Interstate 66 (I-66) is a 76.32 mile east–west Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. The highway runs from an interchange with I-81 near Middletown, Virginia, on its western end to an interchange with U.S. Route 29 (US 29) in Washington, D.C., at the eastern terminus. Much of the route parallels US 29 or State Route 55 (SR 55) in Virginia. I-66 has no physical or historical connection to the famous US 66, which was located in a different region of the United States.
The Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, also known as the Woodrow Wilson Bridge or the Wilson Bridge, is a bascule bridge that spans the Potomac River between Alexandria, Virginia and Oxon Hill, Maryland in Prince George's County, Maryland. The original bridge was one of only a handful of drawbridges in the Interstate Highway System. It contained the only portion of the Interstate System owned and operated by the federal government until construction was completed and it was turned over to the Virginia and Maryland departments of transportation.
The Capital Beltway is a 64-mile (103 km) auxiliary Interstate Highway in the Washington metropolitan area that surrounds Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and its inner suburbs in adjacent Maryland and Virginia. It is the basis of the phrase "inside the Beltway", used when referring to issues dealing with US federal government and politics. The highway is signed as Interstate 495 (I-495) for its entire length, and its southern and eastern half runs concurrently with I-95.
The Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial/Senator Thomas "Mac" Middleton Bridge, also known as the Potomac River Bridge, is a 1.7-mile (2.7 km), two-lane continuous truss bridge that spans the Potomac River between Newburg in Charles County, Maryland and Dahlgren in King George County, Virginia, United States. It is one of eight toll facilities operated by the Maryland Transportation Authority, and is one of two toll bridges over the Potomac River. The other, the privately owned Oldtown Low Water Toll Bridge, connects Maryland and West Virginia, far upstream. The new Nice Bridge opened to traffic in October 2022. Demolition of the original bridge began on March 21, 2023.
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is the agency of the state government responsible for transportation in the state of Virginia in the United States. VDOT is headquartered at the Virginia Department of Highways Building in downtown Richmond. VDOT is responsible for building, maintaining, and operating the roads, bridges, and tunnels in the commonwealth. It is overseen by the Commonwealth Transportation Board, which has the power to fund airports, seaports, rail, and public transportation.
Interstate 395 (I-395) in Washington, D.C., and Virginia is a 13.79-mile-long (22.19 km) spur route of I-95 that begins at an interchange with I-95 in Springfield and ends at an interchange with US Route 50 (US 50) in Northwest Washington, D.C. It passes underneath the National Mall near the US Capitol and ends at a junction with US 50 at New York Avenue, roughly one mile (1.6 km) north of the 3rd Street Tunnel. Despite its proximity to I-395 in Maryland, the route is unrelated and unconnected.
The George Washington Memorial Parkway, colloquially the G.W. Parkway, is a 25-mile-long (40 km) parkway that runs along the south bank of the Potomac River from Mount Vernon, Virginia, northwest to McLean, Virginia, and is maintained by the National Park Service (NPS). It is located almost entirely within Virginia, except for a short portion of the parkway northwest of the Arlington Memorial Bridge that passes over Columbia Island within the District of Columbia.
Interstate 270 (I-270) is a 34.7-mile (55.8 km) auxiliary Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of Maryland that travels from I-495 just north of Bethesda in Montgomery County north to I-70 in the city of Frederick in Frederick County. It consists of the 32.6-mile (52.5 km) mainline as well as a 2.1-mile (3.4 km) spur that provides access to and from southbound I-495. I-270 is known as the Washington National Pike, and makes up the easternmost stretch of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Highway. Most of the southern part of the route in Montgomery County passes through suburban areas around Rockville and Gaithersburg that are home to many biotech firms. This portion of I-270 is up to 12 lanes wide and consists of a local–express lane configuration as well as high-occupancy vehicle lanes that are in operation during peak travel times. North of the Gaithersburg area, the road continues through the northern part of Montgomery County, passing Germantown and Clarksburg as a six- to eight-lane highway with an HOV lane in the northbound direction only. North of here, I-270 continues through rural areas into Frederick County and toward the city of Frederick as a four-lane freeway.
