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Updated Sept 30, 2006
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I-195  Florida (link)

4.42 miles [1note]; Interstate 195 is the Julia Tuttle Causeway, leading from I-95 in Miami to FL 907 in Miami Beach. It opened on Dec. 23, 1961. Had funding been available at the time, the FL 112 continuation westward could have been designated I-195 as well. However, Florida built FL 112 on its own as a toll road, which at the time was ineligible for interstate designation. [6note]

See also:

 

I-195  Maryland (link)

4.71 miles [1note]; from I-95 in Hawthorne (Baltimore suburb) to Balto-Wash. International Airport (BWI).

Previously MD 166 (between I-95 and US 1) and MD 46 (from I-295 to the airport), I-195 was completed and christened in 1992 [5note]. I-195 got on the federal books between 1971 and 1978 [2note].

The first part of what is now I-195 opened as MD 46, a spur from the Baltimore - Washington Parkway to BWI. In 1971, I-95 opened in the area, along with a short expressway to US 1. Mike Pruett writes that the I-195 designation might have been cancelled and then revived, based on Rand McNally maps: in the 1970s, they showed I-195, but in the '80s displayed MD 166 and MD 46, before returning to I-195 in 1990. The Federal route logs for 1971 and 1978 show I-195 added somewhere between those two years. [9note] [2note]

In June 1990, the final segment of I-195 between the B-W Parkway and US 1 opened, completing the gap. MD 166 now ends at the I-95/I-195 interchange, and MD 46 no longer exists. [9note]

See also:

 

I-195  Massachusetts; Rhode Island (link)

44.55 miles [1note]; from Providence, R. I. to I-495/MA 25 in Wareham, Mass. The Rhode Island section opened in 1962; the Massachusetts part was finished in 1970. The section from South Providence to Fox Point, the earliest of Providence's interstates, opened in 1956. [8note]

In 1957 and 1958, the highway was planned from Providence to Fall River and was to be called Interstate 95E. [13note] [14note]

Speed limit setting dates might be opening dates

John F. Carr sent information from state speed limit regulations that might show exact opening dates of I-195 in Massachusetts: [18note]

  • Seekonk, Rehoboth, Swansea [from RI to Route 6]: March 28, 1961
  • Seekonk to Somerset: June 20, 1966
  • Seekonk to New Bedford [even further]: Aug. 8, 1967
  • Wareham and 500 feet in Marion [I-195 to 105]: Aug. 30, 1972
  • Wareham, Marion, 0.8 miles in Mattapoisett: Oct. 31, 1972

Relocation in Providence

Rhode Island plans to straighten and shorten 2.5 miles of the highway near downtown Providence, building on a new alignment 0.5 mile south of where it is now. Why a new route? The current route (dating from the 1950s) has winding curves and several bridges near end of life; the new alignment will get a safer bridge and new interchange with I-95, without interfering as much with traffic on the current alignment.

The city will also benefit from some valuable land made available, and some neighborhoods no longer cut off from the city. "By moving the highway you can undo some of the mistakes that engineers made in the '50s," said Dan Baudouin, executive director of the Providence Foundation. Work will cost about $250 million and last about six years. [7note]

In Fall River, Mass., the Government Center building was built over I-195 in 1976: reportedly the first public building over a federal highway. [17note]

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I-195  Maine (link)

1.55 miles [2note]; from I-95 north of Saco. Built sometime between 1981 and 1985. I-195 serves the tourist destination of Old Orchard Beach. Exit 5 on the Maine Turnpike (I-95) was moved for this. [4note]

See also:

 

I-195 (proposed number rejected)  North Carolina (link)

This was a 35-mile new route submitted by the state to AASHTO in 2003. Interstate 195 would be defined "[b]eginning at the intersection of Interstate Route 95 and a new facility being constructed north of Fayetteville, then northwesterly, southwesterly, southerly and southeasterly over the facility for 35.18 miles to the intersection of Interstate Route 95 south of Fayetteville." [19note]

This was the Fayetteville Outer Loop, with both ends at I-95. The selection of a spur number ("195" starts with an odd digit) was surprising. AASHTO rejected the numbering proposal on May 30, 2003, saying the FHWA had not designated the route as a part or future part of the Interstate system. [19note]

In early 2004, NCDOT published a planning map showing I-295 for the loop. That number will eventually be resubmitted to AASHTO.

 

I-195  New Jersey (link)

34.17 miles [1note]; from I-295 near Trenton to NJ 34.

Parts of this highway were open in 1974. Corridor hearings for the eastern section, from CR 527 to NJ 34, were held in 1969. An environmental impact statement (EIS) was completed in fall 1971 and approved by the FHWA in November 1971. Design work started, and the design public hearing was held in March 1973, with initial design phases approved in 1974.

