State Route 309 (SR 309) 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 ...

. Known for most of its length as Old Dominion Drive, which was once the right of way of the Great Falls Division of the

Washington and Old Dominion Railroad The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad (colloquially referred to as the W&OD) was an intrastate short-line railroad located in Northern Virginia, United States. The railroad was a successor to the bankrupt Washington and Old Dominion Railway ...

, the state highway runs from SR 123 in

McLean MacLean, also spelt Maclean and McLean, is a Goidelic languages, Gaelic surname Mac Gille Eathain, or, Mac Giolla Eóin in Irish language, Irish Gaelic), Eóin being a Gaelic form of Johannes (John (given name), John). The clan surname is an A ...

east to

U.S. Route 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 me ...

(US 29) in Arlington.

Route description

SR 309 begins at an intersection with SR 123 (Dolley Madison Boulevard) in McLean. Old Dominion Drive continues northwest as SR 738 toward

Great Falls Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

. The state highway heads east as a four-lane

divided highway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

through the center of McLean. East of Chain Bridge Road, SR 309 becomes a two-lane undivided road and crosses

Pimmit Run Pimmit Run is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 stream in northern Virginia that runs from Fairfax County to the Potomac River at Chain Bridge in the Arli ...

. The state highway passes through a densely populated residential area in northeastern

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 far western

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 ...

. Shortly after entering the latter county, SR 309 expands to a four-lane divided street and intersects SR 120 (Glebe Road) at an oblique intersection adjacent to

Marymount University Marymount University is a private Catholic university with its main campus in Arlington, Virginia. Marymount offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. It has approximately 3,897 students enrolled, representing approximately 45 states an ...

; at the south end of the intersection, the two highways cross over Yorktown Boulevard. At 26th Street, which connects the highway with Yorktown Boulevard and the university, the state highway becomes a two-lane undivided road again. SR 309 briefly runs concurrently with US 29 as four-lane divided Old Dominion Drive. At the highways' western junction, at which there is no direct access from northbound US 29 to westbound SR 309, the U.S. Highway heads toward

Falls Church Falls Church is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is included in the Washington metropolitan area. Taking its name from The Falls Church, an 18th-century Churc ...

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 ...

. The two highways diverge, with US 29 following Old Dominion Drive and SR 309 using the parallel two-lane undivided Lee Highway. Within Arlington's Cherrydale neighborhood, SR 309 reaches its eastern terminus at a five-way intersection with US 29, Quincy Street, and Military Road. Lee Highway continues east along US 29 toward Rosslyn.

Major intersections

References

External links

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Virginia Highways Project: VA 309
309 State Route 309 State Route 309 State Route 309