bridge is the Trout River Bridge over the Trout River north of Jacksonville.

Virginia

Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike was a toll road in central Virginia. The Turnpike was established in 1955, and opened in July 1958. It extended from the northern limits of Richmond to just south of Petersburg on what is now Interstate 85. In August 1958, most of the route was designated Interstate 95. Tolls were removed in 1992.

Maryland and Delaware

Fort McHenry Tunnel under the Baltimore Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland. The tunnel opened in 1985 and completed, with the exception of the New Jersey gap, Interstate 95.

John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway north of Baltimore. The highway opened in 1963, and it and the Delaware Turnpike were both dedicated by President John F. Kennedy. The highway extended from the northern Baltimore city limits to the Delaware state line. After his assassination, the highway and the Delaware Turnpike were named the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway. It was tolled both directions until 1991, when southbound tolls were removed. It is currently tolled only northbound.

The Delaware Turnpike opened in 1963, extends along I-95 from the Maryland state line to south of Wilmington at the I-295 interchange.

New Jersey and New York

New Jersey Turnpike opened in 1952, and currently I-95 is signed from Exit 6 (the Pennsylvania Turnpike Connector) outside Philadelphia north to the New York state line. By 2012, I-95 should follow said connector into Pennsylvania.

George Washington Bridge carries I-95, US 1&9, and US 46 across the Hudson River between New Jersey and Upper Manhattan. The two-level, fourteen-lane bridge's upper deck opened in 1931, and the lower deck opened in 1962. Northbound traffic (which actually travels slightly southward over the bridge) must pay a toll on the New Jersey end before crossing the bridge into New York.

New England Thruway in New York extended from the Pelham Parkway interchange in the Bronx, just north of I-695 to the Connecticut state line. Construction of the NET began in 1951, but the 16 miles (26 km) of highway were not completed until 1961. In 1956, the Thruway was designated as part of I-95. Tolls were originally levied in both directions, but were removed from the southbound direction in the late 1980s during reconstruction of the NET. Currently, tolls are levied northbound only.

New England

Interstate 95 in Providence, Rhode Island

The Connecticut Turnpike was completed in 1958 and designated as part of I-95. I-95 follows the turnpike through Connecticut from the New York state line to its intersection with I-395 in Waterford, then continues eastward to the Rhode Island state line. Tolls were removed from the turnpike in 1985 after a notorious fatal car accident at a toll plaza in 1983. In January 2007, the Connecticut Department of Transportation announced a $4-million study into the feasibility of reinstating tolls on the Connecticut Turnpike.[19]

The New Hampshire Turnpike is designated as I-95 in New Hampshire. All of I-95 except approximately the northernmost one mile (1.6 km) in New Hampshire is designated the Blue Star Turnpike, part of the New Hampshire Turnpike System. The Turnpike System diverges from I-95 in Portsmouth at the interchange with U.S. Route 4. Tolls are collected once at a mainline plaza in Hampton.

The Maine Turnpike was built in two sections, completed in 1947 and 1955.[20] Beginning in 2004, the entirety of the Maine Turnpike was designated as Interstate 95. The Turnpike extends from the New Hampshire line north 102 miles (164 km) to just south of Augusta. The Maine Turnpike uses entrance tolls at exits south of including Gray, and uses barrier toll plazas north of Gray. This allows travel on the southern section without having main line tolls causing major backups and the northern section saves money by requiring fewer toll collection employees. As a sidenote, the shifting of I-95 onto the Maine Turnpike also ushered in a change from sequentially-numbered exits to a mile-based system, making it the only such area in New England on I-95.

Notable disasters

On June 28, 1983, a section of the Mianus River Bridge in Cos Cob, Connecticut collapsed, killing three people and seriously injuring three. A section of the northbound lanes was closed for six months.

In March 1996, an illegal tire dump in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia caught fire, destroying 22 spans of the Port Richmond viaduct. Although the fire occurred during the overnight hours, it caused major traffic delays within Philadelphia itself, along with the paralleling I-295 and the New Jersey Turnpike in New Jersey. The entire span and its support columns were replaced in an emergency repair project that took nearly 3 months to complete. The property owners were later convicted in both federal and state court.

