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Interchange Index
Overview: Interstate 95 enters at bottom left (the northbound and southbound lanes are very widely separated), and leaves at top center, leading towards downtown Wilmington. US Route 202 is multiplexed with I-95 throughout this interchange. Interstate 295 branches off to the southeast, leading to the Delaware Memorial Bridge and the New Jersey Turnpike. Interstate 495 runs to the east at the very top of the overhead view, and runs from there around the eastern side of Wilmington. The Christiana River runs across the northwest corner, along I-95's southbound lanes.
From Interstate 95, the exit to I-295 is exit 5C. I-495, an exit for the northbound lanes only, is Exit 5D. I believe the exit is unnumbered from I-495 and I-295.
Interchange Description: Most of the action in this interchange occurs inside the (very widely) spread median of I-95. It enters at bottom right from its intersection with DE 141, which is an odd variation on a cloverleaf. For more information, see the page on this interchange here. The northbound offramp to DE 141 is visible in the very southwest corner of this overhead photo. From I-95 northbound, there is first a right-hand exit to I-295. After crossing over I-295, there is another exit for I-495 north. This exit and the I-95 mainline both then meet ramps from I-295.
I-95 southbound separates from the northbound lanes north of this photo, but one ramp (a left exit, shown on the diagram in blue) stays alongside the northbound lanes. This ramp shares an underpass with the northbound lanes to cross under I-495, and then branches off to lead to I-295.
From I-495, traffic can first exit right, cross over the I-95 southbound lanes, and merge into them (shown in bright green). An odd feature of this interchange is a second ramp to I-95 southbound, which enters the left side of the mainline lanes instead of the right side (shown in darker green). This may be another entrance to prevent weaving at the DE 141 interchange, or it may be a result of a planned extension of I-495 or I-295. The remainder of I-495's lanes feed into I-295.
I-295, on entering the interchange, has a right exit to I-495 north. After crossing under I-95 northbound, the ramp to I-95 north peels off to the right and enters the left side of I-95. The rest of the lanes cross under the I-495 to I-295 ramp and enter the left side of I-95 southbound.
Missing Connections: There are two missing connections in this interchange: from I-95 southbound to I-495 north, and from I-495 southbound to I-95 north. These connections would be redundant if they were included, because I-95 and I-495 run parallel through Wilmington and merge back together at the Pennsylvania border.
Advantages: This interchange is able to keep traffic moving quickly through a number of major highways. In addition to the complete lack of weaving, the interchange has no cloverleaf loop ramps and no tight turns. This was a necessity in the original design; the highways that come together here carry a large amount of interstate traffic, and I-295 and the New Jersey Turnpike is a popular route for I-95 through traffic that wishes to avoid the Philadelphia area.
Disadvantages: The one main problem with this interchange is that it is liberally riddled with left exits and left entrances. These are usually not very popular, because it involves traffic having to enter and cross at slower speeds what is usually a faster through lane. In addition to this, the interchange is physically very large. That wasn't much of a problem here (I believe the interchange was built on a swamp), but the design wouldn't go over too well in an urban area.
Road Trivia: The I-295 in Delaware and New Jersey, which begins here, is one of seven I-295's in the US. That's the highest number of occurences of any Interstate number. (Just in case you were wondering...)
Another interesting note - through this interchange and the DE 141 junction to the southwest, despite a spread median and a boatload of left exits, the SB lanes of I-95 are completely straight. Was this the original, pre-495/pre-295 alignment?