FreightWaves Classics/ Infrastructure: I-195 opened in Virginia in 1975

On July 15, 1975, the first segment of Interstate 195 (I-195) in Virginia’s state capital of Richmond was opened. The new interstate spur also became known as the Beltline Expressway. 

The 3.5-mile highway is a spur route of Interstate 95. Within the Interstate Highway System (IHS), “a spur route is a short highway serving as a branch of a major highway in a large metropolitan area.” Generally, spur routes are designated by three-digit numbers; the last two of those digits consist of the number of the “parent” interstate highway.

Plans for what ultimately became I-195 go back to 1959. At that time the Richmond city government hired an engineering firm to conduct a study of building such a route. The study resulted in plans for a tollway that was included in a 1966 proposed network of expressways for the region. The planned “Beltline Expressway” toll road was originally supposed to be built by the Richmond Metropolitan Authority (now known as the Richmond Metropolitan Transportation Authority). 

In the fall of 1968, Congress authorized the addition of 1,500 miles to the IHS. Various Richmond and Virginia governmental and quasi-governmental agencies sought an allocation of interstate mileage and funding to build the Beltline Expressway (which became I-195) as it had originally been planned. Shortly after President Richard Nixon took office in 1969, he appointed John A. Volpe as the new U.S. Secretary of Transportation. Volpe had been a three-term governor of Massachusetts, and had also been President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s first federal highway administrator in 1956. 

On July 18, 1969, Transportation Secretary Volpe approved the request for I-195, allocating 3.3 miles for its construction as a toll-free interstate highway. Following Volpe’s decision, the Virginia Department of Highways was responsible for building I-195. (“The Virginia Department of Highways was reorganized in 1974 as the Virginia Department of Highways and Transportation [VDHT], which was renamed the Virginia Department of Transportation in 1986.”) In May 1971 construction of I-195 began.

The dedication ceremonies for the first section of I-195 occurred “in a drizzle that threatened to become a downpour at any moment,” according to VDHT’s internal news publication. The ceremonies were sponsored by the Central Richmond Association and took place at the north end of the new highway’s bridge crossing over a railyard of that had been built by the-then Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad (RF&P). Among those present were Virginia Governor Mills Godwin. He spoke about the importance of IHS spur routes.

Among Godwin’s remarks are words that are even more important (and relevant) today. He said, “This is a section of the highway that was added to the interstate system when it became apparent that speeding our highway traffic between cities with four-lane divided highways was only a part of the job, and that we would have to facilitate the movement through and around our cities if it was to take on its full potential.” The governor added, “In this instance, we have an Interstate highway segment carrying traffic to and from the southside of Richmond and connecting eventually both with arterial highways east and west and with the Downtown Expressway [Virginia State Route 195 in Richmond].”

On July 19, another section of I-195 was opened. The final section of I-195 – a one-half mile segment connecting the spur with the city’s Downtown Expressway – was opened to traffic in  February 1976.

History

The location of I-195 was unknowingly set more than 80 years before Secretary Volpe’s decision to fund the interstate spur. The north-south corridor it occupies was selected in 1888 by the RF&P for its new “James River Branch (Beltline),” which was planned to handle north-south freight traffic. An unwieldy connection with the Richmond & Petersburg rail line to the south, as well as a number of grade crossings on city streets were the reasons why the RF&P built this branch route. From its opening in 1891 until 1910 it was a single-track line, and it still had several grade crossings. 

In 1914 the area of the RF&P’s rail line was annexed by the City of Richmond. In 1916 the city ordered the railroad tracks depressed below street level and that bridges be built (or rebuilt), to eliminate the grade crossings. All street crossings would be above the railroad tracks. The construction to comply with the city’s directives occurred between 1916 and 1919.

The U.S. entry into World War I, as well as drainage issues slowed the excavation and construction of four bridges. However, the double-tracked, below-street level Beltline Railroad was opened on January 6, 1919, at the same time as the RF&P’s new Broad Street Station.

I-195 construction 

The route chosen for I-195 was the existing rail transportation corridor. The northbound and southbound roadways were built on either side of the railroad, with high retaining walls to separate the roadways from the railroad tracks.

I-195’s depressed roadways were built on either side of the below-roadway Beltline Railroad (as explained above, the rail line was originally built by the RF&P, which was acquired by Seaboard Coast Line Railroad and was operating at the time of the spur’s construction). The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad was subsequently acquired by CSX Transportation.

Once the excavation work was completed down to the level of the new roadways, the two railroad tracks were temporarily relocated – one onto each new roadway grade – and the depressed railroad grade was lowered an additional four feet so that high-profile/double-stack railcars could travel under the overpasses. 

Temporary roads and bridges were built for the streets that pass over the railroad/highway. The old bridges were then demolished, and new bridges/overpasses were constructed on the original street alignments. The railroad tracks were then returned to their original alignment, and the highway roadways were completed.

The highway spur today

I-195 runs from the I-95/I-64 Bryan Park Interchange to the VA-195 Downtown Expressway in Richmond. The spur route is a six-lane highway from I-95/I-64 to the Powhite Parkway (which heads across the James River to the southwest), and four lanes on the connector from the Beltline Expressway to the Downtown Expressway (which heads east to downtown Richmond, connecting with the I-95 James River Bridge).  

Near the northern end of I-195, the highway rises onto a curving viaduct over the railyard. The railroad line that runs in I-195’s median is used by CSX Transportation for its freight trains. In addition, Amtrak uses the rail line for passenger train services.

Source: freightwaves - FreightWaves Classics/ Infrastructure: I-195 opened in Virginia in 1975
Editor: Scott Mall