Almost completely circling Washington, D.C., it crosses a tiny portion of the District at its southernmost point at the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

I-66 runs from the eastern edge of Georgetown, connects with the Beltway, and continues through Northern Virginia to I-81.

I-295 comes up from the south starting at the eastern edge of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge on the Beltway and crosses the Anacostia River into downtown, linking up with I-395 (the Southwest Freeway), a major commuter route extending from New York Avenue to the Beltway and Interstate 95 in Springfield, Virginia, via I-695 (the Southeast Freeway).

The Inner Loop was a proposed network of freeways in the city center; however, only portions of it were ever built.

Today, the "inner loop" is most frequently used to describe the inside lanes of 495.