text: interstate 695 ( maryland ) interstate 695 ( i - 695 ) is a 51 . 46 - mile - long ( 82 . 82 km ) full beltway interstate highway extending around baltimore , maryland , usa . i - 695 is officially designated the mckeldin beltway , but is colloquially referred to as either the baltimore beltway or 695 . the route is an auxiliary route of i - 95 , intersecting that route southwest of baltimore near arbutus and northeast of the city near white marsh . it also intersects other major roads radiating from the baltimore area , including i - 97 near glen burnie , the baltimore – washington parkway ( maryland route 295 , md 295 ) near linthicum , i - 70 near woodlawn , i - 795 near , and i - 83 in the area . the 19 . 37 - mile ( 31 . 17 km ) portion of the baltimore beltway between i - 95 northeast of baltimore and i - 97 south of baltimore is officially md 695 , and is not part of the interstate highway system , but is signed as i - 695 . this section of the route includes the francis scott key bridge that crosses over the patapsco river . the bridge and its approaches are maintained by the maryland transportation authority ( mdta ) while the remainder of the baltimore beltway is maintained by the maryland state highway administration ( mdsha ) . the baltimore beltway was first planned in 1949 by baltimore county ; the state eventually took over the project and it became part of the interstate highway system planned in 1956 . the length of the route from md 2 south of baltimore clockwise to u.s. route 40 ( us 40 ) northeast of the city opened in stages from 1955 to 1962 , providing an interstate bypass of baltimore . it was the first beltway in the united states to be built as part of the interstate highway system . plans were made to finish the remainder of the route , with a diversion to the windlass freeway and the patapsco freeway , opened in 1973 , following the cancellation of a more outer route that was to partly follow what is today md 702 ( southeast boulevard ) . the outer harbor crossing over the patapsco river , which was dedicated to francis scott key , who wrote the star - spangled banner , and its approaches were finished in 1977 , completing the route around baltimore . the approaches to the bridge were originally two lanes to accommodate a tunnel that was originally proposed to run under the river ; in subsequent years , they were upgraded to a four - lane configuration compliant with interstate highway standards , allowing for this portion of route to be signed as i - 695 rather than md 695 . there are future plans for i - 695 that include high - occupancy toll lanes to ease traffic . in addition , the northeastern interchange with i - 95 has been reconstructed to accommodate express toll lanes that were added to i - 95 ( completed in 2014 ) . route description curtis creek to i - 95 starting at the zero milepost in baltimore , i - 695 , which at this point is officially called md 695 and is maintained by the maryland transportation authority , is four lanes wide . the route passes over curtis creek on a pair of drawbridges here , which have 58 feet ( 18 m ) of vertical navigational clearance and provide access for tall ships to a u.s. coast guard base further upstream . continuing west through industrial areas into anne arundel county , the route encounters the northern terminus of md 10 ( arundel expressway ) at a directional interchange , where maintenance switches to the maryland state highway administration . the interchange includes access to the next interchange , with md 2 ( ritchie highway ) , a major north – south route between baltimore and the southern suburbs , in glen burnie . this interchange has access to northbound md 2 in both directions and from northbound md 2 to the westbound direction . beyond md 2 , i - 695 encounters i - 895 spur , a short connector to i - 895 ( harbor tunnel thruway ) ; this interchange provides access to southbound md 2 from both directions and to the eastbound direction from southbound md 2 . immediately past this interchange , i - 695 comes to an interchange with the northern terminus of i - 97 , which terminates on the beltway . at this point , the route officially becomes i - 695 . the route continues west as a six - lane freeway , heading west into residential areas of linthicum . it interchanges with md 648 ( baltimore annapolis boulevard ) , where 132 , 330 vehicles travel i - 695 every day , before turning northwest and intersecting md 170 ( camp meade road ) . the route encounters the baltimore – washington parkway ( md 295 ) at a cloverleaf interchange where the route ’ s signage changes from