Fun with Highways: Springfield Interchange (“The Mixing Bowl”)
Reader Beth @ 990 Square recommended that we check out “The Mixing Bowl” on the Washington D.C. Beltway. Here it is:
[Click to enlarge.]
The Springfield Interchange (as it is more formally known), is in northern Virginia and connects I-95 coming from the south to the beltway (I-495, left to right in the image) and I-395 north to downtown Washington, D.C. Part of the reason this interchange looks as complex as it does is that it was recently rebuilt, and contains the “ghosts” of the old interchange. Consider the following diagram:
[Image from Wikimedia Commons.]
The blue lines are the current interchange, while the red lines represent the pre-construction roadways. As one can see, several of the “red” pieces are still visible, such as the loop and ramps in the upper-right quadrant.
It seems the construction is not completely done, particularly along the beltway where there is still a lot of work going on. Or at least that was the case when I traveled through the interchange late on a Sunday night this past summer and got stuck for several hours.
December 21st, 2009 at 2:46 pm
The mixing bowl in particular, and the DC Beltway in general, is the land of neverending construction. Who knows what they’re building, but it never stops! And there is always traffic, even in the middle of the night!
December 21st, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Good thing there is a file photo,
because today it is probably buried under a lot of snow
Hahahahaha!!
Purrs Mickey
December 21st, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Wishing you and Luna a Merry Christmas filled with nip and other goodies!