Editing Interstate 695 (Maryland) (section)

==== Initial construction ====
[[File:2019-07-24 14 09 33 View southwest along Interstate 695 (Baltimore Beltway) from the overpass for Maryland State Route 25 (Falls Road) in Pikesville, Baltimore County, Maryland.jpg|thumb|right|View southwest along I-695 from MD&nbsp;25 in Pikesville]]
The Baltimore County Planning Commission first conceived the Baltimore Beltway as a county-level roadway project in 1949; by 1953, the state took over the project due to slow progress at the county level. The project was included as part of the [[Interstate Highway System]] by 1956, increasing the speed of construction due to federal funds available.<ref>{{cite web|last=Power|first=Garrett|url=http://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&context=mlh_pubs|title=The Baltimore City Interstate Highway System|date=Spring 2000|publisher=[[University of Maryland School of Law]]|access-date=June 10, 2009}}</ref>

{{Infobox road small|route=695|location=[[Ferndale, Maryland|Ferndale]]–[[Rossville, Maryland|Rossville]]|state=MD|type=MD|formed=1977|length_mi=19.37|length_ref=<ref name=MarylandHLR/><ref name=baltimorecityHLR/>}}

The first part of the Baltimore Beltway was completed in December 1955 between MD&nbsp;25 (Falls Road) and the Harrisburg Expressway (present-day I-83). In 1956, the next portion of the road between the Harrisburg Expressway and MD&nbsp;45 (York Road) opened. Several more segments of the Baltimore Beltway would be built in the following years, with the section from MD&nbsp;168 (Nursery Road) to the Glen Burnie Bypass (present-day I-97) opening in 1957; the portions from MD&nbsp;45 to MD&nbsp;542 (Loch Raven Boulevard), MD&nbsp;7 (Old Philadelphia Road) to US&nbsp;40 (Pulaski Highway), and from MD&nbsp;168 to US&nbsp;40 (Baltimore National Pike) opening in 1958; the segment from MD&nbsp;2 (Ritchie Highway) to the Glen Burnie Bypass completed in 1960; the portion from US&nbsp;1 (Belair Road) to MD&nbsp;7 finished in 1961; and the portions from MD&nbsp;542 to US&nbsp;1 and from US&nbsp;40 to MD&nbsp;25 completed in 1962.<ref name="bmetro">{{cite web|url=http://www.baltometro.org/reports/MajorTransMilestones.pdf|title=Major transportation milestones in the Baltimore region since 1940|publisher=Baltimore Metropolitan Council|access-date=April 21, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101227234104/http://www.baltometro.org/reports/MajorTransMilestones.pdf|archive-date=December 27, 2010}}</ref> At this time, the original length of the Baltimore Beltway, from MD&nbsp;2 in the south clockwise to US&nbsp;40 in the northeast, was fully completed and opened to traffic, providing the first Interstate-grade bypass of Baltimore and the first beltway in the US built under the Interstate Highway System.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mdhighwaycentennial.com/history.html |title=Maryland Highway Centennial - History |publisher=[[Maryland State Highway Administration]] |access-date=June 5, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221135300/http://mdhighwaycentennial.com/history.html |archive-date=February 21, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite map|publisher=[[Maryland State Highway Administration]]|title=Baltimore Beltway Opening Map|year=1962|url=http://www.mdhighwaycentennial.com/images/template/gallery/maps/Baltimore-Beltway-opening-i.jpg|access-date=June 5, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100604195614/http://www.mdhighwaycentennial.com/images/template/gallery/maps/Baltimore-Beltway-opening-i.jpg|archive-date=June 4, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> A segment of the road completed in 1973 ran from MD&nbsp;10 to MD&nbsp;2, heading toward the Outer Harbor Crossing.<ref name="bmetro"/>