The Outer Harbor Crossing over the Patapsco River, which was dedicated to Francis Scott Key, who wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner", and its approaches were finished in 1977, completing the route around Baltimore.

The approaches to the bridge were originally two lanes to accommodate a tunnel that was initially proposed to run under the river; in subsequent years, they were upgraded to a four-lane configuration compliant with Interstate Highway standards, allowing for this portion of the route to be signed as I-695 rather than MD 695.

In addition, the northeastern interchange with I-95 was reconstructed in 2014 to accommodate express toll lanes that were added to I-95, and construction took place in 2016 to remove I-695's carriageway crossovers here.

[1] The route passes over Curtis Creek on a pair of drawbridges here, which have 58 feet (18 m) of vertical navigational clearance and provide access for tall ships to a US Coast Guard base further upstream.

Running northwest, it crosses over Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and comes to a partial interchange with US 1 (Southwestern Boulevard), with a southbound exit and northbound entrance.

It continues north and interchanges with Edmondson Avenue before turning northwest and intersecting US 40 (Baltimore National Pike) near the defunct Westview Mall, now a big-box complex.

[1][3] The MTA's Baltimore Metro SubwayLink line to Owings Mills passes under I-695 within the interchange and runs in the median of I-795 as far as that town.

[1][3] A short distance later, the road comes to a partial interchange with MD 129 (Park Heights Avenue), with an eastbound exit and westbound entrance.

[3] After running concurrently, I-83 splits from I-695 by heading north on the Harrisburg Expressway at a directional interchange and continues towards Timonium, Cockeysville and Hunt Valley before reaching York, Pennsylvania.

[3] Beyond I-83, I-695 passes over the MTA's Baltimore Light RailLink and turns southeast as a six-lane road, heading into the county seat of Towson.

[3] Continuing east, the Baltimore Beltway passes to the north of Goucher College and comes to an interchange with Providence Road.

[3] The Baltimore Beltway continues through residential areas into Carney, coming to another cloverleaf interchange with MD 147 (Harford Road).

[1][3] After US 40, I-695 crosses over CSX Transportation's Philadelphia Subdivision and comes to a partial directional interchange with MD 702 (Southeast Boulevard).

Past MD 151, the Baltimore Beltway continues southwest through industrial areas, with maintenance switching to the MDTA at the crossing of a CSX Transportation rail line.

The route runs past Tradepoint Atlantic before crossing over Bear Creek and interchanging with unsigned MD 695A (Broening Highway) south of the Dundalk Marine Terminal, with an eastbound exit and westbound entrance (both of which have been closed since the bridge collapse).

After this, the route ascended onto the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which carried I-695 over the lower Baltimore Harbor and Patapsco River[1][3] until its collapse in 2024.

[10] Unlike the Fort McHenry or Baltimore Harbor tunnels, hazmat trucks were allowed to cross the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

It comes to an interchange with Quarantine Road (where the route resumes after the collapsed bridge), which provides access to MD 173, south of Curtis Bay.

[3] As opposed to I-495 (Capital Beltway) around Washington, D.C., on which exit numbers are generally arranged by mileposts counterclockwise starting at the southern crossing of the Potomac River, the exit numbers for the Baltimore Beltway are arranged consecutively clockwise starting at interchange 1 at Quarantine Road, west of the Francis Scott Key Bridge crossing of the Patapsco River.

The project was included as part of the Interstate Highway System by 1956, increasing the speed of construction due to federal funds available.

[15][18] However, the section of the Baltimore Beltway between south of MD 150 to west of the Back River crossing was not built, requiring it be rerouted on portions of two freeways not originally planned to be part of it.

The first was the Windlass Freeway (MD 149), a route planned to run from I-95 at Moravia Road northeast to Chase, paralleling US 40 to the south.

[24] Construction on the Outer Harbor Crossing, including the bridge, started in 1972 and was opened on March 23, 1977, completing the full Baltimore Beltway.

[25] By the early 1980s, the southern approach to the Francis Scott Key Bridge was dualized, with a second roadway constructed along with a second drawbridge over Curtis Creek.

[26] The northern approach was left as a two-lane viaduct in the Sparrows Point area until a four-lane surface freeway was constructed along this portion, with interchanges reconfigured, following an $89.5-million (equivalent to $151 million in 2023[27]) project completed in January 2000.

[28] The Outer Harbor Crossing, as well as the entire Baltimore Beltway east of I-95, was first signposted as MD 695 because portions of it were a two-lane expressway not up to Interstate Highway standards.

[1][2] On June 8, 1999, a tractor-trailer carrying a backhoe that exceeded the maximum height requirement struck a pedestrian footbridge over the Baltimore Beltway just northwest of the I-95 junction near Arbutus.

[36] In April 2024, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials approved designating the MD 695 section of the beltway as I-695.

[38] There are long-term plans to add new lanes to I-695 to ease traffic congestion along the northern and western parts of the route between the two interchanges with I-95.

Exits are numbered sequentially (unlike other Interstates in Maryland which use a milepost-based system) and in a clockwise (inner loop) direction, in accordance with American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) guidelines.