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Interstate 495 inner loop - Springfield to Legion Bridge
The inner loop of Interstate 495, the Washington, DC iteration of the Capital Beltway, proceeds from its interchange with Interstate 66 in the Merrifield area of Fairfax County, Virginia, and approaches exit 47, for Virginia Route 7/Leesburg Pike toward Falls Church and Tysons Corner. Photo taken 10-03-2016.
A gantry one-quarter of a mile further ahead has a sign functioning as I-495 reassurance and a bigger one listing the distances to the next three exits. Photo taken 10-03-2016.
As the Beltway comes within half a mile of exit 47, a sign at left lists the distances to Tysons-area exits from the highway's median express lanes. Photo taken 10-03-2016.
Exit 47 approaches, with exit 46, Virginia Route 123/Chain Bridge Road toward McLean and again Tysons Corner, is a mile away. Photo taken 10-03-2016.
Both exits 47A and B are from a collector-distributor roadway. From here, VA 7 goes southeast to Alexandria via Falls Church and northwest to Winchester via Loudoun County's dense suburban areas. Photo taken 10-03-2016.
The main lanes of the Beltway proceed under an unusual flyover ramp carrying northbound express traffic to VA 7. Photo taken 10-03-2016.
The next complex of exits, in addition to VA 123, now includes exit 45, an interchange with Virginia Route 267, which here consists of two separate roadways: the Dulles Toll Road and the free Dulles Access Road, the latter providing access to Dulles International Airport unlike the former. The tolled roadway continues west past Dulles as the Dulles Greenway to Loudoun County seat Leesburg, hence the "Leesburg exit 45" notation at far-right. Photo taken 10-03-2016.
Exit 46B, for VA 123 nominally north toward McLean - and the namesake Chain Bridge carrying it to Canal Road in northwest DC - is reached. VA 123 actually has a much more east-west orientation inside the Beltway. Photo taken 10-03-2016.
Attention is turned back to exit 45, from which the Dulles annex of the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum can be reached; the interchange is three-quarters of a mile away. Photo taken 10-03-2016.
Express drivers then get their own notice for exit 45 at far-left. Photo taken 10-03-2016.
I-495 reaches the interchange and crosses over a ramp from VA 267 eastbound. Photo taken 10-03-2016.
The highway passes under a variable message sign as it receives traffic from VA 267. Photo taken 10-03-2016.
The Beltway now leaves Tysons Corner behind and pushes toward Maryland, just over two miles away and preceded by an interchange with the George Washington parkway. Photo taken 10-03-2016.