166-665: Interstate 66 ( I-66 ) is a 76.32 mile east–west Interstate Highway in the eastern United States . The highway 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 Washington, D.C. , at the eastern terminus. The route parallels State Route 55 (SR 55) from its western terminus at I-81 to Gainesville , and US 29 from Gainesville to its eastern terminus in Washington. I-66 has no physical or historical connection to US 66 , which
332-473: A Union Army soldier. Later that month, on August 27, another large incursion of 600 to 800 Confederate soldiers clashed with Union soldiers at Ball's Crossroads, Hall's Hill, and at the present-day border between the Falls Church and Arlington. A number of soldiers on both sides were killed. However, the territory in present-day Arlington never fell under Confederate control and was not attacked. In 1870,
498-522: A concurrency or overlap. For example, I‑75 and I‑85 share the same roadway in Atlanta ; this 7.4-mile (11.9 km) section, called the Downtown Connector , is labeled both I‑75 and I‑85. Concurrencies between Interstate and US Highway numbers are also allowed in accordance with AASHTO policy, as long as the length of the concurrency is reasonable. In rare instances, two highway designations sharing
664-630: A toll road with variable tolls during peak hours. The road narrows to four lanes as it heads through Arlington County . The parkway meets SR 7 (Leesburg Pike) at a full interchange. SR 267 (Dulles Toll Road) meets the parkway with an eastbound entrance and westbound exit. Continuing through neighborhoods, the route yet again meets US 29 at an incomplete interchange and continues east into Arlington County, meeting SR 120 (Glebe Road) and continuing to Arlington County. It meets Spout Run Parkway and enters Rosslyn . The freeway turns southeast and runs in between US 29 as it approaches
830-637: A 28-year-old brevet lieutenant colonel, accompanied the trip "through darkest America with truck and tank," as he later described it. Some roads in the West were a "succession of dust, ruts, pits, and holes." As the landmark 1916 law expired, new legislation was passed—the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 (Phipps Act). This new road construction initiative once again provided for federal matching funds for road construction and improvement, $ 75 million allocated annually. Moreover, this new legislation for
996-610: A below ground rapid transit system, now the Washington Metro , which included two lines in Arlington. Initial plans called for what became the Orange Line to parallel I-66 , which would have mainly benefited Fairfax County . Arlington County officials called for the stations in Arlington to be placed along the decaying commercial corridor between Rosslyn and Ballston that included Clarendon. A new regional transportation planning entity
1162-831: A cash contribution, in order to obtain the highest allowable amounts of increased building density in new development projects, most of which are planned near Metrorail station areas. A number of the county's residential neighborhoods and larger garden-style apartment complexes are listed in the National Register of Historic Places and/or designated under the County government's zoning ordinance as local historic preservation districts . These include Arlington Village, Arlington Forest, Ashton Heights, Buckingham, Cherrydale, Claremont, Colonial Village, Fairlington , Lyon Park, Lyon Village, Maywood, Nauck , Penrose, Waverly Hills and Westover. Many of Arlington County's neighborhoods participate in
1328-476: A change in the numbering system as a result of a new policy adopted in 1973. Previously, letter-suffixed numbers were used for long spurs off primary routes; for example, western I‑84 was I‑80N, as it went north from I‑80 . The new policy stated, "No new divided numbers (such as I-35W and I-35E , etc.) shall be adopted." The new policy also recommended that existing divided numbers be eliminated as quickly as possible; however, an I-35W and I-35E still exist in
1494-636: A group of parents of both white and black students to end segregation. Black pupils were still denied admission to white schools, but the lawsuit went before the U.S. District Court, which ruled that Arlington schools were to be desegregated by the 1958–59 academic year. In January 1959 both the U.S. District Court and the Virginia Supreme Court had ruled against Virginia's massive resistance movement, which opposed racial integration. The Arlington County Central Library's collections include written materials as well as accounts in its Oral History Project of
1660-503: A long-range benefit. Citizen input and county planners came up with a workable compromise, with some limits on development. The two lines in Arlington were inaugurated in 1977. The Orange Line's creation was more problematic than the Blue Line's. The Blue Line served the Pentagon and National Airport and boosted the commercial development of Crystal City and Pentagon City. Property values along
1826-416: A model revitalization for older suburbs. In 1965, after years of negotiations, Arlington swapped some land in the south end with Alexandria, though less than originally planned. The land was located along King Street and Four Mile Run. The exchange allowed the two jurisdictions to straighten out the boundary and helped highway and sewer projects to go forward. It moved into Arlington several acres of land to
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#17328558630081992-953: A much narrower, four-lane limited access highway between the Capital Beltway and the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge. As part of the deal, Virginia officials agreed to provide more than $ 100 million (equivalent to $ 393 million in 2023) in construction work and funds to help build the Metro system, which has tracks down the I-66 median to a station at Vienna in Fairfax County; to build a multiuse trail from Rosslyn to Falls Church; and to limit rush-hour traffic mainly to car pools. Three more lawsuits would follow, but work began on August 8, 1977, moments after US District Court Judge Owen R. Lewis denied an injunction sought by highway opponents. In
2158-576: A numbering scheme in which primary Interstates are assigned one- or two-digit numbers, and shorter routes which branch off of longer ones are assigned three-digit numbers where the last two digits match the parent route. The Interstate Highway System is partially financed through the Highway Trust Fund , which itself is funded by a combination of a federal fuel tax and transfers from the Treasury's general fund. Though federal legislation initially banned
2324-643: A one-block segment of New York Avenue to the expressway entrance at 20th and E streets northwest. The expressway and the connecting portions of E Street and New York Avenue are part of the National Highway System . In 1963, the construction of the E Street Expressway caused the demolition of multiple buildings of the Old Naval Observatory . The entire route is in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C. All exits are unnumbered. I-66
