Interstate 695 inner loop - Towson to Rosedale

Interstate 695 (Baltimore Beltway) makes its way into the area of Towson, the seat of Baltimore County, as inner-loop signage touts area universities accessible from exit 25 up ahead. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

Exit 24, where Interstate 83 splits off as the Baltimore-Harrisburg Expressway toward Timonium and York, Pennsylvania, is ahead. One of the control cities of the inner loop of the Beltway here is New York, via I-95 north. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

The Charles Street and York Road exits are a respective 1 and 2 miles away; I-95, 11. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

I-83 shields painted onto the pavement at lower-right delineate the lanes from exiting traffic. On both loops of I-695, I-83 through traffic is not required to do any merging to avoid mistakenly remaining on the Beltway past each split. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

Before exit 24, Thornton Road passes underneath. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

I-83 north has a sharp curve to the left before it passes under the Beltway. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

A gore sign at right marks exit 24. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

Exit 25 (Charles Street, here designated Maryland Route 139) is a quarter-mile away; it serves the Greater Baltimore Medical Center to the south. Large trucks are prohibited along Charles Street within the city. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

The ramp from I-83 south to the inner loop then passes overhead. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

Exit 25 is ahead on the right. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

The Beltway crosses over Baltimore's Light RailLink at the beginning of the interchange. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

Just north of exit 25, Charles Street ends at a segment of Bellona Avenue. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

Traffic coming in from I-83 south finally merges onto the inner loop up ahead. Separate access also exists from I-83 south directly to MD 139. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

Charles Street passes overhead just after the I-83 merge. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

The next I-695 reassurance shield mentions both the cardinal direction east and the inner loop. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

Now running directly north of Towson, I-695 is nearing exit 26A to southbound Maryland Route 45 (York Road) via West Road. Services like food, gas and lodging are at each of the Beltway's next three exits. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

York Road northbound (exit 26B) bears Lutherville as a control city, because it passes directly through the "old" section of the area known as Lutherville-Timonium, whereas I-83 bypasses it. Succeeding exit 26 is exit 27, at Maryland Route 146 (Dulaney Valley). Photo taken 01-24-2025.

There is a quarter-mile gap between exits 26A and B. Almost never referred to locally by its route number, MD 45 (once known as U.S. Route 111) is I-83's parallel business route north of Baltimore; at the Pennsylvania state line, it becomes the Susquehanna Trail and continues running alongside the Interstate toward York and Harrisburg. Meanwhile, south of 42nd Street between Wilson Park and Waverly in Baltimore, MD 45 transitions from being called York Road to Greenmount Avenue. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

Prior to exit 26B, the inner loop picks up a cloverleaf onramp from York Road southbound coming from Lutherville-Timonium. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

Exit 26B, which does lead directly to York Road unlike exit 26A, is at right. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

Each direction of MD 146 leads to a point of interest from I-695: Goucher College to the south and the Hampton National Historic Site to the north. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

Exit 27A (MD 146 south) is to the right, promptly taking drivers toward the Towson Town Center and the famous Towson Roundabout, where it reconnects with York Road as well as Joppa Road. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

At the time of these photos, the exit 27A gore sign had been taken down by SHA crews, leaving a tiny portable exit sign. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

Exit 27B then departs the Beltway for MD 146 north and the Phoenix-Jacksonville area. As Jarrettsville Pike, MD 146 ends up at MD 23 in the Madonna area of Harford County west of Jarrettsville. Meanwhile, after the route goes over the Loch Raven Reservoir, Dulaney Valley Road charts its own course under Baltimore County's responsibility northeastward toward Hydes and Baldwin. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

The exit 27B gore. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

One-mile advance signage for exit 28 (Providence Road) is just after the MD 146 onramp merge. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

Drivers who don't exit in the meantime are greeted by I-95 in 7 miles. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

A little further along, I-695 is half a mile from exit 29B for southbound Loch Raven Boulevard (Maryland Route 542) which provides access to north Baltimore's Good Samaritan hospital. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

Before exit 29B, the inner loop receives traffic from both Loch Raven and Cromwell Bridge Road (exit 29A). Photo taken 01-24-2025.

Exit 29B is ahead at right, one mile prior to exit 30 at Perring Parkway (MD 41). Photo taken 01-24-2025.

Near the end of a sharp leftward curve, the Beltway passes over MD 542 which ends at Cromwell Bridge a few feet to the north. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

The highway then finishes curving and shifts its orientation due east. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

Subsequent I-695 signage only mentions the inner loop, with no cardinal direction. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

A quarter-mile from Perring Parkway, the left side of an overhead gantry displays distances to the Beltway's next three exits, representing most of I-695's northeastern corner. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

Northeast Baltimore's Morgan State University is accessible from exit 30A up ahead. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

Exit 30B (MD 41 north) is a quarter-mile after exit 30A. Perring Parkway was once supposed to continue several miles further north - according to one account, as a relocated US 1 up to at least Bel Air - but was ultimately truncated to Waltham Woods Road, a residental road on the north side of Parkville. Perring's right-of-way tapers to a single carriageway with three lanes past Joppa Road. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

The exit 30A gore sign. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

The Beltway crosses over Perring in between exits. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

I-695 now comes across exits 31A and B at Maryland Route 147 (Harford Road) and 31C, the west end of White Marsh Boulevard (Maryland Route 43). Photo taken 01-24-2025.

Accessible via exit 31A are Hydes' Boordy Vineyards. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

Unlike on the outer loop, the inner loop has a single exit for both directions of Harford Road. The main street of Parkville and one of northeast Baltimore's arterials, both ends of MD 147 sit at US 1: the south end beside the Eastside District Court at North Avenue, and the north end in the Benson area of Harford County to the southwest of Bel Air. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

The exit 31A-B gore. Photo taken 01-24-2025.

Harford Road's bridge over the Beltway sits here. Photo taken 01-24-2025.