I-66 West: Washington DC to Virginia

Follows US-29 in Georgetown along the Whitehurst Freeway to I-66 West in Washington DC to Mile 48 in Virginia.

[@Rollin558]

Jim, Thanks for this post. I have lived all over the country. This post brought back memories of my living in Northern VA. I rode this road so many times I can't tell you. Thanks for the memories.

[@techedtchr]

About the wide left shoulder...the outer loop of I-695 near I-83 headed toward Greenspring Avenue has an enormous left shoulder...I bet they could get at least one more lane in easy.

[@Freewayjim]

Glad you liked it, thanks!

[@sm1else]

Whitehurst freeway was renovated in 1998 after a portion of it collapsed on to K St. below. There was much debate on whether to demolish the freeway or not. Had it been demolished it would have made a huge traffic nightmare even worse. The construction 267 is for the metrorail extension to Tysons and Dulles Airport. The Dulles station will open in 2016, a mere 55 years after the airport was built, and a mere 57 years after planning began for Metrorail. Oy...

[@johnfoltz8183]

And maybe to Dulles in 2022

[@stuckybowl]

I live in England, so I found this really interesting to watch. So much so that i'm gonna subscribe and watch the others too! Cheers for posting it.

[@KDogggRock]

6:06 The highest speed limit in VA is on I-85 south of Petersburg to the NC state line. It is the only place in VA where the SL is 70 mph.

[@highwaykid6511]

6:06

[@assaultislove]

As usual, a great video. My hatred for I-66 in NoVa knows no bounds. Whenever I'm up in the DC area, I promise myself to never complain about traffic here in Atlanta. Until I drive down I-75 from Cobb County in the mornings. LOL

[@johnfoltz8183]

Should be renumbered to interstate 666

[@Freewayjim]

The 6 Lane section of I-85 between Lexington & Greensboro is 70 MPH.

[@thevultrantransituniverse1487]

You should check out this same section right now. It looks pretty impressive after the rebuild!

[@Freewayjim]

At least we here in Atlanta have more lanes to be miserable in :)

[@EuropeanRoads]

Nice one. 55 mph is too low for suburban freeways... alignment usually allows up to 65 - 70 in those areas.

[@VaFreeways]

Next time you come through here you'll notice the extra lanes in some spots of I-66 inside the beltway and the reconstruction/replacement of the concrete pavement with asphalt between I-495 and US-50 (in addition to all the other construction going on). Right now there are more sections of interstate under construction in NoVa than not. All necessary upgrades but being all done at once makes it painful in the interim.

[@Freewayjim]

that lane is open from 2-8PM on weekdays. I-93 north of Boston does something similar as well.

[@KevinBurciaga]

I left Northern Virginia last year and don't miss the traffic for a second. It's much more fun to watch 66 on KZbin in fast motion than it is to actually drive it.

[@ArtificialBanana]

Great fun and nice choice of music, as always!

[@AJTLfilms]

Next time you are in this area you should film I 66 west all the way to Haymarket, which is at exit 40. Haymarket and nearby Gainesville have changed a lot since 2009.

[@adventureguy5088]

Speed limit really doesn't matter anymore. 9 years later traffic's gotten so bad you can't even hit 55. Thanks Loudoun and Prince William.

[@csxguy3002]

Jim Can you redo this section someday with the updated I-66 it has 4 HOV lanes, increased capcity to 3 and changed drastically.

[@Freewayjim]

If I'm up that way and have time to do it and traffic/weather cooperate, maybe.

[@Freewayjim]

The only drawback is that the traffic is brutal there.

[@Freewayjim]

I actually drove I-476 to I-76 in metro Philly on this trip and did not find it interesting in the least. I'm more likely to take 81 to 84 or vice versa and I would like to film the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area as well as maybe I-84 in NY from the Thruway to CT, which is kind of interesting. Someday.

[@bbukfan]

An eight-lane 66 would have been even worse; the reason that DC area highway clog up is because all traffic is dispersed either to surface streets within the District or to the Beltway. Widening would actually be counter-productive and it's a good thing that Arlington has used its transport budget to improve the Orange Line as it carries around 80,000 people on a daily basis.

[@johnfoltz8183]

Or it dumps traffic on 95 south of the Beltway

[@NJO21186]

I never go below 65 on this road, and this section of road in the DC area is HORRIBLE! You can leave late on a sunday night and be stuck in traffic at 10pm!

[@wilsonkm]

I learned a hard lesson about trying to take I-66 West to Exit 53B (28 North) in the morning M-F....DON'T DO IT! It gets so backed up trying to get onto 28 North.

[@Digatone]

When I use to live in Northern Virginia I would take I-66 to go to Washington DC

[@AlvinHDavernport]

Correct me if I'm mistaken. This is the song you used for one of your first videos in Vermont (which remains one of my favorites, scenery-wise). Great tune ;)

[@fitchesbass]

I66 is a nightmare no matter what time of day or what direction. I have been using it for my daily commute from Arlington for over 2 years. Traffic during rush hour, left lane hogs and cell junkies all over the place... an accident waiting to happen. Brilliant inside the beltway where 267/495 are dumped into 66 and then 4 lanes turns into 2. VDOT is miserable.. they do a ton of patch work to 'improve the traffic situation' yet by the time they get it done, it is already OBE. Nice video tho

[@deziboy5606]

lol you drove right past my home town at exit 52. One correction: the spelling is "Centreville" not "Centerville", don't worry most people get it wrong. Great video btw.

[@cparkes92]

In Michigan, it would be 55 or 60 from DC to 495, then 70 west from there.

[@Freewayjim]

You are correct, and that is indeed a great tune, I'm sure I'll use it again sometime.

[@jmvfrva]

never saw this video - glad it popped up today.

