Interstate 295 (Maryland–District of Columbia)

Beginning of I-295 at I-95/I-495 Capital Beltway interchange in 2007

Although I-295 technically begins at the Capital Beltway (I-95/I-495), a pair of mainline ramps connects the southern terminus of the route to the nearby MD 210. Continuing north from this interchange, I-295 enters the District of Columbia; the route is only 0.8 miles (1.3 km) long in Maryland.

View north at the south end of I-295 at I-95/I-495 in Oxon Hill, Maryland

Passing to the west and north of Oxon Cove Park and Oxon Hill Farm, the route parallels the Potomac River, running through the Southeast quadrant of DC. It passes close to Shepard Parkway and forms the eastern boundary of Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling. Near the southern end of Anacostia Park, the route turns east and begins to parallel the Anacostia River, interchanging with South Capitol Street near the latter's crossing of the river.

Within the park, I-295 encounters the junction with I-695 (which heads northwest across the 11th Street Bridges) and DC 295 at exit 4. At this junction, I-295 ends, and the mainline freeway through the interchange assumes the identity of DC 295 and continues to Baltimore, though it changes identities several times: DC 295, MD 201, the Baltimore–Washington Parkway (an unnumbered federally owned expressway operated by the National Park Service), and MD 295.

Under the 1971 DC freeway plans, I-295 would have turned east at the northern end of the 11th Street Bridges and followed the Southeast Freeway as far as East Capitol Street, where it would turn north and follow the East Leg of the Inner Loop freeway. The East Leg, six lanes wide, would have curved around the far eastern edge of the downtown area, passing beneath Mt. Olivet Road in a half-mile (0.80 km) tunnel, before terminating at I-66 and I-95 north of Washington Union Station, providing access to the North Leg Freeway, the North Central Freeway, and the New York Avenue Industrial Freeway.

As part of the larger Woodrow Wilson Bridge reconstruction project, the southern terminus of I-295 has been significantly rebuilt. Several new connections have been constructed to link the beltway, MD 210, and I-295 with the new 300-acre (120 ha) National Harbor site on the shore of the Potomac River in Prince George's County, Maryland. One feature of the interchange reconstruction is that accommodations were made for future ramps to proposed high-occupancy vehicle lanes (HOV) on the beltway. This project was completed in stages, starting in 2008 and ending in 2011.

The cancelation of both the remainder of the Southeast Freeway and then the Barney Circle Freeway left no through connections between the 11th Street Bridges and DC 295 north, leading to severe congestion and major traffic routing problems. These missing movements were included when the northern terminus was reconstructed, allowing direct freeway-grade access to and from DC 295 at the 11th Street Bridges as well as providing a through grade-separated north–south route within DC. Project construction began in 2011 and the ramps opened in 2012. I-295 now terminates at the interchange with the 11th Street Bridges. I-695 extends over the 11th Street Bridges and continues along the Southeast Freeway to the interchange with I-395.