 State Route 286 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfax County Parkway | ||||
 | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained byVDOT | ||||
| Length | 35 mi[1] (56 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |  US 1 atFort Belvoir | |||
| Major intersections | ||||
| North end |  SR 7 inDranesville | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Virginia | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
TheFairfax County Parkway, numberedState Route 286 (SR 286, formerlySR 7100[2]), is a primarystate highway in theU.S. state ofVirginia, acting as anexpressway inFairfax County with a mix ofinterchanges andsignalized and unsignalized intersections. Its alignment runs from southeast to northwest and roughly corresponds to part of the once-proposedOuter Beltway aroundWashington, D.C. The first segment of the roadway opened in 1987; the road was completed in 2010.
SR 286 is also known as theJohn F. (Jack) Herrity Parkway, designated by theVirginia General Assembly in 1995,[3] and theTrooper Charles Mark Cosslett Memorial Highway, designated in 2010 as the final link throughFort Belvoir.[4] Jack Herrity served for 12 years on theFairfax County Board of Supervisors, and was instrumental in getting the road built.[5] This name is ceremonial, and is rarely used by the public.[6]
_just_north_of_Virginia_State_Route_6819_(Franklin_Farm_Road)_in_the_Franklin_Farm_section_of_Oak_Hill%2c_Fairfax_County%2c_Virginia.jpg)
The Fairfax County Parkway and its branch to Franconia generally haveinterchanges at major roads,traffic signals at intermediate roads, andright-in/right-out (RIRO) intersections with minor roads and neighborhood streets. Along the main parkway (SR 286), there are 17 full or partial interchanges and 39 signals, with eleven of those signals at interchanges. In addition, there are many unsignalized intersections along the road, but none of these aredriveways, since the road islimited-access.[7] The road generally has aspeed limit of 50 mph (80 km/h).[8]
The south end of SR 286 begins at an intersection withUS 1 atAccotink and heads northwest throughFort Belvoir, leaving the fort at adiamond interchange with Telegraph Road (SR 611), crossingI-95 at a fullcloverleaf (exit 166), crossing over Fullerton Road, passing through interchanges with Boudinot Drive and Barta Road, and turning west through West Springfield at Rolling Road. This portion replaced the existing Backlick Road (SR 617), which continues north from the I-95 interchange and connects to theFranconia–Springfield Parkway (SR 289). During most of the parkway's life, the portion between Fullerton Road and SR 289 had not been constructed due to delay caused byenvironmental issues, including anoil spill along its path through the Fort Belvoir Proving Ground. Since approval in 2008, construction began in 2009 and the new portion was opened in late 2010.[7][9]
After merging with the Spur, there is in interchange with Hooes and Pohick Roads (SR 636/SR 641). Continuing northwest to the interchange with Ox Road (SR 123), SR 286 is a surface road, built directly on the former Pohick Road. The parkway beyond Ox Road was built on a new alignment, and has a much smaller number of intersections. Just past Ox Road, SR 286 passes under Clara Barton Drive, a minor residential street. It intersects the west end of Burke Center Parkway (SR 643), crosses over theVirginia Railway ExpressManassas Line and Fairfax Station Road (SR 660), and intersects several other roads before afreeway section begins at afolded diamond interchange with Braddock Road (SR 620). A complicatedthree-level diamond takes SR 286 overLee Highway (US 29) at the south end of West Ox Road (SR 608), and SR 286 crossesI-66 at exit 55, acloverleaf. After passing over Fair Lakes Circle (SR 7701), there is a diamond interchange with Fair Lakes Parkway (SR 7700) and Monument Drive (SR 7969). The next interchange, at Lee Jackson Memorial Highway (US 50), is apartial cloverleaf with two signals on SR 286.[7]
From US 50 to Franklin Farm Road, the parkway curves northwest to reach the Outer Beltway right-of-way. This straight path is followed until Baron Cameron Avenue (SR 606), and includes an overpass at Pinecrest Road in the Fox Mill Estates neighborhood. After crossing the Dulles Access Road (SR 267), SR 286 follows the east border ofHerndon, with interchanges at Sunset Hills Road (SR 675) and Baron Cameron Avenue (SR 606). The parkway leaves the straight Outer Beltway alignment just beyond Baron Cameron Avenue, curving northwest and north to end at adiamond interchange with Leesburg Pike (SR 7), at which the traffic signals are on SR 286. Algonkian Parkway continues north as a four-lane local road, eventually curving back west and south to SR 7 just east ofSR 28.[7]
TheFairfax County Parkway Trail is amulti-use trail that runs alongside the Franconia–Springfield Parkway and Fairfax County Parkway from Beulah Street in Springfield to SR 7,[10] mostly as asidepath, but sometimes using adjacentfrontage roads and old alignments of the roads that the parkway replaced.[citation needed] It intersects theWashington and Old Dominion Trail north of Sunset Hills Road atHerndon, near that trail's mile 19.[11] The final section of the trail was opened in 2002.
