I-395

About I-395

Also known as Shirley Highway, Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway.

Interstate 395 is a three-digit auxiliary route of Interstate 95, with an odd prefix digit marking it as a spur or connector. There are five separate instances, all tied to Interstate 95. The best known is in Virginia and the District of Columbia, where Interstate 395 follows the Shirley Highway from a junction with Interstate 95 and the Capital Beltway in Springfield, Virginia, north past the Pentagon and across the Potomac River into central Washington. It is one of the busiest commuter corridors into the capital and has long carried reversible express lanes.

In Maryland, Interstate 395 is a very short spur of about two miles in downtown Baltimore, branching from Interstate 95 to reach the Inner Harbor, the convention center, and the stadium district. In Florida, Interstate 395 is a short elevated spur that carries Interstate 95 traffic east through downtown Miami toward the MacArthur Causeway and Miami Beach.

In Connecticut and Massachusetts, Interstate 395 is a longer route running north from Interstate 95 near the Connecticut shore up through eastern Connecticut to a junction with Interstate 90, the Massachusetts Turnpike, south of Worcester. Each instance serves as a spur or connector linking Interstate 95 to a downtown, a waterfront, or another major route.

History

The Virginia portion is part of the Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway, an early limited access route whose full length opened in 1949 from south of the Pentagon toward Woodbridge. The segment between Springfield and Washington was renumbered Interstate 395 in 1976. The route was an early site of high occupancy and reversible express lane experiments serving capital area commuters.

Major cities and places

Notable features

• Reversible express lanes on the Virginia and District of Columbia route
• Elevated spur to the MacArthur Causeway in Miami

Did you know

• The Virginia and District of Columbia route is the Shirley Highway into Washington.
• The Maryland route is a short spur into downtown Baltimore.
• The Florida route is a short elevated spur through downtown Miami.
• The Connecticut route runs north to the Massachusetts Turnpike near Worcester.