Interstate 95

I-95 begins at US 1 just south of downtown Miami and travels along the state's east coast, passing through Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, the Gold Coast, the Treasure Coast, the Space Coast, Daytona Beach, Port Orange, St. Augustine, and Jacksonville before entering the US state of Georgia near the city of Kingsland. This portion of the highway was notably featured in the film Flight of the Navigator when the spaceship flew along the highway toward Miami.[8] In Miami and Fort Lauderdale, SunPass express lanes pass over the highway.

Prior to 1987, a notable gap in the highway existed between West Palm Beach and Fort Pierce; I-95 traffic between those cities was diverted to Florida's Turnpike. Today, I-95 runs along a routing parallel to the turnpike.[9][10][11]

In 2010, more fatalities occurred along the Florida section of I-95 than on any other Interstate Highway in the country.[12]

In Georgia, I-95 closely parallels the coastline, traveling primarily through marshlands a few miles from the shore. The route bypasses the cores of major coastal cities Brunswick and Savannah, routing traffic through the western sides of both cities' metro areas; it connects to the latter city by an intersection with I-16 before crossing into South Carolina. The exit numbers were converted from a sequential system to a mileage-based system around 2000. I-95 in Georgia has the unsigned designation of State Route 405 (SR 405).[13]

Entering South Carolina, I-95 diverts from its coastal route to a more inland route to the west. I-95 does not go near any major cities in South Carolina, with the largest city along its route being Florence, the tenth largest in the state. The rest of South Carolina can be accessed via other Interstates that intersect I-95. It intersects I-26 near Harleyville, which provides access to Charleston, Columbia, and Upstate South Carolina. It also intersects I-20 at Florence, which also connects to Columbia and then on to Atlanta, Georgia. At the North Carolina border, I-95 passes the South of the Border roadside attraction.

In North Carolina, I-95 informally serves as the separation between the state's western Piedmont and eastern Atlantic Plain regions. Much like its route in South Carolina, I-95 runs through mostly rural areas, avoiding major cities like Raleigh and Durham. The route intersects I-74 near Lumberton, I-40 near Benson, and Future I-87/US 64 near Rocky Mount. Several medium sized cities lie along I-95 in North Carolina, including (from south to north) Fayetteville, Wilson, and Rocky Mount. At Gaston, I-95 crosses into Virginia.

Much of I-95 in the Mid-Atlantic region is tolled, following the course of several turnpikes that predate the Interstate Highway System, as well as several other toll roads and toll bridges.

I-95 enters the Mid-Atlantic region in Virginia and travels through the center of the densest and most populous urban region in the US. I-95 travels north–south through Virginia, passing through Petersburg, and follows the Richmond–Petersburg Turnpike into downtown Richmond (where it is concurrent briefly with I-64), and, from there, it turns northeast as it enters Northern Virginia. In the Washington metropolitan area, it is concurrent with the Capital Beltway from the Springfield Interchange along with I-495, before passing through the southernmost corner of the District of Columbia for about 0.11 miles (0.18 km) along the Woodrow Wilson Bridge[14] before entering Maryland near National Harbor, Maryland.

In Maryland, I-95 goes northeast toward Baltimore, paralleling the older Baltimore–Washington Parkway. I-95 uses the Fort McHenry Tunnel to travel under Baltimore's Inner Harbor and travels through northeast Maryland along the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway, crossing into Delaware near Elkton.

Entering Delaware at Newark, I-95 follows the Delaware Turnpike east across Delaware until the large and complex I-495/I-295/US 202/Delaware Route 141 interchange near Newport and turns northeast through Wilmington, skirting the west side of the downtown area before leaving Delaware in Claymont at the state's extreme northeastern corner. I-95 is the only two-digit interstate highway in Delaware, and it only passes through the Twelve-Mile Circle, the northernmost part of the state.

Entering southeastern Pennsylvania near Marcus Hook, I-95 crosses Delaware County and the city of Chester, closely following the Delaware River. Entering Philadelphia near Philadelphia International Airport, the freeway has an interchange with I-76 before it follows a large viaduct along the extreme eastern edge of Center City Philadelphia. Northeast of Philadelphia in Bucks County, I-95 joins the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Bristol before entering New Jersey on the Delaware River–Turnpike Toll Bridge.