State Route 400 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. Locally known as Washington Street, the state highway runs 1.79 miles (2.88 km) from the south city limit of the independent city of Alexandria, Virginia north to 1st Street, still within Alexandria. SR 400 is a city street connection through Old Town Alexandria between the two segments of George Washington Memorial Parkway, one heading south toward Mount Vernon and one heading north toward District of Columbia. The Virginia Department of Transportation assigned the unsigned SR 90005 designation to run concurrently along the entire length of the parkway and of SR 400.
State Route 236 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. The state highway runs 15.63 miles (25.15 km) from U.S. Route 29 and US 50 in Fairfax east to SR 400 in Alexandria. SR 236 is a major suburban arterial highway that connects the independent cities of Fairfax and Alexandria via Annandale in Fairfax County. The state highway is known as Main Street in City of Fairfax, Little River Turnpike in Fairfax County, where the highway meets Interstate 495 (I-495), and Duke Street in Alexandria, where the road has junctions with I-395 and US 1.
Clara Barton Parkway is an automobile parkway in the U.S. state of Maryland and the District of Columbia. The highway runs 6.8 miles (10.9 km) from MacArthur Boulevard in Carderock, Maryland, east to Canal Road at the Chain Bridge in Washington. Clara Barton Parkway is a two- to four-lane parkway that parallels the Potomac River and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (C&O) in southwestern Montgomery County, Maryland, and the far western corner of Washington. The parkway provides access to the communities of Cabin John and Glen Echo and several units of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. The Maryland portion of the George Washington Memorial Parkway was constructed from Carderock past Interstate 495 (I-495) to Glen Echo in the early to mid-1960s. The parkway was proposed to continue west to Great Falls and east to Georgetown. However, these proposals never came to fruition and the parkway was extended only to the Chain Bridge in the early 1970s. The Maryland portion of the George Washington Memorial Parkway was renamed in 1989 for Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross, and whose original headquarters is located in Glen Echo.
State Route 123 or Virginia State Route 123 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. The state highway runs 29.27 miles (47.11 km) from U.S. Route 1 in Woodbridge north to the Chain Bridge across the Potomac River into Washington from Arlington. It goes by four local names. From its southern terminus to the Occoquan River Bridge, it is known as Gordon Boulevard. From the Occoquan River Bridge to the city of Fairfax it is known as Ox Road. From Fairfax until it enters the Town of Vienna, it is known as Chain Bridge Road. Then, as it passes through the Town of Vienna, it is known as Maple Avenue. After leaving the Town of Vienna, the name reverts to Chain Bridge Road, and continues this way until the intersection with I-495 in Tysons. Between Tysons and the George Washington Memorial Parkway, it is known as Dolley Madison Boulevard. After crossing over the George Washington Memorial Parkway, the name once again reverts to Chain Bridge Road and continues this way until the end of the road, at Chain Bridge. SR 123 is a partial circumferential highway in Northern Virginia that connects Woodbridge in eastern Prince William County with the independent city of Fairfax and the Fairfax County communities of Vienna, Tysons, and McLean, the last being the home of the National Counterterrorism Center and the Central Intelligence Agency. The state highway also connects all of the major highways that radiate from Washington, including Interstate 95 (I-95), I-66, US 29, US 50, SR 267, and the George Washington Memorial Parkway. Furthermore, SR 123 crosses another pair of circumferential highways, I-495 and the Fairfax County Parkway, and SR 7, a major northwest–southeast highway through Northern Virginia. The state highway is a part of the National Highway System for its entire length.
