Virginia

[froggie]

Even then, I think the intersection of Va. 7 and Va. 244 was grade-separated (note that I am not 100% certain).

Grade separation at Leesburg/Columbia Pike happened sometime after 1964, as 1964 aerial imagery shows an at-grade intersection.

[ixnay]

Even then, I think the intersection of Va. 7 and Va. 244 was grade-separated (note that I am not 100% certain).

Grade separation at Leesburg/Columbia Pike happened sometime after 1964, as 1964 aerial imagery shows an at-grade intersection.

Got a link?

ixnay

[Mapmikey]

Even then, I think the intersection of Va. 7 and Va. 244 was grade-separated (note that I am not 100% certain).

Grade separation at Leesburg/Columbia Pike happened sometime after 1964, as 1964 aerial imagery shows an at-grade intersection.

This interchange was built in the mid-to-late 1970s (after 1975).

Page 150 of this pdf from April 1972 has this interchange on a 10-year wish list... http://www.ctb.virginia.gov/meetings/minutes_pdf/CTB-04-1972-01.pdf


Mike

[froggie]

Got a link?

Sorry, no...it's aerial imagery that I use in my GIS projects.

Related to what Mapmikey posted, the interchange appears to have been completed by 1979 (my next aerial imagery set).

[Mapmikey]

http://www.historicaerials.com/ has 1964 and 1979 images available, which show VA 7 was shifted slightly northeast to build the interchange and at least a couple buildings were removed.

1971 topo still shows at-grade...

Mike

[AlexandriaVA]

King at Beauregard/Walter Reed was also supposed be widened and get a grade-separated interchange treatment in the early 1990s (Slide 5).

https://alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/tes/info/King-Beauregard%20Improvement%20Project%20Presentation.pdf

My how things have changed. Instead, they're removing the slip lanes, widening the sidewalks into side paths, and putting development on the southwest corner of the intersection (the old hospital site).

[froggie]

They were.  Still hasn't happened yet.  Was supposed to go to bid last month but I haven't heard anything more.

[Alps]

http://www.historicaerials.com/ has 1964 and 1979 images available, which show VA 7 was shifted slightly northeast to build the interchange and at least a couple buildings were removed.

1971 topo still shows at-grade...

Mike

Indeed it does, thanks.

ixnay

I have found the topo files to vary widely from the given dates. I've seen them switch back and forth between 1920s and 1950s maps as I progress through years. I've seen topos slotted between aerials that aren't up to date with the earlier aerial. So don't go by that.

[ixnay]

I have found the topo files [of historicaerials.com] to vary widely from the given dates. I've seen them switch back and forth between 1920s and 1950s maps as I progress through years. I've seen topos slotted between aerials that aren't up to date with the earlier aerial. So don't go by that.

How reliable is uglybridges.com?  It shows the VA 7/VA 244 junction's bridge to be built in 1977.

ixnay

[Mapmikey]

I have found the topo files [of historicaerials.com] to vary widely from the given dates. I've seen them switch back and forth between 1920s and 1950s maps as I progress through years. I've seen topos slotted between aerials that aren't up to date with the earlier aerial. So don't go by that.

How reliable is uglybridges.com?  It shows the VA 7/VA 244 junction's bridge to be built in 1977.

ixnay

That site apparently uses the nationalbridges.com data set which I view to be pretty reliable.

Also in GMSV the bridge is clearly of the 1970s style in Virginia and its date plate is not the state shield, meaning it must be 1976 or later.  This style of bridge railing wasn't used much past 1979.

Mike

[froggie]

How reliable is uglybridges.com?  It shows the VA 7/VA 244 junction's bridge to be built in 1977.

That site apparently uses the nationalbridges.com data set which I view to be pretty reliable.

...which itself appears to use the National Bridge Inventory from US DOT's Bureau of Transportation Statistics.  So I'd say the 1977 date for the Leesburg Pike overpass is pretty solid.

[HTM Duke]

I went on my annual fall mini-roadtrip this month, and thought I'd bring up a couple points of interest:

1) The US-58 four-laning project has started its third phase (Laurel Fork) between Meadows of Dan and Hillsville.  The old alignment has been pretty much abandoned, having been chopped up to serve as driveways to various properties along the route.