By 1975, however, new air quality regulations were issued, and right-of-way for I-195 could not be acquired until a new EIS was generated. [10note]

However, construction eventually started, and the whole thing was complete by 1989.

"IIRC, I-195 was sort of a "consolation prize" for not getting I-95 completed." - Adam Froehlig [12note]

Extension to Pennsylvania planned

Big changes are in the works for I-95, I-195, and I-295 in the Trenton, N.J. region. In 2012, a direct interchange between I-95 and I-276 in Bristol, Pa. is planned to open (currently, there is no direct connection at all). Pennsylvania and New Jersey have agreed on numbering changes to take place at that time (though AASHTO has not yet signed off on them): [20note]

  • Relocated I-95: from the 95/276 interchange, east along today's I-276 to the New Jersey Turnpike
  • Extended I-195: westward from the 195/295 interchange, along I-295 and I-95 (Delaware Expressway) to the 95/276 interchange
  • Truncated I-295: north end brought back to the I-195/NJ 29 interchange

 

I-195  Virginia (link)

3.24 miles [1note]; mostly 6 lanes; from I-95 and I-64 to VA 195 (Downtown Expressway) in Richmond. The 3-mile section from I-95/I-64 to Powhite Parkway opened in 2 sections on July 15 and 19, 1975, and the 0.5-mile connector to the Downtown Expressway opened on February 3, 1976. [5note] Though maps are have been vague on this short route, it has officially had interstate designation throughout [3note].

The freeway was planned in the 1960s as the Beltline Expressway, part of a planned 10-mile toll system including the Powhite Parkway and Downtown Expressway. Because rising costs were helping delay construction of the highways (a nasty inflationary positive feedback loop), city and state agencies had already tried, and failed, to transfer some mileage and funding from the proposed Interstate 295 beltway to the Beltline Expressway. [11note]

In 1968, Congress authorized an additional 1,500 miles to the Interstate Highway System. Dozens of states' requests for new routes included Richmond's Beltline Expressway. On July 18, 1969, 90% funding for 3.3 miles was approved, enabling the highway to be constructed as Interstate 195, a toll-free road. The Powhite and Downtown were built as toll roads. [5note] [11note]

The highway follows the James River Branch (Beltline) of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, an alignment laid out in 1888. [11note]

The 1978 US DOT Route Log had 9.2 miles assigned to I-195 [2note].

See also:

Sources

  1. Route Log and Finder List - Interstate Highways, FHWA, Oct. 31, 2002.
  2. Route Log and Finder List - Interstate Highways, USDOT, 1978
  3. The Richmond Metropolitan Authority Annual Report, 1992-1993 (Stephen W. Commiskey)
  4. Kirby, J. P.
  5. Kozel, Scott (Roads to the Future)
  6. Nitzman, Alex and Field, Andy. "Florida @ SouthEastRoads.com - Interstate 195 and Florida 112." http://www.southeastroads.com/i-195_fl.html (Accessed 30 Sept. 2006)
  7. "State begins work to relocate freeway stretch." Brown Daily Herald, March 17, 1999.
  8. "Move to 'burbs stresses state's old highways." Providence Journal-Bulletin, July 25, 1999.
  9. Pruett, Mike ( Maryland Roads)
  10. "Increasing the federal share of highway projects..." US House of Representatives, Committee on Public Works and Transportation, March 1975.
  11. "Beltline Expressway I-195 Spur Built", The Virginia Road Builder Oct. 1974; quoted by Scott Kozel, posting to misc.transport.road, Oct. 4, 2000.
  12. Froehlig, Adam. "Re: Rand McNally 1962 vs 2000." Post to misc.transport.road, Sept. 19, 2000.
  13. "Official Route Numbering for the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways." Map, as adopted Aug. 14, 1957 by the American Association of State Highway Officials [AASHO; now AASHTO]. Thanks to Richard C. Moeur.
  14. "Official Route Numbering for the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways." Map, as adopted June 28, 1958 by the American Association of State Highway Officials [AASHO; now AASHTO]. Thanks to Richard C. Moeur.
  15. "Central location aids Fall River comeback: Easy highway access attracts businesses, commuters to city." Boston Globe, April 21, 2001.
  16. Carr, John F. "I-195 dates." Email to Kurumi, May 8, 2003.
  17. AASHTO SCOH. Report to the Special Committee on Route Numbering to the Executive Committee. May 31, 2003.
  18. Edwards and Kelcey. Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission: I-95/I-276 Interchange Project; Design Management; Meeting Summary - DRAFT, http://www.paturnpikei95.com/pdf/DACMeeting050914.pdf (Accessed 30 Sept 2006) (Thanks to Justin Joseph)