2490-400: A population of 238,643 as of the 2020 census . If Arlington County were incorporated as a city, it would rank as the third-most populous city in the state. With a land area of 26 square miles (67 km ), Arlington County is the geographically smallest self-governing county in the nation. Arlington County is home to the Pentagon , the world's second-largest office structure, which houses
2656-402: A program of " urban renewal ". In the two decades following the 1956 Highway Act, the construction of the freeways displaced one million people, and as a result of the many freeway revolts during this era, several planned Interstates were abandoned or re-routed to avoid urban cores. Construction of the original Interstate Highway System was proclaimed complete in 1992, despite deviations from
2822-540: A report called Toll Roads and Free Roads , "the first formal description of what became the Interstate Highway System" and, in 1944, the similarly themed Interregional Highways . The Interstate Highway System gained a champion in President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was influenced by his experiences as a young Army officer crossing the country in the 1919 Motor Transport Corps convoy that drove in part on
2988-646: A series of interchanges providing access to D.C. suburbs. The Orange Line and Silver Line of the Washington Metro begin to operate in the median here, as the highway reaches a large interchange with the I-495 ( Capital Beltway ). I-66 has two tolled HOT lanes from US 29 in Gainesville to the Capital Beltway. The section of I-66 in Virginia east of the Capital Beltway is named the Custis Memorial Parkway ,
3154-667: A short tunnel, also running on the east side of the Watergate complex . After an indirect interchange with the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway (via 27th Street), the highway terminates at a pair of ramps leading to the Whitehurst Freeway (US 29) and L Street. The portion of Interstate 66 within Washington, DC, is known as the Potomac River Freeway. The E Street Expressway is a spur of I-66 that begins at an interchange with
3320-409: A single digit prefixed to the two-digit number of its parent Interstate Highway. Spur routes deviate from their parent and do not return; these are given an odd first digit. Circumferential and radial loop routes return to the parent, and are given an even first digit. Unlike primary Interstates, three-digit Interstates are signed as either east–west or north–south, depending on the general orientation of
3486-769: A speed limit of 45 mph (70 km/h) because it is a parkway that consists of only one lane per side of the highway. On the other hand, Interstates 15, 80, 84, and 215 in Utah have speed limits as high as 70 mph (115 km/h) within the Wasatch Front , Cedar City , and St. George areas, and I-25 in New Mexico within the Santa Fe and Las Vegas areas along with I-20 in Texas along Odessa and Midland and I-29 in North Dakota along
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#17328558630083652-456: A speed limit of 80 mph (130 km/h). Other Interstates in Idaho, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming also have the same high speed limits. In some areas, speed limits on Interstates can be significantly lower in areas where they traverse significantly hazardous areas. The maximum speed limit on I-90 is 50 mph (80 km/h) in downtown Cleveland because of two sharp curves with
3818-467: A suggested limit of 35 mph (55 km/h) in a heavily congested area; I-70 through Wheeling, West Virginia , has a maximum speed limit of 45 mph (70 km/h) through the Wheeling Tunnel and most of downtown Wheeling; and I-68 has a maximum speed limit of 40 mph (65 km/h) through Cumberland, Maryland , because of multiple hazards including sharp curves and narrow lanes through
3984-504: A third of Arlington County's population. Over the course of the century, the Black population dwindled. Neighborhoods in Arlington set up racial covenants and forbade Blacks from owning or domiciling property. In 1938, Arlington banned row houses, a type of housing that was heavily used by Black residents. By October 1942, not a single rental unit was available in the county. In the 1940s, the federal government evicted black neighborhoods to build
4150-639: A white-collar transplant population mostly of Northern stock. While a population of white-collar government transplant workers had always been present in the county, particularly in its far northern areas and in Lyon Village, the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s saw the complete dominance of this group over the majority of Arlington's residential neighborhoods, and mostly economically eliminated the former working-class residents of areas such as Cherrydale, Lyon Park, Rosslyn, Virginia Square, Claremont, and Arlington Forest, among other neighborhoods. The transformation of Clarendon
4316-520: Is a county in the U.S. state of Virginia . The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C. , the national capital. Arlington County is coextensive with the U.S. Census Bureau 's census-designated place of Arlington. Arlington County is the eighth-most populous county in the Washington metropolitan area with
4482-530: Is actually four separate trails connected by a combination of on-road bike facilities and sidewalks. There are plans to extend the trail further west to Sudley Road in Prince William County. All exits in the District of Columbia are unnumbered. Interstate 266 ( I-266 ) was a proposed loop route of I-66 between Washington, D.C. , and Arlington County, Virginia . D.C. officials proposed designating
4648-534: Is also commonly believed the Interstate Highway System was built for the sole purpose of evacuating cities in the event of nuclear warfare . While military motivations were present, the primary motivations were civilian. The numbering scheme for the Interstate Highway System was developed in 1957 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The association's present numbering policy dates back to August 10, 1973. Within
4814-424: Is free during those times for HOV-3+ drivers with an E-ZPass Flex and for motorcycles. Other drivers must pay a toll that can be almost $ 50 at peak times. Outside of these hours, I-66 is free for all drivers to use. In Washington, D.C. , the route quickly turns north, separating from US 50. The highway interchanges with the E Street Expressway spur before passing beneath Virginia and New Hampshire Avenues in
4980-540: Is now Dorothy Hamm Middle School, with the admission of black pupils Donald Deskins, Michael Jones, Lance Newman, and Gloria Thompson. The U.S. Supreme Court 's ruling in 1954, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka , Kansas had struck down the previous ruling on racial segregation Plessy v. Ferguson that held that facilities could be racially "separate but equal". Brown v. Board of Education ruled that "racially separate educational facilities were inherently unequal". The elected Arlington County School Board presumed that
5146-409: Is particularly striking. This neighborhood, a downtown shopping area, fell into decay. It became home to a vibrant Vietnamese business community in the 1970s and 1980s known as Little Saigon . It has now been significantly gentrified. Its Vietnamese population is now barely visible, except for several holdout businesses. Arlington's careful planning for the Metro has transformed the county and has become