2) VA-8 has been rerouted in the town of Stuart.  It now utilizes new construction (Woods Brothers Dr) from W Blue Ridge St,  then picks up S Main St (intersection of N/S Main St & Dobbins Rd), before rejoining its established route on the south end of town at Patrick Ave.  The old Patrick Ave alignment has now become VA-8 BUS.  Given that a TRUCK ROUTE is posted on the new alignment headed north into Stuart (along with an UPTOWN LGS below the assembly), I would say this was done to route trucks away from downtown.



A bit of an aside here, does anyone what was patched over on the exit signs from I-66 to VA-286 south?  Thanks.

[74/171FAN]

A bit of an aside here, does anyone what was patched over on the exit signs from I-66 to VA-286 south?  Thanks.

It has to be SR 7100, which was the old number for VA 286 before being put into the primary system in early 2012.

[noelbotevera]

A bit of an aside here, does anyone what was patched over on the exit signs from I-66 to VA-286 south?  Thanks.

It has to be SR 7100, which was the old number for VA 286 before being put into the primary system in early 2012.

You can see this if you pan right. It's hard to make out, but it says OLD 7100 (circle shield).

[HTM Duke]

A bit of an aside here, does anyone what was patched over on the exit signs from I-66 to VA-286 south?  Thanks.

It has to be SR 7100, which was the old number for VA 286 before being put into the primary system in early 2012.

You can see this if you pan right. It's hard to make out, but it says OLD 7100 (circle shield).

My apologies for not being more specific, but I meant the Springfield text on the exit 55A sign.  It's not as noticeable as the 286 shield (I actually didn't notice it until earlier this year), but there is a slight indentation between it and the sign itself.  Here's another shot of it from I-66 E (and an under-the-sign shot as well).

[Mapmikey]

SR 7100 south of I-66 ended at VA 123 for a fair amount of time.  I want to say it used to say To Ox Rd but I honestly don't recall.  It could also have said To US 29 or Lee Hwy.

Mike

[Zzonkmiles]

Does anyone know what the construction is for where the Franconia-Springfield Parkway (VA-289) and Fairfax County Parkway (VA-286) meet? I really can't tell if they are trying to add a lane or improve drainage or what.

[1995hoo]

Does anyone know what the construction is for where the Franconia-Springfield Parkway (VA-289) and Fairfax County Parkway (VA-286) meet? I really can't tell if they are trying to add a lane or improve drainage or what.

The loop-around ramp used by northbound 286 is being widened, among a few other things:

http://www.vdot.virginia.gov/projects/northernvirginia/parkway_north-rolling_road_loop.asp

[Mapmikey]

I went on my annual fall mini-roadtrip this month, and thought I'd bring up a couple points of interest:



2) VA-8 has been rerouted in the town of Stuart.  It now utilizes new construction (Woods Brothers Dr) from W Blue Ridge St,  then picks up S Main St (intersection of N/S Main St & Dobbins Rd), before rejoining its established route on the south end of town at Patrick Ave.  The old Patrick Ave alignment has now become VA-8 BUS.  Given that a TRUCK ROUTE is posted on the new alignment headed north into Stuart (along with an UPTOWN LGS below the assembly), I would say this was done to route trucks away from downtown.

Thanks for this information.  The Virginia Hwys Project has been updated - VA 8 Bus

Mike

[noelbotevera]

SR 7100 south of I-66 ended at VA 123 for a fair amount of time.  I want to say it used to say To Ox Rd but I honestly don't recall.  It could also have said To US 29 or Lee Hwy.

Mike

Could've been Tysons Corner IMO.

[1995hoo]

SR 7100 south of I-66 ended at VA 123 for a fair amount of time.  I want to say it used to say To Ox Rd but I honestly don't recall.  It could also have said To US 29 or Lee Hwy.

Mike

Could've been Tysons Corner IMO.

Not going southbound from I-66. Tysons is to the north, although the road in question goes nowhere near it.

