Arlington Boulevard is a major

arterial road An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below freeways/motorways on the road hierarchy in terms of traffic flow and speed. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector ro ...

Arlington County Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. ...

, and the independent City of Fairfax in

Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...

in metropolitan

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

, United States. It is designated

U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlanti ...

(US 50) for its entire length and is part of the National Highway System. Arlington Boulevard serves to bisect Arlington County into its northern and southern sections in popular parlance and for designation of street directional affixes according to the county's street-naming system.

Route description

Arlington Boulevard Boundary Channel crossing 2020a

Arlington Boulevard begins in the east on Columbia Island in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, at the traffic circle between the

Arlington Memorial Bridge The Arlington Memorial Bridge is a Neoclassical masonry, steel, and stone arch bridge with a central bascule (or drawbridge) that crosses the Potomac River at Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. First proposed in 1886, the bridg ...

and Memorial Drive. It carries northbound traffic across

Boundary Channel Boundary Channel is a channel off the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. The channel begins at the northwestern tip of Columbia Island extends southward between Columbia Island and the Virginia shoreline. It curves around the southern tip of Colum ...

into Virginia, where it has a partial interchange with

Interstate 66 Interstate 66 (I-66) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. It runs from an interchange with I-81 near Middletown, Virginia, on its western end to an interchange with U.S. Route 29 (US 29) in Washingt ...

and the

George Washington Memorial Parkway The George Washington Memorial Parkway, colloquially the G.W. Parkway, is a parkway that runs along the south bank of the Potomac River from Mount Vernon, Virginia, northwest to McLean, Virginia, and is maintained by the National Park Service ( ...

at the foot of the

Theodore Roosevelt Bridge The Theodore Roosevelt Bridge (also known as the Teddy Roosevelt Bridge or the Roosevelt Bridge) is a bridge crossing the Potomac River which connects Washington, D.C., with the Commonwealth of Virginia. The bridge crosses over Theodore Roosevelt ...

. At the interchange, Arlington Boulevard becomes a divided highway and assumes the

designation. It proceeds westward soon turning south along the edge of

Fort Myer Fort Myer is the previous name used for a U.S. Army post next to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, and across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Founded during the American Civil War as Fort Cass and Fort Whipple, t ...

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

post. Most of the

junction Junction may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Junction'' (film), a 2012 American film * Jjunction, a 2002 Indian film * Junction (album), a 1976 album by Andrew Cyrille * Junction (EP), by Basement Jaxx, 2002 * Junction (manga), or ''Hot ...

s in this section are grade-separated interchanges. At an interchange with Washington Boulevard ( VA 27), the road turns west again and continues in that direction for the remainder of its length. Arlington Boulevard Bridge 2019c

Arlington Boulevard has interchanges with VA 120 (

Glebe Road State Route 120 (SR 120) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. Known as Glebe Road, the state highway runs from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Crystal City north to SR 123 at the Chain Bridge. SR 120 is a partial circumf ...

) in Arlington County and VA 7 (

Leesburg Pike Virginia State Route 7 (VA 7) is a major primary state highway and busy commuter route in northern Virginia, United States. It travels southeast from downtown Winchester to SR 400 (Washington Street) in downtown Alexandria. Its ...

)/ VA 338 (Hillwood Avenue)/ SR 613 ( Wilson Boulevard) at Seven Corners and I-495 (Capital Beltway) in Fairfax County. It terminates just inside Fairfax City at a

traffic circle A roundabout is a type of circular intersection (road), intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The N ...

with

US 29 U.S. Route 29 (US 29) is a north–south United States highway that runs for from Pensacola, Florida to the western suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland in the Southern United States, connecting the Florida Panhandle to the Baltimore-Washington ...

(

Lee Highway The Lee Highway was a national auto trail in the United States, connecting New York City and San Francisco, California, via the South and Southwest. After receiving a letter on January 15, 1919, from Dr. Samuel Myrtle Johnson of Roswell, New Mex ...

and Fairfax Boulevard) and Old Lee Highway. VA 237, which arrives at the circle as Lee Highway

concurrent Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

with US 29, also concurs with US 50 on Arlington Boulevard for less than 1/3 mile before turning south onto Pickett Road.

History

Arlington Boulevard has a shorter history than many other major arterial roads in the region and was only built in the first half of the 20th century in several stages beginning in the west and progressing east. The entire route was complete in 1938 with the final section around Fort Myer. The road was originally called Lee Boulevard but, with

being another major route in Northern Virginia, the name was changed to Arlington Boulevard in the early 1950s. Between 1935-37, the US 50 designation was attached to the road even though it had yet to be completed past Glebe Road, then VA 9. Before that, the road was VA 236, a number now assigned to the nearby

Little River Turnpike State Route 236 (SR 236) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. The state highway runs from U.S. Route 29 and US 50 in Fairfax east to SR 400 in Alexandria. SR 236 is a major suburban arterial highway that connects the inde ...

. The completed Arlington Boulevard's eastern terminus was originally the crossing of the George Washington Memorial Parkway on Columbia Island in the District of Columbia. With the completion of the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge in 1964, Arlington Boulevard's terminus was moved to its present location.

Arlington Boulevard Trail

The Arlington Boulevard Trail is a set of discontinuous trails and on-road bike routes, 11 miles in length, on both sides of Arlington Boulevard. The trail runs from N. Rhodes Street in Arlington County to Fairview Park Drive in Falls Church. It has been proposed that the trail be extended to Pickets Road in Fairfax Virginia. The trail opened on November 18, 1974, in conjunction with preferential bus lanes, as a 1.7 mile long, paved trail between the Four Mile Run Trail and North Pershing Drive in Arlington. It was Arlington's 2nd Trail. By 1976, the trail had been extended west with another 2.3 miles. In May 1979, the trail was extended east from its endpoint at North Pershing, around Fort Myer to

. In 2014, a new segment was built from N. Pershing to Rolfe street on the east side of Arlington Boulevard, and the old section over the same stretch was widened and extended under 10th Street, closing a gap in the trail. In 2017, the short section from Wainwright Road to Washington Boulevard was repaved as part of a Washington Gas Pipeline Replacement Project. In January of 2020 the Gables apartment community, which had been under construction since 2017, opened and one of the street space improvements included was a widening of the ~500 feet of trail between Rolfe and Rhodes street from 5 feet to 10 feet with 5 feet of green space.

Notes

External links

{{AttachedKML, display=title,inline
Arlington Boulevard Improvement Map
Transportation in Arlington County, Virginia U.S. Route 50 Northern Virginia Transportation in Fairfax County, Virginia Fairfax, Virginia 1938 establishments in Virginia Boulevards in the United States

Route description

History

Arlington Boulevard Trail

See also

Notes

External links