Interstate 595 (Maryland)

Infobox road
state=MD
type=I
route=595
alternate_name=John Hanson Highway
maint=MDSHA


length_mi=19.97
length_round=2
length_ref=cite web|url=http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/reports/routefinder/table2.cfm|title=Route Log and Finder List - Interstate System: Table 2|publisher=FHWA|accessdate=2007-10-07]
direction_a=West
starting_terminus=Jct|state=MD|I|95|I|495|US|50 outside Washington, D.C.
junction=Jct|state=MD|US|301 in Bowie, MD Jct|state=MD|I|97 near Annapolis, MD
direction_b=East
ending_terminus=Jct|state=MD|US|50|US|301|MD|70 in Annapolis, MD
cities=Washington, D.C. Annapolis, MD
previous_type=MD
previous_route=591
next_type=MD
next_route=607

Interstate 595 (abbreviated I-595) is an unsigned number for a section of US 50 (the John Hanson Highway) from the Capital Beltway (I-95/I-495) east of Washington, D.C. to MD 70 at Annapolis, Maryland.

US 50/I-595 has an HOV lane in each direction from west of the Beltway to east of US 301, a distance of eight miles. Unlike other HOV lanes in the Washington area, which are restricted during rush hours, the HOV lanes on I-595 are restricted at all times.http://www.roadstothefuture.com/I595_MD.html]

It is the longest unsigned Interstate highway at 20 miles (32 km) in length. It was left unsigned because people were already familiar with US 50.

Route description

The existing US 50 freeway east from the Baltimore-Washington Parkway upgrades silently into I-595 within the Capital Beltway interchange. East of the interchange, I-595 is 10 lanes wide; beyond the MD 704 interchange, it narrows to eight lanes, with the innermost two being HOV lanes.

Up to and slightly beyond the US 301/MD 3 interchange, I-595's driving lanes are made of concrete; the remaining roadway beyond there is made of asphalt. Within the US 301 interchange, the HOV lanes that began at the Capital Beltway come to an end, and US 301 joins US 50 and I-595, forming a three-route concurrency.

The central portion of the route runs through undeveloped forest and parkland, meeting MD 424 three miles east of US 301. After reaching Interstate 97, the route widens significantly into a local/express configuration, with I-595 on the express lanes and connectors to and from I-97 on the local lanes; within this interchange, MD 665 begins, providing a freeway spur directly into downtown Annapolis.

The route now runs through the Annapolis urban area, meeting MD 450 after one mile and the southern portion of MD 2 after another mile. Continuing southeast, the route (which is now a four-route concurrency of US 50, US 301, I-595 and MD 2) eventually reaches the MD 70 interchange, where I-595 "officially" terminates. However, the physical roadbed was fully upgraded to the western edge of the Severn River Bridge.Fact|date=December 2007

Former proposed I-595

In the early 1980s, the same route number was proposed for a connector in Baltimore from Interstate 95 to what was then called Interstate 170, which was left stranded from the rest of the interstate system by the cancellation of Interstate 70 within the city limits of Baltimore. That connector was never built, and Interstate 170 has been redesignated as part of U.S. Highway 40.

History

The John Hanson Highway, US 50's route between Washington D.C. and Annapolis, was constructed in 1957, and ran from New York Avenue at the Tuxedo Interchange just outside Washington D.C. to MD 2 Ritchie Highway north of Annapolis, connecting to the western approach to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The highway was four lanes throughout, and connected to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, I-495 and US 301 with full-cloverleaf interchanges.

Due to the increasing use of the highway and the dangerous conditions at the interchanges with the Capital Beltway and US 301, the highway was reconstructed to Interstate standards during 1990 to 1995 between the Capital Beltway and Maryland Route 70 in Annapolis, using funding released from the cancellation of Interstate highway segments within Baltimore. Originally, it was intended to designate the reconstructed highway as Interstate 68, but with the completion of the National Freeway in far western Maryland in 1991, the Maryland State Highway Administration chose instead to designate that other route as I-68, leaving the John Hanson Highway to be designated as I-595.Fact|date=July 2008

Reasons for lack of signage

In January 2001, highway historian Scott Kozel e-mailed and asked the Maryland State Highway Administration why I-595 was not signed. They responded, "We did not feel that either the posting in the field or the noting on a map would serve any useful purpose for the traveling public".

Exit list

Because I-595 is an unsigned route that is completely concurrent with US 50, the latter's exit numbers are used.

References

External links

* [http://www.mdroads.com/routes/is595.html I-595 @ MDRoads.com]
* [http://www.roadstothefuture.com/I595_MD.html Scott M. Kozel's "Roads to the Future" article on I-595]
* [http://www.sha.state.md.us/businesswithsha/projects/oc/us50hov/welcome.asp US 50 HOV Project from Md. State Highway Administration]
* [http://www.kurumi.com/roads/3di/balto.html Map showing existing and proposed Baltimore interstates; I-595 would have combined I-170 with the unbuilt portion of I-70 south to I-95]