[cpzilliacus]

SR 7100 south of I-66 ended at VA 123 for a fair amount of time.  I want to say it used to say To Ox Rd but I honestly don't recall.  It could also have said To US 29 or Lee Hwy.

The absolute first section of the Fairfax County Parkway (f/k/a 7100, now 286) ran south from I-66, perhaps to U.S. 29 (I do not remember).

The site of the I-66 interchange used to be a truck weigh station.  The scalehouse was on the eastbound side, but in typical Virginia style, there were platform scales on both sides.  As the construction started, the scales on the eastbound side were permanently closed, but the weigh enforcement activities continued on the westbound side for a while.

[cpzilliacus]

Richmond.com: Pocahontas Parkway increasing tolls

Tolls on the privately operated Pocahontas Parkway are increasing to $4 at the main plaza and to $2.25 at the Laburnum/New Market and Airport Drive ramps, a spokeswoman said Friday.

The new tolls take effect Jan. 4.

Tolls were last increased in January 2013 to a top price of $3.25 and $1.50, parkway spokeswoman Mary Ellin Arch said.

"The revenue will fund operations, maintenance, and finance debt payments,"  Arch said.

[1995hoo]

SR 7100 south of I-66 ended at VA 123 for a fair amount of time.  I want to say it used to say To Ox Rd but I honestly don't recall.  It could also have said To US 29 or Lee Hwy.

The absolute first section of the Fairfax County Parkway (f/k/a 7100, now 286) ran south from I-66, perhaps to U.S. 29 (I do not remember).

The site of the I-66 interchange used to be a truck weigh station.  The scalehouse was on the eastbound side, but in typical Virginia style, there were platform scales on both sides.  As the construction started, the scales on the eastbound side were permanently closed, but the weigh enforcement activities continued on the westbound side for a while.

I have to quibble as to the first section to open. I am positive I remember the first section of the Parkway running northbound from I-66 to US-50 because it had a trumpet interchange with I-66 that required reconfiguration when the next segment to the south eventually opened. I believe that segment opened around 1987 and I seem to recall newspaper reports still calling it the Springfield Bypass (and it had not yet been renamed to "Fairfax County Parkway" at that time). I remember the segments north of Route 50 gradually opening around 1989 because that part opened when I was in high school and there were no speed limit signs posted at first, so in typical idiotic high-school-kid fashion I would take my '77 Granada on that road to see how fast it would go.

Wikipedia says the portion from I-66 to Braddock Road opened in 1995 (citing to a newspaper article that is not online). That would not surprise me because I remember the years from about 1991 to 1995 were the period when I-66 was reconstructed between Fair Oaks and Manassas (not coincidentally for my memory, that was when I was attending UVA and more often than not I found alternate routes to avoid I-66). It would not surprise me one bit to find that the Parkway interchange underwent reconstruction at that same time.

[Mapmikey]

SR 7100 south of I-66 ended at VA 123 for a fair amount of time.  I want to say it used to say To Ox Rd but I honestly don't recall.  It could also have said To US 29 or Lee Hwy.

The absolute first section of the Fairfax County Parkway (f/k/a 7100, now 286) ran south from I-66, perhaps to U.S. 29 (I do not remember).

The site of the I-66 interchange used to be a truck weigh station.  The scalehouse was on the eastbound side, but in typical Virginia style, there were platform scales on both sides.  As the construction started, the scales on the eastbound side were permanently closed, but the weigh enforcement activities continued on the westbound side for a while.

I have to quibble as to the first section to open. I am positive I remember the first section of the Parkway running northbound from I-66 to US-50 because it had a trumpet interchange with I-66 that required reconfiguration when the next segment to the south eventually opened. I believe that segment opened around 1987 and I seem to recall newspaper reports still calling it the Springfield Bypass (and it had not yet been renamed to "Fairfax County Parkway" at that time). I remember the segments north of Route 50 gradually opening around 1989 because that part opened when I was in high school and there were no speed limit signs posted at first, so in typical idiotic high-school-kid fashion I would take my '77 Granada on that road to see how fast it would go.

The 1990 Historic Aerial confirms the trumpet interchange and the road only going northward...

Mike