In May 1998, a tractor-trailer carrying gasoline from a Texaco refinery in Delaware City, Delaware, crashed through the Jersey barrier in Chester, Pennsylvania, crossed into the oncoming southbound lanes and crashed into a small pickup truck, killing both the tractor-trailer and pickup truck drivers and causing a massive fire that destroyed the southbound span (luckily, the supports were undamaged).[21] The span was replaced and reopened by the 4th of July 1998 holiday by, coincidentally, the same contractors that rebuilt the Port Richmond viaduct in March 1996.[citation needed]

On January 13, 2004, a tanker truck fell onto the northbound lanes of I-95 as it was entering the southbound side from the Harbor Tunnel Thruway in Howard County, Maryland, just south of Baltimore. The truck driver was killed, along with the occupants in additional vehicles traveling north on I-95 (including a pickup truck). The northbound lanes of I-95 were closed to traffic overnight, as cleanup crews cleared the highway of debris from the crash.

On March 26, 2004, a bridge on I-95 in Bridgeport, Connecticut was partly melted by the explosion of a tanker truck carrying over 11,900 gallons (45,000 liters) of fuel oil. Repairs were estimated to take at least two weeks, but the highway was opened to northbound traffic in only a few days. Southbound traffic resumed using a temporary bridge about a week later.

On the morning of November 23, 2005, a tanker truck exploded on southbound I-95 just north of the Capital Beltway (I-495) near Beltsville, Maryland. The highway was damaged and was closed for several hours on the day before Thanksgiving, one of the busiest travel days of the year.

On Friday 2 November 2007, the beginning of a weekend, another tanker truck carrying over 8,500 gallons of diesel traveling northbound lost control and ended up on the southbound half of the interstate in East Lyme, Connecticut. The location of the accident, on a 2-lane stretch of I-95 known as "crash alley", is less than a mile from the interchange with Interstate 395. Three people were killed; both interstates and U.S. Route 1 were closed for almost 12 hours to clean up the thousands of gallons of spilled fuel and make repairs to the roadway.[22]

Future

Between Richmond, Virginia and New Jersey are a few large projects that are helping to ease traffic along the corridor. The reconstruction of the Springfield Interchange in Northern Virginia, just outside Washington, DC, helped to ease traffic at the intersection of Interstate 95, Interstate 495, and Interstate 395, and surrounding interchanges. The Springfield Interchange is one of the busiest highway junctions on the East Coast, serving between 400,000 and 500,000 vehicles per day. With the exception of HOT lanes on the Capital Beltway (I-495/95), this project was completed in July 2007.[23][24]

A few miles to the east is another major project: the Woodrow Wilson Bridge replacement. The bridge carries Interstates 95 and 495 over the Potomac River. The former Woodrow Wilson Bridge, which has since been demolished, was a six-lane bridge that was severely over-capacity. The new bridge will be two bridges comprising a total of twelve lanes; six in each direction. This project is half-complete. The I-95/495 North bridge is complete, and is currently carrying traffic for both directions while the I-95/495 South bridge is constructed.

Farther north in Pennsylvania, a project is underway at the intersection of I-95 and I-276. The Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 95 Interchange Project will construct an interchange between Interstate 95, Interstate 276, and once completed, Interstate 195,[25] as I-95 will no longer go through Trenton, New Jersey. This project will result in another toll being added to the route, that of the Delaware River-Turnpike Toll Bridge over the Delaware River.[26] The toll, much like the other crossings of the river, will be for traffic leaving New Jersey only - that's I-95 southbound. More critically, completion of this project will close the remaining gap in the route.

In 2006, the Virginia General Assembly passed SJ184, a resolution calling for an interstate compact to build a toll highway between Dover, Delaware and Charleston, South Carolina as an alternative to I-95 that would allow long-distance traffic to avoid the DC Metropolitan area[27].

