Business Route 95 - Interstate Business Loop Guide
Interstate Business Route 95
Interstate 95 has a few business routes in Georgia and North Carolina.
Brunswick, Georgia
Decommissioned
Business Loop I-95 used to serve Brunswick and the Golden Isles between old Exits 6 and 8. It was cosigned with U.S. 17 and Georgia 25 but now no signs are posted along the route. The route returns to Interstate 95 via Georgia 25 Connection. The Chamber of Commerce brochure from the early 1990s shows Business Loop I-95 on its color map of the area.
Darien
Active/Unsigned
Business Loop Interstate 95 follows U.S. 17 and Georgia State Route 99 in the vicinity of Darien, Georgia. It re-connects with Interstate 95 via Georgia 251. However with that stated, no reassurance shields are found along the route yet guide signs for the Darien interchange along Interstate 95 southbound include Business Loop shields.
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Active
Business Loop I-95 in Fayetteville is
co-signed with U.S. 301 between Exits 40 and 56. It appears on my 1985 Rand McNally North
Carolina map. This is the last of the three known Interstate 95 Business Loops heading
northbound.
The 1982 North Carolina Map shows Business Loop I-95 between Exits 107-145 along U.S. 301. This route was gone by 1989 according to the Rand McNally 1989 atlas. It may have been implemented while the Interstate 95 freeway was being constructed.
Wilmington, Delaware
Proposed but never implemented
In the late 1990s, a proposal was floated to renumber Interstate 95 in Wilmington as Business Loop I-95 and moving Interstate 95 onto Interstate 495. This proposal was never implemented. See Delaware Highways Page for more information.
Bristol, Pennsylvania
Decommissioned
Christopher Sampang saw on a Goshua 1982 atlas a map of Pensylvaina showing a little freeway called "Spur I-95/Spur US 13" extending from I-95 north to Bristol and U.S. 13. However, in an 1985 Pennsylvania AAA map, it only shows the section built from Interstate 95 to Pennsylvania State Route 413. It is not clear if this spur canceled. It was to originally be Interstate 95 -- U.S. 13 then was to be upgraded to Interstate 95 rather than ending at the Trenton Freeway (U.S. 1). Former Spur I-95 will not be used to connect Interstate 95 directly with Interstate 276, even though that was the original plan in the 1960s. The design for the interchange will not use the spur as part of the connection. Some of this info was taken from a 1967 Texaco Rand McNally atlas.
Mystic, Connecticut
Decomissioned
According to Michael Summa, "There was also a BUS-SPUR 95 signed in CT (in the early to mid-1970s) at or near Mystic. I cannot recall the exact exit (I THINK it was 90) as I couldn't come up with a photo, same as I missed out on the green 84 shield. Unlike the markings at the (Business) 84 location (in Newtown, CT), the 95 was marked with a larger 36" button copy green 95 shield. Since I never got to travel the route itself I can't be certain of how well it was signed off the interstate."
Interstate Spur 195
Miami Beach, Florida
Decommissioned
Briefly in the 1960s, "Spur Interstate 195" existed along today's Florida 112 through Miami Beach between Florida 907 and U.S. 1 (Collins Avenue). A photo of this signage appears in an annual report published by the Florida Department of Transportation during this era. Today, the route is entirely signed as Florida 112.
Glen Echo, Maryland
Unsigned/Active
Spur I-495 is noted in the Maryland route log as Interstate 495X, and it is a freeway to freeway connector between Interstate 495 southbound (inner) and the Clara Barton Parkway. This route is known as Cabin John Parkway, and it begins at Exit 40. The entire route is limited access.
Lowell, Massachusetts
Decomissioned
Business Spur I-495 is the former freeway spur from Interstate 495 and U.S. 3 into Lowell. The business route is locally called the "Lowell Connector," and it is a limited-access freeway at near-Interstate standards with a 55 mph speed limit. It is within about 1,000-1,500 feet that the speed drops to 35 mph, just before Exit 5A. Shortly after Exit 5B comes up, and all other traffic is on Exit 5C and coming to a stop light. The signing for Business Spur I-495 along the Lowell Connector is spotty at best along this road and may be completely gone, but it was in place in previous years. Somnolent adds, "Officially this is no longer a Interstate 495 spur, it is just the Lowell Connector. They probably did this because it serves U.S. 3 traffic just as much as it serves Interstate 495. I am under the impression that Exit 5C was once called Exit 6, because there are two blue service signs claiming there is lodging available at Exit 6. But it appears that these signs are newer than the signs for Exit 5C. Judging by the date on the bridgework, the Lowell Connector was built as part of the first Interstate 495 phase in 1959-1960, which had Interstate 495 running from State Route 2 to U.S. 3. It is at U.S. 3 that the Lowell Connector begins, so it could have been considered a continuation of Interstate 495 into Lowell at the time. Interstate spur or not, this short stretch of freeway makes life much easier for Lowell, providing quick access from downtown and the University of Massachusetts to the highways." Gordon Murphy adds that there is a similar road off of Exit 4 of the Maine Turnpike portion of Interstate 95 (the Biddeford Connector). And still more on Business Spur I-495 from Jason R Remy: "Business Spur I-495 in Lowell Mass is a partial fallacy, as it is unmarked as such. Though it may exist on paper, no signs or markers, directional or otherwise, have existed for this road during the span of my life. The road that is officially Business Spur I-495 is actually an unnumbered, sub-Interstate grade expressway named "The Lowell Connector" It is unique in New England, as this highway bears NO markers for route numbers at all, even state ones. Recent upgrades of the Lowell Connector, including new signs and such, have been made concurrent with the refurbishing of signs along U.S. 3, Interstate 495, and Interstate 290 in Mass. Many Massachusetts two-part exits have been renumbered from the old E-W/N-S designation to the more national A/B standard, though many old guide signs still list them under the old N-S/E-W designation. These Lowell Connector upgrades may be signs that the expressway may actually get a number (imagine that) of some sort. Also, this is one of the most useful roads I know of, as a city like Lowell would otherwise be potentially cut off from any expressway access without it." Michael Moroney has taken a picture of a Business Spur I-495 shield, created a map of Business Spur I-495, and has more information on the Lowell Connector at his Business Spur I-495
page.
Baltimore, Maryland
Active
Spur I-895 connects I-895 (Harbor Tunnel Thruway) to Interstate 97. Signed as Spur I-895 South from ground level signs, but as To Interstate 97 on sign bridges. I'm not sure about northbound, as I have never traveled on that part.