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5312-525: Is to have the highway route extend from Tamaulipas , Mexico to Ontario , Canada. The planned I-11 will then bridge the Interstate gap between Phoenix, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada , and thus form part of the CANAMEX Corridor (along with I-19 , and portions of I-10 and I-15 ) between Sonora , Mexico and Alberta , Canada. Political opposition from residents canceled many freeway projects around
5478-603: Is water. It is the smallest county by area in Virginia and is the smallest self-governing county in the United States. About 4.6 square miles (11.9 km ) (17.6%) of the county is federal property. The county courthouse and most government offices are located in the Courthouse neighborhood. Since the late 20th century, the county government has pursued a development strategy of concentrating much of its new development near transit facilities, such as Metrorail stations and
5644-651: Is within the National Cemetery, the National Park Service presently administers the House and its grounds as a memorial to Robert E. Lee. Confederate incursions from Falls Church , Minor's Hill and Upton's Hill , then securely in Confederate hands, occurred as far east as the present-day Ballston . On August 17, 1861, 600 Confederate soldiers engaged the 23rd New York Infantry Regiment near Ballston, killing
5810-478: The Blue Ridge at Manassas Gap , paralleling SR 55 (John Marshall Highway) and meeting US 17 at a partial interchange with no access from southbound US 17 to westbound I-66. SR 55 also merges onto the freeway at this interchange, forming a three-way concurrency that ends near Marshall , with SR 55 leaving along with U.S. Route 17 Business (US 17 Bus.) and US 17 leaving at
5976-552: The British Crown were awarded to prominent Englishmen in exchange for political favors and efforts as part of the county's early development. One of the grantees was Thomas Fairfax for whom both Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax are named. The county's name was derived from Henry Bennet , the Earl of Arlington , which was a plantation along the Potomac River , and Arlington House ,
6142-676: The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Georgetown , which was farther inland and on the northern side of the Potomac River next to Washington, D.C. Members of Congress from other areas of Virginia used their influence to prohibit funding for projects, including the Alexandria Canal , which would have increased competition with their home districts. Congress also prohibited the federal government from establishing any offices in Alexandria, which made
6308-480: The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway , by then the owners of the line, petitioned the Interstate Commerce Commission to let them abandon it. The purchase would eliminate the need to build grade separation where the railroad crossed I-66 and would provide 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of right-of-way for the highway, saving the state millions. The abandonment proceedings took more than three years, as customers of
6474-493: The City of Alexandria was legally separated from Alexandria County by an amendment to the Virginia Constitution that made all Virginia incorporated cities (though not incorporated towns ) independent of the counties with which they had previously been a part. Confusion between the city and the county of Alexandria having the same name led to a movement to rename Alexandria County. In 1896, an electric trolley line
6640-474: The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex in Texas, and an I-35W and I-35E that run through Minneapolis and Saint Paul , Minnesota, still exist. Additionally, due to Congressional requirements, three sections of I-69 in southern Texas will be divided into I-69W , I-69E , and I-69C (for Central). AASHTO policy allows dual numbering to provide continuity between major control points. This is referred to as
6806-538: The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 into law. Under the act, the federal government would pay for 90 percent of the cost of construction of Interstate Highways. Each Interstate Highway was required to be a freeway with at least four lanes and no at-grade crossings. The publication in 1955 of the General Location of National System of Interstate Highways , informally known as the Yellow Book , mapped out what became
Interstate 66 - Misplaced Pages Continue
6972-538: The Grand Forks area have higher speed limits of 75 mph (120 km/h). As one of the components of the National Highway System , Interstate Highways improve the mobility of military troops to and from airports, seaports, rail terminals, and other military bases. Interstate Highways also connect to other roads that are a part of the Strategic Highway Network , a system of roads identified as critical to
7138-515: The Lincoln Highway , the first road across America. He recalled that, "The old convoy had started me thinking about good two-lane highways... the wisdom of broader ribbons across our land." Eisenhower also gained an appreciation of the Reichsautobahn system, the first "national" implementation of modern Germany's Autobahn network, as a necessary component of a national defense system while he
7304-637: The Rosslyn neighborhood, was completed. At the time of completion, the Turnberry Tower was the tallest residential building in the Washington metropolitan area . In 2017, Nestlé USA chose 1812 N Moore in Rosslyn as their U.S. headquarters. In 2018, Amazon.com, Inc. announced that it would build its co-headquarters in the Crystal City neighborhood, anchoring a broader area of Arlington and Alexandria that
7470-537: The Theodore Roosevelt Bridge , reaching another eastbound entrance and westbound exit as US 29 continues north on the Key Bridge . It then has a complex interchange with George Washington Parkway and SR 110 (Richmond Highway), providing access to Alexandria and the Pentagon , respectively. US 50 ( Arlington Boulevard ) merges onto the highway with a westbound exit and eastbound entrance and
7636-489: The Theodore Roosevelt Bridge . In November, a modified design was submitted, reducing the eight lanes to six. However, in 1975, VDOT disapproved the six-lane design. The parties then agreed on experts to conduct air quality and noise studies for VDOT, selecting the firm of ESL Incorporated , the expert hired originally by ACT. In 1976, United States Secretary of Transportation William Thaddeus Coleman Jr. intervened. On January 4, 1977, Coleman approved federal aid for
7802-499: The US Department of Defense . The system has also been used to facilitate evacuations in the face of hurricanes and other natural disasters. An option for maximizing traffic throughput on a highway is to reverse the flow of traffic on one side of a divider so that all lanes become outbound lanes. This procedure, known as contraflow lane reversal , has been employed several times for hurricane evacuations. After public outcry regarding
7968-464: The US Highways , which increase from east to west and north to south). This numbering system usually holds true even if the local direction of the route does not match the compass directions. Numbers divisible by five are intended to be major arteries among the primary routes, carrying traffic long distances. Primary north–south Interstates increase in number from I-5 between Canada and Mexico along