[@Freewayjim]

JMV FRVA Oh man, that's an olide.

[@RicksTravelogue]

The right shoulder lane reminds me of I-264 in Virginia Beach between Rosemont Road and the I-64/Newtown Road/Military Highway split. This, like that one, is only open during rush hour, right?

[@jonlen5784]

Excellent video & commentary

[@Freewayjim]

+Jon Lenchner Thank you!

[@Freewayjim]

I would agree, the mountains on the horizon...that and less traffic.

[@EternalNightsCollectibles]

What do you like most as you get further down I-66 west? Mine would have to be the mountains on the horizon which I only live a short 10-20 minute drive from.

[@broadhurst04]

Sigh. This video brings back great memories of my visits to the area in the early 80s when 66 was finally finished inside the Beltway. I had a great aunt and uncle and their children and grandchildren, all living within shouting distance of 66 and the E Falls Church Metro station. If the road had been the planned 8 lanes it would have claimed all their houses. It did destroy downtown Falls Church. I guess something like the Big Dig would have been ungodly expensive. I miss all those people :(

[@GlassEyeGaming]

Great video Jim. :)

[@Freewayjim]

Thanks, that's an oldie.

[@kylecrichton491]

Cool video. Didn't realize this was 2009 until I saw the publish date. Though now with smartphones people aren't just talking on their phones, but texting, checking facebook, and can't seem to get off them :(

[@braupaul]

Hey jim, you should come and do the interstates around albany,NY

[@maureenjohnson5151]

I sure would love to visit D.C.😎

[@Freewayjim]

Agreed!

[@camexplores]

hi Jim! i’ve been a longtime viewer of your videos & i just recently made a test video of me driving to gain experience with Final Cut. it’s a learning curve, but the issue i have is animating the highway shields.. for example how the I-66 shield flew in to the top left, i tried to do that but the transition went into the actual video & not just the shield. how did you get it to only go with the highway shield? i appreciate any advice you could give me!!!

[@Freewayjim]

I was using older software for this parrticular video that allowed that, notice I don't use that effect on newer videos. A guess would be another static graphic track between the actual footage track and the graphic track you are tryting the effect with and then trying with a transition that gives you what you are looking for on the front end of the graphic. Other than firing everything up and experimenting with it, which I can't do right now I don't have any definite answers for you unfortuneatley.

[@camexplores]

@@Freewayjim okay! thank you for your help anyway! i’ll just have to play with the software some more. but thank you for always making great quality videos! i hope to make videos as great as yours :)

[@Freewayjim]

@@camexplores Thanks, sorry I could not be of more help on this, not having made a video in a while I'm also a bit rusty ;). Good luck with your work!

[@DCK55]

Hey Jim ever plan to film I-476 in PA maybe then go across I-84 into New England.....476 around Philly is interesting in that I believe its the only interstate also a national scenic parkway....plus 476 at 132 miles from 95 to 81 is the longest 3-digit on the interstate system. Film the Lehigh Tunnel or something idk lol

[@PGHammer21A]

The WMATA Orange Line enters the median of Interstate 66 between north Arlington and Vienna; all the stations along the stretch are also in that median. It's not unique; parts of Atlanta's MARTA use a similar concept - however, it's rare to see it on an Interstate - even one that's a parkway, like Interstate 66 is in half that stretch. I'm familiar with this Interstate, both the WMATA side and as a car passenger - having spent a long stretch using both.

[@Mutu1026]

what car are you driving?

[@wilsonkm]

@90rock - What high school did you go to?

[@Freewayjim]

I would like to someday.

[@sashachewy11]

Ha! I drive one too! :-)

[@Freewayjim]

I can see 55 on the section inside the Beltway but it should be 65 outside the beltway IMO.

[@muhammedsoofi4971]

Well now interstate 66 you have to pay toll with EZpass from interstate 495 to US 29 during rush hour

[@princereddy4887]

And the rate depends upon traffic even reaching $45 at peak hours

[@assaultislove]

You do know that the Orange Line in Arlington County was built like that on purpose due to the planners wanting high-density areas and transit oriented development around the stations right? It may be "absurd" to you, but not to the people who live there

[@JustGod7]

What is the name of this song you are using here ?

[@Freewayjim]

Mist of Dreams by Adani & Wolf, it's posted in the closing credits.

[@JustGod7]

Thank You

[@rileysmith9843]

Maybe if they just expand DC’s territory they can finally have the freeway system they wanted to build when it was planned.

[@peachtreeplacenorth5083]

I like it do you like it

[@jhuang230]

I never liked the numbering of this interstate highway. The only mainline highway (not spurs or bypass) that started at the nation’s capital should not be assigned a bad number like 66. I wish it would be numbered as interstate 60, with some overlap with interstate 81 before continuing on west with current interstate 64 alignment. Interstates south of it can be numbered in the 50’s, which are unused.

[@belmontst]

my school in the foundry building at 39 seconds

[@dannydevito9514]

Dont forget to visit foggy bottom!

[@aisthpaoitht]

It's spelled "Centreville" not "Centerville"!

[@Freewayjim]

Acura MDX

[@fitchesbass]

@bbukfan Improving the orange line? A ton of metro stops in a matter of a couple miles in Arlington is absurd. Va sq, Ballston, Clarendon and Court House... there is no need for all those stops. VA Sq in esp. is a waste of time. As someone that uses 66 on a daily basis... I'm sorry, but more lanes would greatly improve things... esp. inside the beltway. Metro is great if you work in/close-in to DC... everyone else that must drive would probably love 66 to improve...

[@totolacloche]

Passing on the right in a construction zone is not very briliant.

[@VaBlueRidge777]

yup, slow drivers,n txtrs piss heeerrr off!

[@totolacloche]

Passing on the right in a construction zone is not very briliant.