North Carolina state line to Petersburg I-95 continues the pattern of being a four-lane highway from
North Carolina. The northbound
welcome center forbids trucks, but truck stops at the first two interchanges provides a substitute place for truckers to stay before reaching
Emporia. In Emporia, the freeway has an interchange with
US 58. North of here, I-95 and
US 301 are often intertwined with each other as they encounter interchanges with
Virginia Secondary State Routes. In the Owens–
Stony Creek area in
Sussex County, the road not only runs parallel to US 301 but shares bridges with I-95, many of which have access to US 301 from connecting roads. This pattern ends at exit 33 at the corner of a truck stop and travel center. Crossing the Sussex–
Prince George county line, the first site along I-95 is another
rest area that also serves as the Petersburg Area Tourist Information Center. The road makes a slight northeast turn between Carson and
Templeton, then turns straight north again before approaching the south end of
I-295 just before crossing the southern border of the city of
Petersburg at exit 47. A series of frontage roads connect the interchanges with
US 460, US 301 and the northern terminus of
I-85. Immediately after the interchange with I-85, remnants of the former toll booths for the
Richmond–Petersburg Turnpike can be found. Also, the I-95/I-85 interchange was formerly marked with signs directing southbound travelers to the long-distance cities of
Miami, Florida, and
Atlanta, Georgia, respectively.
Petersburg to Richmond in Colonial Heights North of Petersburg, I-95 crosses the
Appomattox River and enters the city of
Colonial Heights and then
Chesterfield County. An extraordinarily high
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge carries
SR 895 (Pocahontas Parkway) over I-95 and the
James River just south of the
Richmond city limits. A
CSX Transportation railroad line runs parallel to the northbound lane in the vicinity of the
Port of Richmond, and the Commerce Road Industrial Area, a region that includes a
Philip Morris USA office and an old bridge manufacturing plant. As I-95 itself
crosses the James River,
Richmond Main Street Station can be seen on the north bank, and the road winds around the station itself. The first interchange after it crosses the James River is the tolled
SR 195 freeway and from there the road winds toward the concurrency with
I-64. I-64/I-95 curves to the northwest to cross under
US 1/US 301, only to turn back north briefly, and curve northwest again, as it approaches
SR 161. This pattern ends when I-64 turns west at the same interchange as the northern terminus of
I-195. From here I-95 curves back to the northeast and has two interchanges with US 1, and later US 301 separately, the latter of which has separate carriageways on both side of I-95. Another interchange with I-295 exists in
Glen Allen. However, I-295 does not terminate there, and the south-to-eastbound and west-to-northbound offramps between the two can be accessed in the medians of both roads.
Central Virginia to Washington, D.C. Throughout much of central Virginia, I-95 climbs a series of hills and contains wide tree-lined medians. Near
Doswell, the
SR 30 interchange provides access to the
Kings Dominion amusement park, with signs for the amusement park blended in with standard destination signs.
US 17 overlaps I-95 from
Massaponax at exit 126 north to
Falmouth at exit 133 as the highway passes west of the city of
Fredericksburg. The bidirectional
high-occupancy toll lane (HOT lane) begins at the northern US 17 interchange and runs through the center of I-95 through most of the rest of its journey toward
Washington, D.C. At exit 143 in
Aquia, the northbound off- and onramps connect directly to US 1, even though the interchange is specifically for
SR 610. Crossing over the
Chopawamsic Creek takes I-95 through
Marine Corps Base Quantico, which includes restrictive interchanges. Further north in
Prince William County, there are four rest areas; two for trucks in
Dumfries and two for cars in
Dale City. The truck rest areas, with
weigh stations, are near exit 152. The car rest areas have uniquely positioned entrance and exit ramps. The southbound car rest area, near exit 156, is accessible only from the southbound
collector–distributor road. In
Lorton, a scissor interchange exists with US 1 and, shortly after this,
Lorton station serving
Amtrak's
Auto Train is located near exit 163. Due to public opposition of efforts to build I-95 through Washington, D.C. and
College Park, Maryland, I-95 is diverted onto a concurrency with
I-495 (Capital Beltway) at the
Springfield Interchange, with the former alignment north of here becoming
I-395. I-95/I-495 continue east through
Franconia, over the
Washington Metro's
Blue Line and
Rose Hill. At
Huntington, I-95/I-495 run under the Washington Metro's
Yellow Line and through
Alexandria before crossing over the
Potomac River on the
Woodrow Wilson Bridge briefly into Washington, D.C. and then into
Maryland.
HOV facilities I-95 extends the twin-lane barrier-separated
high-occupancy toll lanes (HOV lanes) that begin on I-395 at the
14th Street bridges in Washington. These lanes have been extended south several times, most recently to US 17 near Fredericksburg. As part of the
Quantico Creek bridge rebuilding project, a three-lane, bridge was constructed in the median just south of the old southern HOV terminus for use when the HOV facilities were extended. It was previously used as a detour bridge and retained its lane striping from such use. In December 2014, this bridge became part of the Southern HOV/HOT lane extension project that now runs to just north of Garrisonville Road (exit 143) in
Stafford. The new I-95 HOV/HOT lanes project created approximately of HOV/HOT lanes on I-95 from Garrisonville Road in Stafford County to the vicinity of Edsall Road on I-395 in Fairfax County. In July 2016, VDOT began construction of an additional extension of the HOV/HOT lanes on I-95 south of Garrisonville Road in Stafford County. This addition opened in November 2017. On August 17, 2023, the HOV/HOT lanes were extended south from Garrisonville Road to US 17 near Fredericksburg; at the time, intermediate exits along the extension were not open. The intermediate exits opened on December 7, 2023.
Welcome centers, rest areas, and weigh stations • Northbound Virginia Welcome Center: Milepost 1, north of the North Carolina state line • Northbound Petersburg Welcome Center: Milepost 35 between exits 33 and 37 • Carson Weigh Stations: Milepost 40 between exits 37 and 41 • Ladysmith Rest Areas: Milepost 108 between exits 104 and 110 • Southbound Fredericksburg Rest Area: Milepost 132 between exits 130 and 133 • Dumfries Rest Area and Weigh Stations: Milepost 153 between exits 152 and 156 • Dale City Rest Areas: Milepost 155 between exits 152 and 156
Usage In 2010, volume at Newington, northbound, from 6:00–9:00 am, is about 8,800 vehicles in the two HOV lanes and 18,300 vehicles in the three lanes with no restriction. ==History==