8134-732: The United States . The system extends throughout the contiguous United States and has routes in Hawaii , Alaska , and Puerto Rico . In the 20th century, the United States Congress began funding roadways through the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 , and started an effort to construct a national road grid with the passage of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 . In 1926, the United States Numbered Highway System
8300-528: The University of Virginia and Virginia Tech are also located in the county. Corporations based in the county include the co-headquarters of Amazon , several consulting firms , and the global headquarters of Boeing , Raytheon Technologies and BAE Systems Platforms & Services . Present-day Arlington County was part of Fairfax County in the Colony of Virginia during the colonial era . Land grants from
8466-649: The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation , and the private partner, I-66 Express Mobility Partners, with an estimating $ 3.7 billion dollars for transportation/road improvements along the I-66 corridor. The project, known as Transform 66, opened to traffic in November 2022 and the HOV rule changed from HOV-2+ to HOV-3+ in early December 2022. In 2015, the Virginia Department of Transportation planning board added I-66 HOT lanes to their list of priority projects for
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#17328558630088632-541: The West Coast to I‑95 between Canada and Miami, Florida along the East Coast . Major west–east arterial Interstates increase in number from I-10 between Santa Monica, California , and Jacksonville, Florida , to I-90 between Seattle, Washington , and Boston, Massachusetts , with two exceptions. There are no I-50 and I-60, as routes with those numbers would likely pass through states that currently have US Highways with
8798-776: The West Falls Church station at the SR ;7 interchange and provided a new bridge for the W&;OD Trail over US 29. VDOT completed in August ;2018 a diverging diamond interchange in Haymarket at the interchange of I-66 with US 15 . In Washington D.C., I-66 was planned to extend east of its current terminus along the North Leg of the Inner Loop freeway. I-66 would have also met
8964-406: The "Shenandoah Freeway", although the name did not enter common use. Between the Capital Beltway and the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge, the eastbound (inbound) roadway is a high-occupancy toll (HOT) road from 5:30 to 9:30 am, and the westbound (outbound) roadway is an HOT road from 3:00 to 7:00 pm. E-ZPass is required for all vehicles except motorcycles, including Dulles Airport users. I-66
9130-450: The "Transform 66 Inside the Beltway" improvement project. VDOT also announced during 2016 that it would initiate on I-66 a dynamic tolling system in the peak travel directions during rush hours. On December 4, 2017, VDOT converted 10 miles (16 km) of I-66 between US 29 in Rosslyn and the Capital Beltway to an HOV variable congestion pricing tolling system. The system permits solo drivers to use I-66 during peak travel hours in
9296-462: The 6.6-mile-long (10.6 km) section from I-81 to US 340/US 522 north of Front Royal opened. In July 1974, a final environmental impact statement (EIS) was submitted. The EIS proposed an eight-lane limited access expressway from the Capital Beltway to the area near Spout Run Parkway . Six lanes would branch off at the Parkway and cross the Potomac River via a proposed Three Sisters Bridge . Another six lanes would branch off to
9462-406: The Arlington County government's Neighborhood Conservation Program (NCP). Each of these neighborhoods has a Neighborhood Conservation Plan that describes the neighborhood's characteristics, history and recommendations for capital improvement projects that the County government funds through the NCP. Arlington is often spoken of as divided between North Arlington and South Arlington, which designate
9628-489: The Arlington County portion of the project. The group objected to that urban segment due to concerns over air quality , noise , unwanted traffic congestion, wasteful spending, impacts on mass transit, and wasted energy by auto travel. In 1972 the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of ACT, technically blocking any construction. The US Supreme Court upheld the ruling in favor of ACT later that same year. Again, work continued elsewhere, and, in October 1971,
9794-440: The Beltway and SR 120 (Glebe Road); and then along the Rosslyn Spur of the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad (W&OD) between Glebe Road and Rosslyn in Arlington County . The route west of 123 was determined earlier. Two other routes through Arlington neighborhoods and one along Arlington Boulevard were rejected due to cost or opposition. I-66 was originally to connect to the Three Sisters Bridge , but, as that bridge
9960-516: The Capital Beltway (I-495) through Arlington County, Virginia, although many Arlington residents are adamantly opposed to this plan. In 2004–2005, Virginia studied options for widening the highway inside the Beltway, including the prospect of implementing a one-lane-plus-shoulder extension on westbound I-66 within the Beltway (in an attempt to reduce congestion for people commuting away from D.C.). They later settled on three planned "spot improvements" meant to ease traffic congestion on westbound I-66 inside
10126-500: The Capital Beltway. The first improvement, a 1.9-mile (3.1 km) zone between Fairfax Drive and Sycamore Street, started in summer 2010 and was finished in December 2011. For this project, the entrance ramp acceleration lane and the exit ramp deceleration lanes were lengthened to form a continuous lane between both ramps. The 12-foot (3.7 m) shoulder lane can carry emergency vehicles and can be used in emergency situations. The second one widened 1.675 miles (2.696 km) between
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#173285586300810292-416: The Civil War ended, the Abingdon estate's heir, Alexander Hunter , filed a federal lawsuit to recover the property. James A. Garfield , a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives who was a brigadier general in the Union Army during the Civil War and later became the 20th President of the United States , was an attorney on Hunter's legal team. In 1870, the U.S. Supreme Court found that
10458-413: The Civil War, the U.S. federal government confiscated the Abingdon estate, which was located on and near the present Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport , when its owner failed to pay the estate's property tax in person because he was serving in the Confederate States Army . The government then sold the property at auction, and the purchaser leased the property to a third party. In 1865, after
10624-402: The Congress Hotel in Chicago. In the plan, Mehren proposed a 50,000-mile (80,000 km) system, consisting of five east–west routes and 10 north–south routes. The system would include two percent of all roads and would pass through every state at a cost of $ 25,000 per mile ($ 16,000/km), providing commercial as well as military transport benefits. In 1919, the US Army sent an expedition across