east – west to north – south at this interchange . it turns more to the north from here and heads into commercial areas , interchanging with md 168 ( nursery road ) and hammonds ferry road . past this interchange , the route crosses the patapsco river into baltimore county and soon encounters a partial interchange with i - 895 ( harbor tunnel thruway ) with access only from the southbound direction of i - 695 to i - 895 northbound and from i - 895 southbound to the northbound direction of i - 695 . past this interchange , i - 695 heads north , interchanging with hollins ferry road in lansdowne before passing under csx ’ s baltimore terminal subdivision and coming to an interchange with us 1 alt . ( washington boulevard ) in arbutus . a short distance later , i - 695 comes to a interchange with i - 95 . i - 95 to i - 70 i - 695 widens to nine lanes past interchange with i - 95 , with five lanes in the southbound direction and four lanes in the northbound direction . running northwest , it crosses over amtrak ’ s northeast corridor and comes to a partial interchange with us 1 ( southwestern boulevard ) , with a southbound exit and northbound entrance . from here , it continues northwest through residential areas of catonsville to an interchange with md 372 ( wilkens avenue ) . narrowing to eight lanes total , with four lanes in each direction , beyond md 372 , the route continues through suburban neighborhoods before coming to an interchange with md 144 ( frederick road ) . at this point , i - 695 narrows to seven lanes , with three southbound lanes and four northbound lanes . it continues north and interchanges with edmondson avenue before turning northwest and intersects us 40 ( baltimore national pike ) near the defunct westview mall , now a big - box complex . beyond us 40 , i - 695 continues north through residential areas , narrowing to six lanes , with three lanes in each direction , before coming to a four - level stack interchange with i - 70 in woodlawn . i - 70 to i - 83 the baltimore beltway narrows from seven to six lanes within the interchange , which contains braided ramps providing access to the next interchange , md 122 ( security boulevard ) , located near the security square mall and the headquarters of the social security administration . continuing north , the road widens to eight lanes again and continues through a mix of suburban homes and business parks in . i - 695 interchanges with md 26 ( liberty road ) east of and resumes north , narrowing to six lanes . it intersects the southern terminus of i - 795 ( northwest expressway ) , which serves as a bypass of md 140 in the owings mills area . the baltimore metro 's line to owings mills passes under i - 695 within the interchange and runs in the median of i - 795 as far as that town . at the i - 795 interchange , the signage of route changes from north – south to east – west . from here , i - 695 heads northeast as an eight lane road and enters , where it intersects md 140 ( reisterstown road ) at a single - point urban interchange . a short distance later , the road comes to a partial interchange with md 129 ( park heights avenue ) , with an eastbound exit and westbound entrance . i - 695 heads east to another partial interchange with stevenson road , which has a westbound exit and eastbound entrance . the baltimore beltway passes through heavily forested land as it encounters greenspring avenue . past this interchange , i - 695 continues northeast through woodland before coming to an interchange with i - 83 ( jones falls expressway ) . the interchange includes connections to md 25 ( falls road ) , which heads into the open countryside north of baltimore . within this interchange , i - 83 forms a concurrency with i - 695 and the roadway widens to ten lanes , with six for the beltway and four for i - 83 . after running concurrently , i - 83 splits from i - 695 by heading north on the harrisburg expressway at a directional interchange . i - 83 to i - 95 beyond i - 83 , i - 695 turns northeast as a six lane road and heads into towson , interchanging with md 139 ( charles street ) . the baltimore beltway heads through residential and commercial areas before coming to interchanges with md 45 ( york road ) near the shops at kenilworth and md 146 ( dulaney valley road ) . continuing east , the baltimore beltway passes to the north of goucher college and comes to an interchange with providence road . i - 695 turns southeast through residential areas past providence road and comes to an interchange with md 542 ( loch raven boulevard ) and cromwell bridge road . the road continues towards , where it