TheOuter Beltway was first planned in 1950 as the "Cross Country Loop", part of theNational Capital Planning Commission's comprehensive plan.[12] In Virginia, by the time of a 1965 plan,[13] it was to run through southern and western Fairfax County, crossing thePotomac River atMason Neck and north ofGreat Falls, and passing generally west ofState Route 123 (Ox Road) and east ofSR 645 (Clifton Road, Stringfellow Road, and Lees Corner Road). The straight part of the Fairfax County Parkway between south of Franklin Farm Road and north of Baron Cameron Avenue is built where the beltway would have been.[14][15] During the 1970s, attention was focused on the Metrorail system, andenvironmental concerns temporarily pushed the Outer Beltway onto the back burner. In the 1980s and 1990s, when the plan was revived as theWestern Transportation Corridor, the route was shifted further west.[12]
The idea for theSpringfield Bypass started in the 1970s as a bypass ofSR 644 (Old Keene Mill Road) inSpringfield. It was soon expanded, by 1978, to include most of what had been planned as the Outer Beltway.[16][17] TheCommonwealth Transportation Board approved final plans on July 16, 1987 for the 33-mile (53 km) road, with 16 interchanges and 35 traffic signals betweenU.S. Route 1 atFort Belvoir andState Route 7 nearDranesville. A spur toFranconia was included, providing access to theShirley HighwayHOV lanes and theFranconia–Springfield Metrorail station. Except for a short six-lane piece inReston, the $242 million plan included only four lanes.[18][19] Since it was a surface road, the highway could incorporate existing roads. This included portions ofSR 617 (Backlick Road), SR 636 (Hooes Road), SR 641 (Pohick Road), and SR 680 (Stuart Road).
Fifty-five homes and five businesses had to be taken byeminent domain to build the road.[18] Included in these 55 homes were five at the brand-new Innisfree subdivision inSpringfield. Only months after families moved into the houses, located between SR 636 (Hooes Road) and the proposed highway, they were informed that their land would be needed for the interchange at SR 640 (Sydenstricker Road). Originally planned as an at-grade intersection, projections of increased traffic led to a redesign that required moreright-of-way.[20]
TheFairfax County Board of Supervisors changed the name to the Fairfax County Parkway on June 23, 1988, noting that it traveled far from Springfield.[21]
_from_the_overpass_for_the_Washington_and_Old_Dominion_Railroad_Trail_in_Reston%2c_Fairfax_County%2c_Virginia.jpg)
Threebond issues were approved by Fairfax County voters to pay for construction of the highway, as well as other roads in the county: $135 million in November 1985,[22] $150 million in April 1988,[23] and $130 million in November 1992.[16][24] The first portions of the road to open were financed bydevelopers building in the area:Hazel/Peterson Companies from a new interchange onInterstate 66 north toU.S. Route 50, andCavalier Land Development Corporation from Stringfellow Road north to Franklin Farm Road, both completed in 1987.[25][26] On October 24, 1989, the gap from US 50 to Stringfellow Road was filled, and the road was extended from Franklin Farm Road north to West Ox Road (SR 608).[27] It was further extended north to a new interchange on theDulles Toll Road (SR 267) on October 22, 1991,[28] and north to Sunset Hills Road (SR 675) on July 7, 1993.[29]
The next pieces of the road to open were in the southwest, with an upgrade and bypass of Hooes Road (SR 636) from Pohick Road (SR 641) east to Rolling Road (SR 638) and the Franconia–Springfield Parkway opening by November 1993.[30] The highway from Ox Road (SR 123) north to Braddock Road (SR 620) opened on July 28, 1995,[31] and was connected to the existing portion at I-66 on September 19.[32] Two interchanges along this portion and the older one to the north – at US 50 and atUS 29 – opened on December 14 and December 20 respectively.[33] From SR 123 southeast to the beginning of the Franconia–Springfield Parkway, existing two-lane roads were widened, opening the road from SR 123 east to Lee Chapel Road (SR 643) by May 1996[34] and to Pohick Road (SR 641) on July 2, 1996,[35] completing the road from Springfield to Herndon. However, until a new bridge opened in early September 2002, traffic on Pohick Road northbound (just east of Hooes Road) was required to turn right onto the parkway.[36]
The southernmost portion, fromUS 1 north acrossI-95 to Fullerton Road, mostly an upgrade of Backlick Road (SR 617), opened south of Telegraph Road (SR 611) by July 1997[37] and north of Telegraph Road later that year.[38] The first part north of Sunset Hills Road (SR 675), a short piece from the new interchange withSR 7 south to Sugarland Road (SR 604), opened by June 1999.[39] The parkway was extended south from Sugarland Road to Wiehle Avenue (SR 828) on November 1, 2000.[40] The road was extended to Walnut Branch with two lanes extended to Baron Cameron Avenue (SR 606) on December 21, 2000.[41] The gap between Walnut Branch and Sunset Hills was filled on November 5, 2001, finally completing the parkway north of Springfield.[42]