10790-451: The D.C. freeway network, which included previous alignments for the North Leg Freeway, led to the mass cancelation of all unbuilt D.C. freeways in 1977, resulting in the truncation of I-66 at US 29. In 2023, as part of the Transform 66 - Outside the Beltway Project, a multi-use trail was built along the right-of-way from Gallows Road, located just outside the Beltway in Dunn Loring to a point just west of Rt. 28 in Centreville. The trail
10956-583: The Gainesville and Haymarket area. I-66's overpasses were reconstructed to accommodate nine lanes (six general purpose, two HOV, and one collector–distributor eastbound) and lengthened for the expansion of US 29 to six lanes. These alterations were completed in June 2010. In 2014–2015, US 29 was largely grade-separated in the area, including an interchange at its current intersection with SR 619 (Linton Hall Road). The project began in 2004 and finished in 2015. The Virginia Department of Transportation announced its public-private partnership with
11122-458: The I-66 corridor. The projects have sparked opposition between residents and community businesses over the direction of this region's future infrastructure planning. The VDOT established a "Transform 66" website on regional traffic issues. Residents living within the I-66 corridor have set up "Transform 66 Wisely", a website describing local community impacts that the VDOT projects may cause. Local business groups and Chambers of Commerce located near
11288-407: The Interstate Highway System. Assisting in the planning was Charles Erwin Wilson , who was still head of General Motors when President Eisenhower selected him as Secretary of Defense in January 1953. Some sections of highways that became part of the Interstate Highway System actually began construction earlier. Three states have claimed the title of first Interstate Highway. Missouri claims that
11454-424: The Interstate Highway program. The Interstates of Alaska and Puerto Rico are numbered sequentially in order of funding without regard to the rules on odd and even numbers. They also carry the prefixes A and PR , respectively. However, these highways are signed according to their local designations, not their Interstate Highway numbers. Furthermore, these routes were neither planned according to nor constructed to
11620-409: The Interstate just north of the Roosevelt Bridge. It proceeds east, has an interchange with Virginia Avenue Northwest, and terminates at 20th Street Northwest. From there, traffic continues along E Street Northwest to 17th Street Northwest near the White House , the Old Executive Office Building , George Washington University , and the Corcoran Gallery of Art . Westbound traffic from 17th Street takes
11786-442: The Metro lines increased significantly for both residential and commercial property. The ensuing gentrification caused the mostly working and lower middle class white Southern residents to either be priced out of rent or in some cases sell their homes. This permanently changed the character of the city, and ultimately resulted in the virtual eradication of this group over the coming 30 years, being replaced with an increasing presence of
11952-530: The North Leg would emerge from the tunnel and join with the Center Leg Freeway (formerly I-95, now I-395); the two routes would run concurrently for 0.75 miles (1.21 km) before reaching the Washington Union Station interchange, where I-66 was planned to terminate. Despite the plan to route the North Leg in a tunnel beneath K Street, the intense opposition to previous, scrapped alignments for
12118-580: The Pentagon and make room for highway construction. In 1908, Potomac was incorporated as a town in Alexandria County, and was annexed by Alexandria in 1930. In 1920, the Virginia legislature renamed the area Arlington County to avoid confusion with the City of Alexandria which had become an independent city in 1870 under the new Virginia Constitution adopted after the Civil War. In the 1930s, Hoover Field
12284-682: The Roosevelt Bridge to Rosslyn opened in October ;1966. After the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT; then known as the Virginia Department of Highways) took possession of the mainline W&OD right-of-way in 1968, they began to run into opposition as the highway revolts of the late 1960s and early 1970s took hold. In 1970, the Arlington County Board requested new hearings, and opponents began to organize marches. At
12450-426: The U.S. federal government had illegally confiscated the property and ordered that it be returned to Hunter. The property included the former residence of Confederate General Robert E. Lee 's family at and around Arlington House , which had been subjected to an appraisal of $ 26,810, on which a real estate tax of $ 92.07 was assessed. Likely fearing an encounter with Union officials, Lee's wife, Mary Anna Custis Lee ,
12616-820: The US to determine the difficulties that military vehicles would have on a cross-country trip. Leaving from the Ellipse near the White House on July 7, the Motor Transport Corps convoy needed 62 days to drive 3,200 miles (5,100 km) on the Lincoln Highway to the Presidio of San Francisco along the Golden Gate . The convoy suffered many setbacks and problems on the route, such as poor-quality bridges, broken crankshafts, and engines clogged with desert sand. Dwight Eisenhower , then
12782-703: The United States, including: In addition to cancellations, removals of freeways are planned: The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has defined a set of standards that all new Interstates must meet unless a waiver from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is obtained. One almost absolute standard is the controlled access nature of the roads. With few exceptions , traffic lights (and cross traffic in general) are limited to toll booths and ramp meters (metered flow control for lane merging during rush hour ). Being freeways , Interstate Highways usually have
12948-688: The University of Virginia. This campus was subsequently renamed University College, then the Northern Virginia Branch of the University of Virginia, then George Mason College of the University of Virginia, and finally to its present name, George Mason University . The Henry G. Shirley Highway, also known as Interstate 395 , was constructed during World War II , along with adjacent developments such as Shirlington , Fairlington , and Parkfairfax . In February 1959, Arlington Public Schools desegregated racially at Stratford Junior High School, which
13114-563: The Virginia legislature to approve such a transfer, known as retrocession . On February 3, 1846, the Virginia General Assembly agreed to accept the retrocession of Alexandria if Congress approved. Following additional lobbying by Alexandrians, Congress passed legislation on July 9, 1846 , to return all the District's territory south of the Potomac River back to Virginia, pursuant to a referendum, and President James K. Polk signed
13280-613: The Washington Boulevard onramp and the ramp to the Dulles Access Road. Work on it began in 2013 and finished in 2015. The third project, between Lee Highway/ Spout Run and Glebe Road, was completed in 2022. In Gainesville, Virginia, the Gainesville Interchange Project upgraded the interchange between US 29 and I-66 for those and many other roads due to rapid development and accompanying heavy traffic in