comes to a cloverleaf interchange with md 41 ( perring parkway ) within commercial areas . the baltimore beltway continues through residential areas into carney , coming to another cloverleaf interchange with md 147 ( harford road ) . continuing east into white marsh , the route encounters the western terminus of md 43 ( white marsh boulevard ) , a limited - access at - grade boulevard that provides access to white marsh mall , us 1 and i - 95 . i - 695 turns south past md 43 and interchanges with us 1 ( belair road ) south of white marsh . the road continues southeast to an interchange with i - 95 ( john f. kennedy memorial highway ) a short distance after us 1 in rossville . this interchange with i - 95 ( to east of baltimore city ) is a fully directional interchange where the carriageways of both routes crossed over each other onto the opposite side , then crossed over each other again ; at the site of each crossover , left - hand entrance and exit ramps were provided to eliminate the need for directional flyovers . in 2008 , interchange reconstruction at the i - 95 interchange removed the left - hand entrance from northbound i - 95 to westbound i - 695 with the remaining left - hand entrances to be removed by august 2009 as part of the construction of the i - 95 express toll lane project ; all exits and entrances were now on the right , and i - 95 's opposing roadways no longer crossed each other ( but i - 695 's still did ) . i - 95 to curtis creek continuing south , the baltimore beltway officially becomes md 695 again , despite being signed as i - 695 , and soon encounters md 7 ( philadelphia road ) . between i - 95 and md 7 , the route ’ s changes from east – west to north – south . immediately after md 7 , the route interchanges with us 40 ( pulaski highway ) northwest of essex near the centre at golden ring . after us 40 , i - 695 crosses over csx ’ s philadelphia subdivision and comes to a partial directional interchange with md 702 ( southeast boulevard ) . at this interchange , i - 695 turns south onto the windlass freeway , crossing over the northeast corridor again within the interchange . running south along the windlass freeway , parallel to the northeast corridor , i - 695 , now narrowed to four lanes , turns west before making a sharp turn to the south , crossing over the railroad line twice . the road becomes the patapsco freeway and continues south to an interchange with md 150 ( eastern avenue ) and md 157 ( merritt boulevard ) near the eastpoint mall . a short distance later , i - 695 comes to an interchange with md 151 ( north point boulevard ) . from here , the route continues southeast along the back river into residential and industrial dundalk , interchanging with cove road . the route turns south , with the median briefly widening to include trees , before coming to another interchange with md 151 . past md 151 , the baltimore beltway continues southwest through industrial areas , with maintenance switching to the maryland transportation authority at the crossing of a csx rail line . it comes to an interchange with md 157 ( peninsula expressway ) and md 158 ( bethlehem boulevard ) before heading west . the route runs past the sparrows point industrial complex before crossing over bear creek and interchanging with unsigned md 695a ( highway ) south of the dundalk marine terminal , with an eastbound exit and westbound entrance . beyond this interchange , the route comes to two - way toll plaza and has a u - turn ramp from the southbound direction to the northbound direction intended to provide southbound motorists access to md 695a . this ramp , known as md 695c , also provides access to northbound i - 695 from md 695a by way of authority drive . after this , the route ascends onto the francis scott key bridge , which carries i - 695 over the lower baltimore harbor and patapsco river . unlike the fort mchenry or harbor tunnels , hazmat trucks are allowed to cross the key bridge . after crossing the patapsco river over the bridge the route touches down within the baltimore city limits and continues west past thoms cove through hawkins point 's industrial areas . it comes to an interchange with quarantine road , which provides access to md 173 , south of curtis bay . by this point , the route ’ s signage changes from north – south to east – west . past this interchange , the baltimore beltway continues west and returns to the curtis creek drawbridges . exit numbering as opposed to i - 495 ( capital beltway ) around washington , d.c. , on which exit numbers are generally arranged by mileposts counterclockwise starting at the southern