I-495

About I-495

Also known as Capital Beltway, Long Island Expressway.

Interstate 495 is a three-digit auxiliary route of Interstate 95, with an odd prefix digit, though several of its instances are full beltways rather than simple spurs. The number is used in several places, all tied to Interstate 95. The most famous is the Capital Beltway in the Washington area, a circular freeway of about 64 miles that encircles Washington and its inner suburbs in Maryland and Virginia. The eastern side of the Capital Beltway is shared with Interstate 95, while the western side carries the Interstate 495 designation on its own.

In New York, Interstate 495 is the Long Island Expressway, a major urban freeway running east from the Queens-Midtown Tunnel area of New York City out across Long Island toward Riverhead. It is one of the most heavily traveled and congested commuter routes in the country. In Massachusetts, Interstate 495 is a long outer belt of roughly 120 miles that sweeps around the Greater Boston area well outside the inner Route 128 beltway, letting through traffic bypass the urban core.

Shorter Interstate 495 routes serve as a bypass of Wilmington in Delaware, paralleling Interstate 95 along the Delaware River, and as a short unsigned connector in the Portland area of Maine known as the Falmouth Spur. Together these instances make 495 one of the most recognizable auxiliary numbers, largely because of the Capital Beltway and the Long Island Expressway.

Major cities and places

Notable features

• Capital Beltway around Washington
• Long Island Expressway
• Woodrow Wilson Bridge over the Potomac on the Capital Beltway

Did you know

• The Washington instance is the Capital Beltway, about 64 miles around.
• The eastern side of the Capital Beltway is shared with Interstate 95.
• The New York instance is the Long Island Expressway.
• The Massachusetts instance is a roughly 120 mile outer belt around Greater Boston.