13446-473: The act was signed, and paving started September 26, 1956. The state marked its portion of I-70 as the first project in the United States completed under the provisions of the new Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. The Pennsylvania Turnpike could also be considered one of the first Interstate Highways, and is nicknamed "Grandfather of the Interstate System". On October 1, 1940, 162 miles (261 km) of
13612-835: The affected areas, however, supported the improvements. Residents along the I-66 corridor, such as in Arlington County, have resisted I-66 widening proposals for many years. The local Stenwood Elementary School would lose its attached field, leaving it with blacktop-only recess space. In an April 16, 2015, letter to the Virginia Secretary of Transportation, members of the 1st, 8th, 10th, and 11th districts of Congress wrote that VDOT research noted that, during peak hours, 35 percent of eastbound cars and 50 percent of westbound cars are HOV violators. Future federal steps for VDOT include National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review, obligation of federal funds, certification that
13778-406: The appropriate direction if they pay a toll. VDOT designed the price of toll to keep traffic moving at a minimum of 45 mph (72 km/h) and to increase the capacity of the road. Carpools and vanpools (with three or more people), transit, on-duty law enforcement and first responders will not pay a toll. Prices ranged up to $ 47 for solo drivers, but the average speed during the morning rush hour
13944-511: The borders of the area that eventually became Arlington, but the citizens in Washington, D.C., were no longer considered residents of Maryland or Virginia, which represented the end of their federal representation in Congress. Prior to retrocession, residents of Alexandria County expected the proximity of the federal capital to result in higher land prices and the growth of regional commerce. The county instead found itself struggling to compete with
14110-648: The cancellation of the Somerset Freeway . This situation was remedied when the construction of the Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 95 Interchange Project started in 2010 and partially opened on September 22, 2018, which was already enough to fill the gap. However, I-70 remains discontinuous in Pennsylvania , because of the lack of a direct interchange with the Pennsylvania Turnpike at
14276-650: The city. In some locations, low speed limits are the result of lawsuits and resident demands; after holding up the completion of I-35E in St. Paul, Minnesota , for nearly 30 years in the courts, residents along the stretch of the freeway from the southern city limit to downtown successfully lobbied for a 45 mph (70 km/h) speed limit in addition to a prohibition on any vehicle weighing more than 9,000 pounds (4,100 kg) gross vehicle weight . I-93 in Franconia Notch State Park in northern New Hampshire has
14442-401: The collection of tolls, some Interstate routes are toll roads , either because they were grandfathered into the system or because subsequent legislation has allowed for tolling of Interstates in some cases. As of 2022 , about one quarter of all vehicle miles driven in the country used the Interstate Highway System, which has a total length of 48,890 miles (78,680 km). In 2022 and 2023,
14608-497: The construction and improvement of highways. The nation's revenue needs associated with World War I prevented any significant implementation of this policy, which expired in 1921. In December 1918, E. J. Mehren, a civil engineer and the editor of Engineering News-Record , presented his "A Suggested National Highway Policy and Plan" during a gathering of the State Highway Officials and Highway Industries Association at
14774-407: The contiguous United States, primary Interstates—also called main line Interstates or two-digit Interstates—are assigned numbers less than 100. While numerous exceptions do exist, there is a general scheme for numbering Interstates. Primary Interstates are assigned one- or two-digit numbers, while shorter routes (such as spurs, loops, and short connecting roads) are assigned three-digit numbers where
14940-468: The conversion to tolled facilities will not "degrade" the existing facility, and potential federal loan guarantee. The Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) is responsible for overseeing VDOT and allocating highway funding to specific projects. The board has 18 members appointed by the Governor, includes the Virginia Secretary of Transportation, Aubrey Layne , and is the group that will be making
15106-403: The county less important to the functioning of the national government. Alexandria was a center for the slave trade ; Franklin and Armfield Office in Alexandria was once an office used in slave trading. Rumors circulated that abolitionists in Congress were attempting to end slavery in the District, an act that, at the time, would have further depressed Alexandria's slavery-based economy. At
15272-415: The county. In 2024, Arlington County circuit court judge David Schell overturned this zoning change after a small group of NIMBY homeowners filed a lawsuit against the county. Schell ruled that Arlington County did not study the potential impacts adequately. Arlington County is located in Northern Virginia and is surrounded by Fairfax County and Falls Church to the west, the city of Alexandria to
15438-740: The desegregation struggle in the county. During the 1960s, Arlington experienced challenges related to a large influx of newcomers during the 1950s. M.T. Broyhill & Sons Corporation was at the forefront of building the new communities for these newcomers, which would lead to the election of Joel Broyhill as the representative of Virginia's 10th congressional district for 11 terms. The old commercial districts did not have ample off-street parking and many shoppers were taking their business to new commercial centers, such as Parkington and Seven Corners. Suburbs further out in Virginia and Maryland were expanding, and Arlington's main commercial center in Clarendon
15604-618: The discontinuity, but they have been blocked by local opposition, fearing a loss of business. The Interstate Highway System has been expanded numerous times. The expansions have both created new designations and extended existing designations. For example, I-49 , added to the system in the 1980s as a freeway in Louisiana , was designated as an expansion corridor, and FHWA approved the expanded route north from Lafayette, Louisiana , to Kansas City, Missouri . The freeway exists today as separate completed segments, with segments under construction or in
15770-448: The dissemination of public information. As a result, the 2005 evacuation of New Orleans, Louisiana, prior to Hurricane Katrina ran much more smoothly. According to urban legend , early regulations required that one out of every five miles of the Interstate Highway System must be built straight and flat, so as to be usable by aircraft during times of war. There is no evidence of this rule being included in any Interstate legislation. It