In New Jersey, I-95 follows the Pearl Harbor Memorial Turnpike Extension of the New Jersey Turnpike, crossing the Delaware River on the Delaware River–Turnpike Toll Bridge, joining the mainline turnpike at exit 6. I-95 has interchanges with I-78 in Newark and I-80 in southern Teaneck. At the end of the turnpike in Fort Lee, I-95 turns east along its own freeway alignment and connects to New York City (and crosses into New York state) over the Hudson River via the George Washington Bridge.[15]

I-95 in New York City comprises all or part of several named expressways, including the Trans-Manhattan, Cross Bronx, and Bruckner expressways, as it crosses east-northeast across the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. Within this 15-mile (24 km) stretch, I-95 intersects I-87 in the South Bronx, which connects to Albany and Upstate New York, as well as several auxiliary Interstates that provide access to other New York City boroughs and to Long Island. Entering Westchester County in Pelham, I-95 then follows the New England Thruway northeast to the Connecticut border at Port Chester, where it continues as the Connecticut Turnpike.[16]

I-95 enters New England in the state of Connecticut, where it closely follows state's southern coast. The highway's direction through Connecticut is primarily east–west, and it passes through the most densely populated part of the state, including the cities of Stamford, Bridgeport (the state's most populous city), and New Haven. In New Haven, it intersects with I-91 as it passes into the more rural areas of the Lower Connecticut River Valley. I-95 leaves the Connecticut Turnpike at I-395 at the East Lyme–Waterford town line. I-95 next passes New London and Groton, before the route curves northeast and leaving its close connection to the coast. It leaves Connecticut in the town of North Stonington.

I-95 enters Rhode Island in the town of Hopkinton and connects the rural areas of the southwestern corner of the state with the more metropolitan region around the state capital, Providence, in the state's northeastern corner. It leaves Rhode Island in the city of Pawtucket.

Entering Massachusetts in Attleboro, I-95 heads northeast toward Boston. In Canton, roughly a mile (1.6 km) south of Boston's city limits, it turns to the west and begins a 37-mile-long (60 km) concurrency with Route 128, a beltway that traverses Boston's inner suburbs. At this point, I-93 has its southern terminus and provides access to the city of Boston itself. I-95 intersects the Massachusetts Turnpike/I-90 at the Weston–Newton line and I-93 a second time at the tripoint of Woburn, Reading, and Stoneham. North of Boston, I-95 leaves the beltway and heads northward in Peabody, while Route 128 continues east to Cape Ann. I-95 leaves Massachusetts in Salisbury.

I-95 enters New Hampshire in the town of Seabrook, following the pre-Interstate New Hampshire Turnpike and traversing the 18-mile-long (29 km) Seacoast Region and the historic city of Portsmouth where it leaves the state. I-95 in New Hampshire is the shortest section of the highway (excluding D.C.).

In Maine, I-95 follows the Maine Turnpike, closely following the coast in a northeasterly direction until reaching Portland, the state's largest city. From there, it turns northward to Augusta, where the Maine Turnpike ends while I-95 continues north to Palmyra, where it turns east to Bangor. From Bangor, it turns north again to Smyrna and makes a final turn to the east, reaching the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing in Houlton. The road continues into the Canadian province of New Brunswick as Route 95.[17]

Until 2018, a gap existed on I-95 within New Jersey. From Pennsylvania, I-95 entered the state on the Scudder Falls Bridge and continued east to US 1 in Lawrence Township. Here, I-95 abruptly ended and transitioned into I-295. From New York, I-95 entered the state on the George Washington Bridge and followed the New Jersey Turnpike south to exit 6, ran along an extension of the turnpike, and ended on the Delaware River–Turnpike Toll Bridge at the Pennsylvania state line, where the route transitioned into I-276. This discontinuity was caused by the 1983 cancelation of the Somerset Freeway, a planned alignment of I-95 further inland from the turnpike. In order to close the gap, an interchange was constructed where I-95 crosses the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Bristol Township, Pennsylvania. After the first components of the interchange opened on September 22, 2018, I-95 was rerouted onto the Pennsylvania Turnpike, meeting up with where I-95 previously ended at the state line. This project closed the last remaining gap in the route.[2] The former section of I-95 between the Pennsylvania Turnpike and US 1 in Lawrence became an extension of I-295. The interchange with the Pennsylvania Turnpike will be expanded in the future, connecting northbound I-95 with the westbound turnpike and the eastbound turnpike with southbound I-95.[20]