crossing of the potomac river , the exit numbers for the baltimore beltway are arranged consecutively clockwise starting at interchange # 1 at quarantine rd , west of the francis scott key bridge crossing of the patapsco river . history the baltimore county planning commission first conceived the baltimore beltway as a county - level roadway project in 1949 ; by 1953 the project was taken over by the state due to slow progress at the county level . the project was included as part of the interstate highway system by 1956 , increasing the speed of construction due to federal funds available . the first part of the baltimore beltway to be completed was in december 1955 between md 25 ( falls road ) and the harrisburg expressway ( present - day i - 83 ) . in 1956 , the next portion of the road between the harrisburg expressway and md 45 ( york road ) opened . several more segments of the baltimore beltway would be built in the following years , with the section from md 168 ( nursery road ) to the glen burnie bypass ( present - day i - 97 ) opening in 1957 ; the portions from md 45 to md 542 ( loch raven boulevard ) , md 7 ( old philadelphia road ) to us 40 ( pulaski highway ) , and from md 168 to us 40 ( baltimore national pike ) opening in 1958 ; the segment from md 2 ( ritchie highway ) to the glen burnie bypass completed in 1960 ; the portion from us 1 ( belair road ) to md 7 finished in 1961 ; and the portions from md 542 to us 1 and from us 40 to md 25 finished in 1962 . at this time , the original length of the baltimore beltway , from md 2 in the south clockwise to us 40 in the northeast , was fully completed and opened to traffic , providing the first interstate - grade bypass of baltimore and the first beltway in the united states built under the interstate highway system . a segment of the road completed in 1973 ran from md 10 to md 2 , heading toward the outer harbor crossing . windlass and patapsco freeways at the northeastern terminus , the baltimore beltway was planned to extend southeast along the back river neck peninsula and turn south to cross the river near the essex skypark airport , heading towards an outer crossing of the patapsco river . part of this alignment was completed south of us 40 in 1972 with a further extension to md 150 opening as the southeast freeway ( designated md 702 ) by 1975 . however , the baltimore beltway was diverted to two freeways not planned to be part of it . the first was the windlass freeway ( md 149 ) , a route planned to run from i - 95 at moravia road northeast to chase , paralleling us 40 to the south . the other freeway that was incorporated into the baltimore beltway was the patapsco freeway , a short connector from the windlass freeway southeast to the originally - planned baltimore beltway . only the segment of the windlass freeway between md 702 the planned intersection with the patapsco freeway south to md 151 ( north point boulevard ) were constructed , opening to traffic in 1973 . ramp stubs for the planned windlass freeway are present at the proposed west end at i - 95 and moravia road , and at the present east end at the southeast freeway . the junction of the windlass and patapsco freeways was originally built with provisions for extensions of each , but this has since been reconstructed . outer harbor crossing the outer harbor crossing is the name given to the segment of the baltimore beltway that is maintained by the maryland transportation authority . it consists of the segment of i - 695 between exit 40 ( md 151 ) and exit 2 ( md 10 ) , which includes the francis scott key bridge . the route was originally planned as a two - lane freeway on a four - lane right - of - way , with a two - lane outer harbor tunnel across the patapsco river . when the tunnel was advertised for construction in 1970 , the bids were so high that the decision was made to construct a four - lane bridge instead . the bridge was to feature two - lane approach roads on both sides . construction on the outer harbor crossing , including the bridge , started in 1972 and was completed on march 23 , 1977 , completing the full baltimore beltway . the bridge was named the francis scott key bridge in honor of francis scott key , who wrote " the star - spangled banner , " the national anthem of the united states . by the early 1980s , the southern approach to the key bridge was dualized , with a second roadway constructed along with a second drawbridge over curtis creek . the northern approach was left as a two - lane viaduct in the sparrows point area until a four - lane surface freeway was constructed along this portion , with interchanges reconfigured , following an $ 89 . 