15936-712: The duration of the Civil War, the Confederacy claimed the whole of antebellum Virginia, including the more staunchly Union-supporting northwestern counties that eventually broke away and were later admitted to the Union in 1863 as West Virginia . However, the Confederacy never fully controlled all of present-day Northern Virginia . In 1862, the U.S. Congress passed a law that required that obligated owners of property in districts where active Confederate insurrections were occurring to pay their real estate taxes in person. In 1864, during
16102-492: The eastern end of the concurrency near Breezewood . Traveling in either direction, I-70 traffic must exit the freeway and use a short stretch of US 30 (which includes a number of roadside services) to rejoin I-70. The interchange was not originally built because of a legacy federal funding rule, since relaxed, which restricted the use of federal funds to improve roads financed with tolls. Solutions have been proposed to eliminate
16268-562: The eastern terminus of the planned I-266 at US 29, and the western terminus of I-695 (South Leg Freeway) at US 50; I-266 would have been a parallel route to I-66, providing more direct access to the North Leg from points west, while I-695 would have been an inner-city connector between I-66 and I-95. The final plans for the North Leg Freeway, published in 1971, outlined a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) six-lane tunnel beneath K Street , between I-266/US 29 and New York Avenue, where
16434-450: The economy. Not just as a public works measure, but for future growth. Clay's committee proposed a 10-year, $ 100 billion program ($ 1.13 trillion in 2023), which would build 40,000 miles (64,000 km) of divided highways linking all American cities with a population of greater than 50,000. Eisenhower initially preferred a system consisting of toll roads , but Clay convinced Eisenhower that toll roads were not feasible outside of
16600-512: The enactment of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 . Unlike the earlier United States Numbered Highway System, the interstates were designed to be all freeways, with nationally unified standards for construction and signage. While some older freeways were adopted into the system, most of the routes were completely new. In dense urban areas, the choice of routing destroyed many well-established neighborhoods, often intentionally as part of
16766-488: The existing, largely non-freeway, United States Numbered Highways system. By the late 1930s, planning had expanded to a system of new superhighways. In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave Thomas MacDonald , chief at the Bureau of Public Roads, a hand-drawn map of the United States marked with eight superhighway corridors for study. In 1939, Bureau of Public Roads Division of Information chief Herbert S. Fairbank wrote
16932-629: The family residence on that property. George Washington Parke Custis , grandson of First Lady Martha Washington , acquired the land in 1802. The estate was later passed down to Mary Anna Custis Lee , wife of Robert E. Lee , a Confederate general during the American Civil War , and then later seized by the U.S. federal government in a tax sale. The property later became the Arlington National Cemetery . Present-day Arlington County and most of present-day Alexandria were ceded to
17098-405: The federal district was a square, measuring 10 miles (16 km) on each side, totaling 100 square miles (260 km ). In 1791 and 1792, Andrew Ellicott and several assistants placed boundary stones at every mile point. Fourteen of these markers were in Virginia, and many of the stones are still standing. When Congress arrived in the new capital from Philadelphia , one of their first acts
17264-468: The federal government to the Commonwealth of Virginia the authority for the operation, maintenance, and construction of I-66 between Rosslyn and the Capital Beltway. Because I-66 is the only Interstate Highway traveling west from Washington, D.C., into Northern Virginia , traffic on the road is often extremely heavy. For decades, there has been talk of widening I-66 from two to three lanes each way inside
17430-426: The federal government, Interstate Highways are owned by the state in which they were built. With few exceptions , all Interstates must meet specific standards , such as having controlled access, physical barriers or median strips between lanes of oncoming traffic, breakdown lanes , avoiding at-grade intersections , no traffic lights , and complying with federal traffic sign specifications. Interstate Highways use
17596-574: The federal territory's borders to the southeast in order to include the existing town of Alexandria. In 1791, Congress , at Washington's request, amended the Residence Act to approve the new site, including the territory ceded by Virginia. The amendment to the Residence Act prohibited the "erection of the public buildings otherwise than on the Maryland side of the River Potomac." The initial shape of
17762-526: The final decision and allocating funding for VDOT's plans for I-66. In 2016, VDOT announced that it was planning to add express lanes and multimodal transportation improvements to I-66 outside the Beltway (the "Transform 66 Outside the Beltway" improvement project). A decision was also made to move forward with widening I-66 eastbound and make multimodal improvements from the Dulles Airport connector to Ballston,
17928-507: The first three contracts under the new program were signed in Missouri on August 2, 1956. The first contract signed was for upgrading a section of US Route 66 to what is now designated Interstate 44 . On August 13, 1956, work began on US 40 (now I-70) in St. Charles County. Kansas claims that it was the first to start paving after the act was signed. Preliminary construction had taken place before
18094-594: The first time sought to target these funds to the construction of a national road grid of interconnected "primary highways", setting up cooperation among the various state highway planning boards. The Bureau of Public Roads asked the Army to provide a list of roads that it considered necessary for national defense. In 1922, General John J. Pershing , former head of the American Expeditionary Force in Europe during
18260-429: The formation of West Virginia as a state, which comprised what then 51 counties in the northwest part of the state that favored abolitionism. Largely as a result of the economic neglect by Congress, divisions over slavery, and the lack of voting rights for the residents of the District, a movement grew to return Alexandria to Virginia from the District of Columbia. From 1840 to 1846, Alexandrians petitioned Congress and
18426-408: The gap between Haymarket and Gainesville closed on December 19, 1980. On December 22, 1982, the final section of I-66 opened between the Capital Beltway and US 29 (Lee Highway) in Rosslyn, near the Virginia end of the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge. The Custis Trail , the trail along I-66 built between Rosslyn and Falls Church as a concession, opened in the summer of 1982, before the highway