The Mount Vernon Trail (MVT) is a 17-mile (27 km) long shared use path that travels along the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Northern Virginia between Rosslyn and George Washington's home at Mount Vernon. The trail connects the easternmost portions of Arlington County, the City of Alexandria, and Fairfax County, and travels mostly on dedicated trail with a small portion on city streets. As part of U.S. Bike Route 1, the Potomac Heritage Trail and the East Coast Greenway, the MVT opened in April 1972 as a gravel path and was subsequently expanded and paved.
Transportation in the Commonwealth of Virginia is by land, sea and air. Virginia's extensive network of highways and railroads were developed and built over a period almost 400 years, beginning almost immediately after the founding of Jamestown in 1607, and often incorporating old established trails of the Native Americans.
Interstate 95 (I-95) runs 179 miles (288 km) within the commonwealth of Virginia between its borders with North Carolina and Maryland. I-95 meets the northern terminus of I-85 in Petersburg and is concurrent with I-64 for three miles (4.8 km) in Richmond. Although I-95 was originally planned as a highway through Washington, D.C., it was rerouted along the eastern portion of the Capital Beltway concurrent with I-495. From Petersburg to Richmond, I-95 utilized most of the Richmond–Petersburg Turnpike, a former toll road. In addition to Richmond, the route also runs through the medium-sized cities of Emporia, Petersburg, Colonial Heights, Fredericksburg, and Alexandria.
Interstate 95 (I-95) is an Interstate Highway running along the East Coast of the United States from Miami, Florida, north to the Canada–United States border at Houlton, Maine. In Maryland, the route is a major highway that runs 110.01 miles (177.04 km) diagonally from southwest to northeast, entering from the District of Columbia and Virginia at the Woodrow Wilson Bridge over the Potomac River, northeast to Maryland's border with Delaware near Elkton. It is the longest Interstate Highway within Maryland and is one of the most traveled Interstate Highways in the state, especially between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., despite alternate routes along the corridor, such as the Baltimore–Washington Parkway, U.S. Route 1 (US 1), and US 29. I-95 also has eight auxiliary routes in the state, the most of any state along the I-95 corridor. Portions of the highway, including the Fort McHenry Tunnel and the Millard E. Tydings Memorial Bridge, are tolled.
The Washington Outer Beltway was a proposed freeway that would have extended further out than the Capital Beltway and encircled Washington, D.C. through the states of Maryland and Virginia. Most of the route was canceled in the 1980s. Parts of it have been built as the Fairfax County Parkway in Virginia, as well as Interstate 370 and the Intercounty Connector in Maryland.
Virginia HOT lanes refers to six separate projects in the U.S. state of Virginia. The first project, completed in November 2012, added high-occupancy/toll (HO/T) lanes to the Capital Beltway (I-495) in Fairfax County. The second project, opened to the public in December 2014, involved converting and extending the existing reversible high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes on I-95 and a portion of I-395 to HO/T lanes from Stafford to near Alexandria. The third project converted all lanes on I-66 inside the Beltway to peak-direction HO/T lanes, opening on December 4, 2017. The fourth project reconstructed approximately 21 miles (34 km) of I-66 outside the Beltway, making it a 10-lane corridor. The fifth project, which was completed in November 2019, essentially extended the aforementioned I-95/I-395 project several miles to the north, converting the existing reversible HOV lanes on I-395 to HO/T lanes from near Alexandria to Washington, DC. The sixth project will convert the existing reversible HOV lanes to HO/T Lanes on Interstate 64 from Interstate 564 in Norfolk to Interstate 264 in Virginia Beach, and also propose to expand the I-64 express lanes before and after the HO/T Lanes.
Plummers Island is a 12-acre Potomac River island in Montgomery County, Maryland, about nine miles upriver from Washington, D.C. The Washington Biologists' Field Club has called the island "the most thoroughly studied island in North America". The island is visible from the American Legion Memorial Bridge of the Capital Beltway, just downriver (east) of the bridge.
The Northern Virginia region is served by numerous mediums of transit. Transportation in the region is overseen by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority.
I-495, 8 thru lanes and 2 auxiliary lanes
