New 11th Street Bridge Carries New (But Old) Route Designation: I-695

WASHINGTON -- With the opening of the new 11th Street bridge span over the Anacostia River, drivers might have spotted something new: signs for Interstate 695.

That's right: To go from I-295 to I-395, you now have to use I-695.

There's another I-695 in the region: The Baltimore Beltway. But the new I-695 has always been there, it's just District of Columbia transportation officials have now marked the route and moved it slightly. Confused?

The Southeast Freeway, which stretches between Pennsylvania Avenue SE at Barney Circle and the junction with the Southwest Freeway, was always designated as I-695, but it was never marked as such. (Similarly, I-595 in Maryland is not signed and known better as U.S. Route 50 between the Capital Beltway and Annapolis. Route 50, is a much longer cross-country highway does not meet interstate standards heading into the District of Columbia or Maryland's Eastern Shore.)

According to the District Department of Transportation, the city plans to decommission the Southeast Freeway connection between the 11th Street bridge and Barney Circle and create an an-grade boulevard that better integrates with the surrounding Capitol Hill neighborhood. And since that section of the previously unsigned I-695, will be going away the route was shifted to the 11th Street bridge.

For a complete history of the Southeast Freeway, click here.

To add to the naming and routing confusion, the 11th Street bridge, also carries the ceremonial designation of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, which also connects to Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive also shares another ceremonial designation with the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Freeway which carries I-395 between the 3rd Street tunnel and the Francis Case Bridge. Some might better know the Eisenhower Freeway as the Southwest Freeway.

Still confused? We don't blame you.