Federal legislation has identified I-95 through Connecticut as High Priority Corridor 65. A long-term multibillion dollar program to upgrade the entire length of I-95 through Connecticut has been underway since the mid-1990s and is expected to continue through at least 2020. Several miles of the Connecticut Turnpike through Bridgeport were recently widened and brought up to Interstate standards. Work has shifted to reconstructing and widening 12 miles (19 km) of I-95 through New Haven, which includes replacing the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge. Environmental studies for reconstructing and widening 60 miles (95 km) of I-95 from New Haven to the Rhode Island state line are also progressing.

Major intersections

Interstate 95 bridge over Lake Marion, Santee, SC; the old bridge (on the left) is now a fishing pier

Auxiliary routes

Interstate 95 has many auxiliary routes.

Defunct: I-595
Defunct: I-195
Defunct: I-595 (Baltimore)
Defunct: I-895
Defunct: I-695; I-895
Defunct: I-695
Defunct: I-895
Defunct: I-695

References

  1. ^ David Montgomery and Josh White, Washington Post, 128 Cars, Trucks Crash in Snow on I-95, February 23, 2001, p. A1
  2. ^ Overview Map of I-95 Southern Portion Miami, FL to Trenton, NJ (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
  3. ^ Overview Map of I-95 Northern Portion Mansfield, NJ to Canada (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
  4. ^ http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/reports/routefinder/table1.htm FHWA Interstate Highway Route Log
  5. ^ Haya El Nasser, USA Today, Small-town USA goes 'micropolitan', June 27, 2004
  6. ^ "I-95 Corridor Facts". I-95 Corridor Coalition. 2008-03-30. Retrieved 2008-06-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  7. ^ Wolf, Paul S., editor. "Interstate Highway Control Cities". As referenced by the North Carolina Department of Transportation, "Control Cities For Use In Guide Signs On Interstate Highways", August 9 2004. Accessed on 2007-01-30.
  8. ^ FDOT GIS data
  9. ^ Georgia Department of Transportation, Office of Transportation Data (2003). "Interstate Mileage Report (438 Report)" (PDF). {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) (PDF)
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Federal Highway Administration Route Log and Finder List, Main Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System Of Interstate and Defense Highways as of October 31, 2002
  11. ^ Maryland State Highway Administration, December 31, 2004 Highway Location Reference
  12. ^ New Jersey Department of Transportation, 2005 Straight Line Diagrams
  13. ^ Connecticut State Numbered Routes and Roads as of December 31, 2004 (PDF)
  14. ^ RIGIS data - "Roads - Primary" and "Roads - State"
  15. ^ GRANIT GIS data - NH Public Roads
  16. ^ Maine State Route Log (via floodgap.com)
  17. ^ Map
  18. ^ Map
  19. ^ AP: Legislators consider possibility of reviving tolls
  20. ^ http://www.maineturnpike.com/html/about/history.html Maine Turnpike Authority
  21. ^ Kitsko, Jeffrey J. (April 05, 2008). "Pennsylvania Highways: Interstate 95". Retrieved 2008-10-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ Fatal crash shuts down I-95 in Connecticut. (Yahoo News; November 2, 2007)
  23. ^ "Interstate 95 @ Interstate-Guide.com". Interstate Guide. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
  24. ^ "Springfield Interchange Improvement Project: Home". Virginia Department of Transportation.
  25. ^ Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission I-95/I-276 Interchange Project Meeting Design Management Summary - DRAFT: Design Advisory Committee Meeting #2
  26. ^ Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 95 Interchange Project
  27. ^ SJ 184 Interstate Route 95; construction and operation of controlled access highway as alternative thereto.
  28. ^ Map
  29. ^ Map
  30. ^ Map
  31. ^ Map
  32. ^ Map
  33. ^ Map
  34. ^ Map
  35. ^ Map
  36. ^ Map
  37. ^ Map
  38. ^ Map
  39. ^ Map
  40. ^ Map
  41. ^ Map
  42. ^ Map
  43. ^ Map
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