In the 21st century, several large projects between Richmond, Virginia, and New Jersey have aimed to decrease congestion along the corridor. The reconstruction of the Springfield Interchange in Northern Virginia, just outside Washington DC helped to ease traffic at the intersection of I-95, I-495, and I-395, and surrounding interchanges. The Springfield Interchange is one of the busiest highway junctions on the East Coast, serving between 400,000 and 500,000 vehicles per day. With the exception of high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes on the Capital Beltway (I-495/I-95), this project was completed in July 2007.[21] A few miles to the east was another major project: the Woodrow Wilson Bridge replacement. The bridge carries I-95/I-495 over the Potomac River. The former Woodrow Wilson Bridge, which has since been demolished, was a six-lane bridge that was severely overcapacity. The new bridge is actually two bridges with a total of 12 lanes; five in each direction, with an additional lane in each direction for future use (rapid-bus or train). This project was completed with the 10 lanes opened on December 13, 2008, greatly reducing the traffic delays on the beltway. The lanes are divided into two through lanes and three local lanes in each direction. About 30 miles (48 km) north of the Wilson Bridge, and about 20 miles (32 km) south of Baltimore near Laurel, Maryland, construction on a large new interchange began in 2008, was scheduled for completion in late 2011, and opened to traffic on November 9, 2014, which connects I-95 to Maryland Route 200 (MD 200).

In 2006, the Virginia General Assembly passed SJ184, a resolution calling for an interstate compact to build a toll highway between Dover, Delaware, and Charleston, South Carolina, as an alternative to I-95 that would allow long-distance traffic to avoid the Washington metropolitan area.[22]

Federal legislation has identified I-95 through Connecticut as High Priority Corridor 65. A long-term multibillion-dollar program to upgrade the entire length of I-95 through Connecticut has been underway since the mid-1990s and is expected to continue through at least 2020. Several miles of the Connecticut Turnpike through Bridgeport were widened and brought up to Interstate standards. Work has shifted to reconstructing and widening 12 miles (19 km) of I-95 through New Haven, which includes replacing the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge. Environmental studies for reconstructing and widening 60 miles (97 km) of I-95 from New Haven to the Rhode Island state line are also progressing.

There are plans to expand the 1,054-mile (1,696 km) I-95 corridor from Petersburg, Virginia, to Florida through a US multistate agreement to study how to improve the corridor through widening and reconstruction, with the goal of reducing congestion and improving overall safety for years to come.[23]

I-95 from the South Carolina–Georgia line to the freeway's southern terminus in South Florida has been widened to a minimum of six lanes. The section from Jacksonville to the I-4 junction in Daytona Beach was expanded to six lanes in 2005. Projects begun in 2009, widening the roadbed in Brevard County from the State Route 528 junction in Cocoa to Palm Bay, as well as in northern Palm Beach County. The last segments of I-95 in Florida to remain at only four lanes have now been upgraded, providing motorists with about 500 miles (800 km) of continuous six-lane roadbed.

In 2009, state legislators representing Maine's Aroostook County proposed using federal economic stimulus funds to extend I-95 north to Maine's northernmost border community of Fort Kent via Caribou and Presque Isle.[24] The proposed route would parallel New Brunswick's four-lane, limited-access Trans-Canada Highway on the US side of the Canadian border. Legislators argued that extension of the Interstate would promote economic growth in the region.

On June 11, 2023, a portion of the northbound section of I-95 collapsed in Philadelphia. This was due to a gasoline tanker catching fire after a crash.[25] A temporary roadway opened at the site of the collapsed bridge on June 23, 2023.[26]