Adam Tuss, wtop.com
WASHINGTON — Ask someone in the D.C. region where Interstate 695 is and he might tell you Baltimore.
But it turns out, Interstate 695 has always been a part of the road network in the immediate D.C. area. Anyone who uses the new spans of the 11th Street Bridge is already finding that out.
“The Southeast/Southwest Freeway, from the 11th Street Bridge to the entrance to the 3rd Street Tunnel, was already I-695,” D.C. Department of Transportation spokesperson John Lisle writes in an email.
But I-695 never had the signage in place to let you know that’s where you were.
“Not sure why that is,” writes Lisle.
DDOT has now made a couple of changes to iron out the confusion:
- Extended the I-695 designation across the 11th Street Bridge where it connects with I-295 and D.C. 295. I-295 now stops at the interchange with the 11th Street Bridge.
- De-designated the stretch of the Southeast Freeway east of the 11th Street Bridge. That is no longer 295 which will permit DDOT to make it a more traditional at-grade street if the agency decides to go that route.
So remember, I-695 connects you with both I-395 and I-295. Got it?
WTOP is not sure when your GPS will catch up to all the changes.
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(Copyright 2011 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
