State Route 241 (SR 241) is a primary

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in the U.S. state of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. The state highway runs from

U.S. Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making i ...

(US 1) in Huntington north to SR 236 in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

. SR 241 connects US 1 and SR 236, bypass

Old Town Alexandria Old Town Alexandria is one of the original settlements of the city of Alexandria, Virginia and is located just minutes from Washington, D.C. Old Town is situated in the eastern and southeastern area of Alexandria along the Potomac River. Old ...

to the southwest. The state highway connects those highways with

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...

and

I-495 Interstate 495 (I-495) is the designation for several Interstate Highways in the United States, all of which are related to Interstate 95, listed from south to north: * The Capital Beltway, a beltway around Washington, D.C., running through Virgin ...

, Huntington Avenue, and Eisenhower Avenue in a series of interchanges along the boundary of

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 An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

of Alexandria. SR 241 also connects the above highways to the Huntington station of the

Washington Metro The Washington Metro (or simply Metro), formally the Metrorail,Google Books search/preview

, for which the portion of the highway from US 1 to the station is part of the National Highway System.

Route description

SR 241 begins at an intersection with US 1 (Richmond Highway) on the southern edge of Huntington. Immediately to the west of the intersection, the state highway has an intersection with SR 633, which heads south as Kings Highway and has a tangent intersection with US 1 before veering southwest toward Groveton. SR 241 heads northwest as Kings Highway, a five-lane road with a

center left-turn lane A reversible lane (British English: tidal flow) is a lane in which traffic may travel in either direction, depending on certain conditions. Typically, it is meant to improve traffic flow during rush hours, by having overhead traffic lights and li ...

that passes through a residential area. Within Huntington, the state highway passes the Huntington station, which is the southern terminus of the Washington Metro's Yellow Line. At the northern end of Kings Highway, SR 241 turns north onto six-lane

divided Division is one of the four basic operations of arithmetic, the ways that numbers are combined to make new numbers. The other operations are addition, subtraction, and multiplication. At an elementary level the division of two natural numb ...

Telegraph Road, which continues south as SR 611. Passing above Telegraph Road immediately to the south and north of the intersection are direct ramps from northbound I-95 and I-495 (Capital Beltway) to Kings Highway and Huntington Avenue, respectively. Southbound SR 611 also receives a direct ramp from the Beltway. Opposite Kings Highway is a loop ramp from southbound SR 241 that joins the Beltway's ramp to Huntington Avenue. The west leg of SR 241's intersection with Huntington Avenue includes a third direct ramp from the Beltway. North of the Telegraph Road – Kings Highway – Huntington Avenue intersection-interchange complex, SR 241 crosses

Cameron Run Cameron Run is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 15, 2011 tributary stream of the Potomac River, located in the U.S. state of Virginia. A third-order stream, i ...

and has its

partial cloverleaf interchange A partial cloverleaf interchange or parclo is a modification of a cloverleaf interchange. The design has been well received, and has since become one of the most popular freeway-to-arterial interchange designs in North America. It has also bee ...

with the Beltway. This interchange includes a flyover ramp from northbound I-95 and I-495 that splits into ramps to northbound SR 241 and Eisenhower Avenue. Immediately north of Cameron Run, northbound SR 241 has an exit ramp to join the ramp to Eisenhower Avenue, which meets the east–west boulevard just west of the

Eisenhower Avenue Eisenhower Avenue is a rapid transit station on the Yellow Line of the Washington Metro in Alexandria, Virginia. It opened on December 17, 1983. Location The station is located at Eisenhower Avenue near Stovall Street, next to the Capital Bel ...

station of the Washington Metro. Within the interchange, the state highway enters the city of Alexandria and passes under Eisenhower Avenue. Northbound SR 241 receives a ramp from Eisenhower Avenue via Pershing Avenue. Southbound SR 241 has a

right-in/right-out Right-in/right-out (RIRO) and left-in/left-out (LILO) refer to a type of three-way road intersection where turning movements of vehicles are restricted. A RIRO permits only right turns and a LILO permits only left turns. "Right-in" and "left-in" r ...

interchange with Mill Road, which provides access to Eisenhower Avenue to the west. SR 241 crosses over Mill Road,

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

RF&P Subdivision The RF&P Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation. It runs from Washington, D.C., to Richmond, Virginia, over lines previously owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad. ...

, and Washington Metro's Blue Line and reaches its northern terminus at a

trumpet interchange In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, using ...

with SR 236 (Duke Street) a short distance west of Old Town Alexandria.

History

SR 241 appeared on its present route in the 1933 renumbering, following the former route of State Route 717, which itself appeared in 1930. From 2008 to 2013, the Telegraph Road interchange with I-495 underwent major reconstruction and realignment by VDOT as part of the larger

Woodrow Wilson Bridge The Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge (also known as the Woodrow Wilson Bridge or the Wilson Bridge) is a bascule bridge that spans the Potomac River between the independent city of Alexandria, Virginia, and Oxon Hill in Prince George's County, M ...

project. The new interchange alleviates past congestion by separating the I-495 traffic bound for Huntington Avenue, Telegraph Road and North Kings Highway at exit 176A.

Major intersections

References

External links

Virginia Highways Project: VA 241
{{end box 241 State Route 241 State Route 241 State Route 241