_at_the_exit_for_Virginia_State_Route_289_(Franconia-Springfield_Parkway)_in_Newington%2c_Fairfax_County%2c_Virginia.jpg)
Construction has been delayed many times on the last segment, between Fullerton Road (just north of I-95) and Rolling Road (SR 638), which will allow traffic on the main part of the parkway to connect directly to the I-95 main lanes. Plans were made here in the late 1980s, and it was to be paid for by a developer who was to build a development on land bought from theU.S. Army'sFort Belvoir. But those plans fell through, and traffic growth necessitated a redesign.[34][38] Plans were again postponed in the early 2000s due to necessaryenvironmental cleanup of that part of Fort Belvoir, which includedunexploded ordnance.[43] TheEnvironmental Protection Agency discovered in 2005 that anoil spill on the property had not been properly cleaned.[9] As of 2007[update], the project had been designed as a fullfreeway but was placed on hold.[44] As of September 2010, this portion of the parkway opened for traffic, closing the gap that once existed.[45]
Plans have been made for an interchange atFair Lakes Parkway, just north of I-66. This project will be funded with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funds. This project was certified on August 10, 2009, and the construction contract is expected to be let August 2010.[46] Furthermore, improvements are being made to the West Ox Road and Sunrise Valley Drive intersections with the parkway along with interchanges with the new portion of the parkway between Fullerton Road and Rolling Road at Boudinot Drive. Additions and improvements to theI-95 interchange with Fairfax County Parkway are currently under development as well.[47]
On February 16, 2012, the Fairfax County Parkway was designated SR 286.[2] In June 2012, signage was updated to reflect the new designation with a mix of SR 286 and "old SR 7100" signs and reassurance markers.
The entire parkway is inFairfax County.
| Location | mi[48] | km | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Belvoir | 0.0 | 0.0 | US 1 (Richmond Highway) | Southern terminus | |
| Newington | 1.8 | 2.9 |  SR 611 (Telegraph Road) | Interchange | |
| 2.8 | 4.5 |  SR 789 (Loisdale Road) | |||
| 3.0 | 4.8 |  I-95 /I-95 Express –Richmond,Washington | Interchange; I-95 exit 166 | ||
| 3.1 | 5.0 |  SR 617 (Backlick Road) | Interchange; northbound exit only | ||
| | Boudinot Drive (SR 4502) | Interchange | |||
| |   To Barta Road south (Rolling Road) /SR 638 | Interchange | |||
| West Springfield | 5.1 | 8.2 |   SR 289 east (Franconia–Springfield Parkway) /SR 638 (Rolling Road) / toRestricted Lanes | Interchange with a signal on SR 286 northbound | |
| 6.0– 6.2 | 9.7– 10.0 |  SR 640 (Gambrill Road / Sydenstricker Road) | Interchange | ||
| 7.1– 7.3 | 11.4– 11.7 |   SR 636 south (Hooes Road) / Pohick Road (SR 641) | Interchange | ||
| Burke | 8.9 | 14.3 |  SR 643 (Lee Chapel Road) | ||
| 10.0 | 16.1 |  SR 644 (Old Keene Mill Road) | |||
| 10.7 | 17.2 |  SR 645 (Burke Lake Road) –Burke Lake Park | |||
| 13.2 | 21.2 |  SR 123 (Ox Road) | Interchange | ||
| 13.9 | 22.4 | SR 643 (Burke Centre Parkway) | |||
| Fairfax Station | 16.4 | 26.4 |  SR 654 (Popes Head Road) | ||
| 17.1 | 27.5 |  SR 620 (Braddock Road) | Interchange | ||
| | 18.2 | 29.3 |   US 29 (Lee Highway) /SR 608 (West Ox Road) | Interchange | |
| | 19.3 | 31.1 |  I-66 –Front Royal,Washington | Interchange; I-66 exit 55 | |
| | 20.0 | 32.2 |   SR 7700 (Fair Lakes Parkway) /SR 7969 (Monument Drive) | Interchange | |
| | 21.0 | 33.8 |  US 50 (Lee Jackson Memorial Highway) | Interchange with signals on SR 286 | |
| | 21.5 | 34.6 |  SR 750 (Rugby Road) | ||
| | 24.8 | 39.9 | SR 608 (West Ox Road) | ||
| Reston | 26.4 | 42.5 |  SR 665 (Fox Mill Road) | ||
| 27.5 | 44.3 |   SR 267 Toll –Dulles Airport (no toll viaDulles Access Road),Washington | Interchange with signals on SR 286; SR 267 exit 11 | ||
| 27.8 | 44.7 | Sunset Hills Road / Spring Street (SR 675) | Interchange with a signal on SR 286 | ||
| 28.5 | 45.9 |  SR 606 (Elden Street / Baron Cameron Avenue) | Interchange with signals on SR 606 | ||
| 30.5 | 49.1 |  SR 828 (Wiehle Avenue) | |||
| 31.4 | 50.5 |  SR 604 (Sugarland Road) | |||
| Dranesville | 31.8 | 51.2 | SR 7 (Leesburg Pike) / Algonkian Parkway (SR 6220 north) | Northern terminus; interchange with signals on SR 286 | |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
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