Interstate 695 (I-695) was an

auxiliary Interstate Highway Auxiliary Interstate Highways (also called three-digit Interstate Highways) are a supplemental subset of the freeways within the Interstate Highway System of the United States. Auxiliary routes are generally classified as spur routes, which con ...

that was proposed in 1964 to connect

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...

in Southwest Philadelphia, at

Philadelphia International Airport Philadelphia International Airport is the primary airport serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The airport served 19.6 million passengers annually in 2021, making it the 21st busiest airport in the United States. The airport is located from t ...

, with I-95 near the Delaware River waterfront near the

Benjamin Franklin Bridge The Benjamin Franklin Bridge, originally named the Delaware River Bridge and known locally as the Ben Franklin Bridge, is a suspension bridge across the Delaware River connecting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Camden, New Jersey. Owned and ...

. Known as the Cobbs Creek Expressway between

Southwest Philadelphia Southwest Philadelphia (formerly Kingsessing Township) is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The section can be described as extending from the western side of the Schuylkill River to the city line, with the SEPTA. The nort ...

and

I-76 Interstate 76 may refer to: Interstate Highways in the United States * Interstate 76 (Colorado–Nebraska) * Interstate 76 (Ohio–New Jersey), running through Pennsylvania Video gaming * ''Interstate '76 ''Interstate '76'' is a vehicular ...

and the Crosstown Expressway between I-76 and the waterfront, I-695 was designed to provide connections to Philadelphia International Airport and become part of a Center City Loop, with the Crosstown Expressway being the southern section of that loop (the

Schuylkill Expressway The Schuylkill Expressway , locally known as "the Schuylkill", is a Controlled-access highway, freeway through southern Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Montgomery County and the city of Philadelphia in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, Philade ...

was going to be the west section, the

Vine Street Expressway A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...

as the north, and the Delaware Expressway as the east section).

Route description

I-695 was to begin at

near

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. The freeway would head north to the east of Darby Creek, crossing into Delaware County near 84th Street. The road would cross

Cobbs Creek Cobbs Creek is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of Darby Creek in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It forms an approximat ...

and continue to the west of the creek, passing through

Colwyn Colwyn was a local government district with borough status from 1974 to 1996, being one of six districts in the county of Clwyd, north-east Wales. History The borough was created on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972. It cover ...

and Yeadon before passing near Mount Moriah Cemetery. I-695 would cross back into Philadelphia and turn east, running through

West Philadelphia West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Alhough there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the nort ...

. The freeway would cross the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It fl ...

and intersect with the

(

, previously I-676) near exit 346B. The Cobbs Creek Expressway would end and the Crosstown Expressway would begin, following Grays Avenue up to South Street, where the route would borrow the cut-and-cover design (which is used on the Vine Street and Delaware expressways) between the South Street/Bainbridge Street corridor, before ending at an intersection with I-95 (near the current exit 20).

History

I-695 was first proposed in 1964. The project to build I-695 was canceled due to residential opposition in both Southwest Philadelphia,

South Philadelphia South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south and the Schuylkill River to the west.Yeadon, in Delaware County over the proposed Interstate's

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

, which would have cut their communities in half, and would have spelled an end to Cobbs Creek Park. The money slated for construction of I-695 went to the purchase of buses and trains for

SEPTA The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five coun ...

, and for the construction of the Airport Line connecting Amtrak's

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, a ...

with Philadelphia International Airport.

Exit list

Exits were going to be located at these locations:

References

External links

I-695 on Kurumi.comThe Roads of Metro Philadelphia: Cobbs Creek Expressway (I-695) (unbuilt)The Roads of Metro Philadelphia: Crosstown Expressway (I-695) (unbuilt)
{{3di, 95 95-6 (Pennsylvania) 95-6 95-6 6 (Pennsylvania) 95-6 (Pennsylvania) Transportation in Philadelphia Transportation in Delaware County, Pennsylvania

Route description

History

Exit list

See also

References

External links