Interstate 595 (Maryland) - History

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 just outside Washington, D.C., to Maryland Route 2, the 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 route as Interstate 68, leaving the John Hanson Highway to be designated as I-595. In the 1980s, the John Hanson highway was planned to be designated as a part of Interstate 97 between the Capital Beltway and the current I-97 interchange and as Interstate 197 between I-97 and MD 70.