5 million project completed in january 2000 . the outer harbor crossing , as well as the entire baltimore beltway east of i - 95 , was first signposted as md 695 because portions of it were a two - lane expressway not up to interstate highway standards . improvements to the road have allowed the entire baltimore beltway to be signed as i - 695 , even though all of i - 695 between the junction of i - 95 northeast of baltimore and i - 97 is officially considered md 695 by the mdsha . 1999 footbridge collapse on june 8 , 1999 , a tractor - trailer carrying a backhoe that exceeded the maximum height requirement struck a pedestrian footbridge over the baltimore beltway just northwest of the i - 95 junction near arbutus . the footbridge collapsed onto the inner loop of the beltway . one driver was killed when his suv struck the collapsed bridge ; six others were injured , three critically . the incident occurred during the afternoon rush hour . the footbridge had been closed to pedestrians since november 1996 due to complaints about vandalism and crime . mckeldin beltway the beltway was dedicated in honor of former governor theodore r. mckeldin in may 2005 . mckeldin was responsible for the construction of the beltway and other state highways during his term . most marylanders still refer to the highway as the " baltimore beltway , " " 695 , " or ( mostly among baltimore metro area residents ) simply " the beltway , " like its washington counterpart . future in march 2009 , construction began on the reconstruction of the bridge that carries md 139 ( charles street ) over i - 695 . the bridge will be decorative , featuring ornamental street lights . as part of the md 139 project , the interchange will be reconstructed and the traffic circle at the md 139 / i - 695 ramps will be removed and replaced with a traffic signal . this project is expected to cost $ 50 million and be completed in 2012 . at exit 33 ( i - 95 / john f. kennedy memorial highway ) , both highways had crossed over themselves so that all through traffic was on the left side of the road with left - hand entrance / exit ramps connecting the crossover sections . this interchange is currently being replaced by a more conventional flyover ramp interchange , as part of the i - 95 expansion project under construction since 2007 , eliminating the left - turn ramps and i - 95 's double crossovers . so far , several ramps have been completed , with the ramp from northbound i - 95 to eastbound i - 695 completed in september 2008 , the ramp from westbound i - 695 to northbound i - 95 completed in october 2008 , the ramp from northbound i - 95 to westbound i - 695 completed in november 2008 ( eliminating the left - hand exit ) , and the ramp from eastbound i - 695 to southbound i - 95 was completed in may 2009 . the ramps from southbound i - 95 to both westbound and eastbound i - 695 were completed in june 2009 and the ramp from westbound i - 695 to southbound i - 695 was completed in july 2009 and the ramp from eastbound i - 695 to northbound i - 95 opened in august 2009 . in addition to rebuilding these ramps , the project will also add four ramps to service the high - occupancy toll lanes being added to i - 95 . there are long - term plans to add express toll lanes to i - 695 to ease traffic congestion along the route . in addition , there are also plans to widen the portion of i - 695 between i - 83 and i - 95 to the north of baltimore . this road , which is to be widened to eight lanes , is currently in the design phase . exit list exits are numbered sequentially ( unlike other interstates in maryland which use a milepost - based system ) , and in a clockwise ( inner loop ) direction , in accordance with aashto guidelines . auxiliary routes md 695a runs along highway , a two - lane undivided road that begins at i - 695 exit 44 and heads northwest through residential and industrial areas in dundalk , baltimore county to the baltimore city line . the route provides access to the dundalk marine terminal from i - 695 . md 695a is 1 . 93 mi ( 3 . 11 km ) long . md runs along road from md 695a north to dundalk avenue in dundalk , baltimore county . the route is 0 . 10 mi ( 0 . 16 km ) long . md 695c runs along authority drive from md 695a southwest to i - 695 in dundalk , baltimore county , looping under the route at the francis scott key bridge to merge onto northbound i - 695 . md 695c serves as part of a u - turn ramp to provide access to md 695a from southbound i - 695 and to provide access to northbound i - 695 from md 695a . the route is 1 . 23 mi ( 1 . 98 km ) long .