18592-739: The headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense . Other notable locations are DARPA , the Drug Enforcement Administration 's headquarters, Reagan National Airport , and Arlington National Cemetery . Colleges and universities in the county include Marymount University and George Mason University 's Antonin Scalia Law School , School of Business , the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution , and Schar School of Policy and Government . Graduate programs, research, and non-traditional student education centers affiliated with
18758-643: The high-volume bus lines of Columbia Pike . Within the transit areas, the government has a policy of encouraging mixed-use and pedestrian- and transit-oriented development . Some of these " urban village " communities include: In 2002, Arlington received the EPA 's National Award for Smart Growth Achievement for "Overall Excellence in Smart Growth ." In 2005, the County implemented an affordable housing ordinance that requires most developers to contribute significant affordable housing resources, either in units or through
18924-542: The highest speed limits in a given area. Speed limits are determined by individual states. From 1975 to 1986, the maximum speed limit on any highway in the United States was 55 miles per hour (90 km/h), in accordance with federal law. Typically, lower limits are established in Northeastern and coastal states, while higher speed limits are established in inland states west of the Mississippi River . For example,
19090-542: The highly populated coastal regions. In February 1955, Eisenhower forwarded Clay's proposal to Congress. The bill quickly won approval in the Senate, but House Democrats objected to the use of public bonds as the means to finance construction. Eisenhower and the House Democrats agreed to instead finance the system through the Highway Trust Fund , which itself would be funded by a gasoline tax. In June 1956, Eisenhower signed
19256-544: The highway department bought the Rosslyn Spur of the W&;OD for $ 900,000 (equivalent to $ 6.94 million in 2023) and began clearing the way, such that, by 1965, all that was left was dirt and the remains of 200 homes cleared for the highway. In February 1965, the state contracted to buy 30.5 miles (49.1 km) of the W&OD from Herndon to Alexandria for $ 3.5 million (equivalent to $ 25.8 million in 2023) and
19422-607: The highway now designated I‑70 and I‑76 opened between Irwin and Carlisle . The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania refers to the turnpike as the Granddaddy of the Pikes, a reference to turnpikes . Milestones in the construction of the Interstate Highway System include: The initial cost estimate for the system was $ 25 billion over 12 years; it ended up costing $ 114 billion (equivalent to $ 425 billion in 2006 or $ 618 billion in 2023 ) and took 35 years. The system
19588-454: The inefficiency of evacuating from southern Louisiana prior to Hurricane Georges ' landfall in September 1998, government officials looked towards contraflow to improve evacuation times. In Savannah, Georgia , and Charleston, South Carolina , in 1999, lanes of I-16 and I-26 were used in a contraflow configuration in anticipation of Hurricane Floyd with mixed results. In 2004, contraflow
19754-431: The last two digits match the parent route (thus, I-294 is a loop that connects at both ends to I-94 , while I-787 is a short spur route attached to I-87 ). In the numbering scheme for the primary routes, east–west highways are assigned even numbers and north–south highways are assigned odd numbers. Odd route numbers increase from west to east, and even-numbered routes increase from south to north (to avoid confusion with
19920-593: The late 1970s and early 1980s, the highway's final miles were built. A 2.9-mile-long (4.7 km) section from Delaplane to US 17 east of Marshall was completed in two sections in 1978 and 1979. The 15.6-mile-long (25.1 km) section from US 340 to Delaplane was completed in August 1979. A 12-mile (19 km) section between US 17 in Marshall and US 15 in Haymarket opened in December ;1979, with
20086-429: The legislation the next day. A referendum on retrocession was held on September 1 and 2, 1846, and the voters in Alexandria voted in favor of the retrocession by a margin of 734 to 116, while those in the rest of Alexandria County voted against retrocession 106 to 29. Pursuant to the referendum, President Polk issued a proclamation of transfer on September 7, 1846. However, the Virginia legislature did not immediately accept
20252-450: The mainline. Some auxiliary highways do not follow these guidelines, however. The Interstate Highway System also extends to Alaska , Hawaii , and Puerto Rico , even though they have no direct land connections to any other states or territories. However, their residents still pay federal fuel and tire taxes. The Interstates in Hawaii, all located on the most populous island of Oahu , carry
20418-686: The maximum speed limit is 75 mph (120 km/h) in northern Maine, varies between 50 and 70 mph (80 and 115 km/h) from southern Maine to New Jersey, and is 50 mph (80 km/h) in New York City and the District of Columbia. Currently, rural speed limits elsewhere generally range from 65 to 80 miles per hour (105 to 130 km/h). Several portions of various highways such as I-10 and I-20 in rural western Texas, I-80 in Nevada between Fernley and Winnemucca (except around Lovelock) and portions of I-15 , I-70 , I-80 , and I-84 in Utah have
20584-696: The new federal government by Virginia . On July 16, 1790, the Congress passed the Residence Act , which authorized the relocation of the capital from Philadelphia to a location to be selected on the Potomac River by U.S. President George Washington . The Residence Act originally only allowed the President to select a location in Maryland as far east as the Anacostia River . President Washington, however, shifted
20750-441: The next exit. The freeway then passes through Bull Run Mountain at Thoroughfare Gap . Expanding to six lanes, and continuing to parallel SR 55, I-66 enters the towns of Haymarket and Gainesville , reaching interchanges with US 15 (James Madison Highway) and US 29 (Lee Highway) in each town, respectively. The highway then expands to ten lanes and heads to the south of Manassas National Battlefield Park and to
20916-522: The north of Bull Run Regional Park . The highway reaches another interchange with US 29 and passes to the north of Centreville and meets SR 28 (Sully Road) at an interchange with cloverleaf and stack elements to it. SR 28 heads north to Dulles International Airport and south to Manassas . The freeway then meets SR 286 ( Fairfax County Parkway ), US 50 (Lee Jackson Memorial Highway), and SR 123 ( Chain Bridge Road) at
21082-404: The number of fatalities on the Interstate Highway System amounted to more than 5,000 people annually, with nearly 5,600 fatalities in 2022. The United States government's efforts to construct a national network of highways began on an ad hoc basis with the passage of the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 , which provided $ 75 million over a five-year period for matching funds to the states for
21248-458: The official Interstate Highway standards . On one- or two-digit Interstates, the mile marker numbering almost always begins at the southern or western state line. If an Interstate originates within a state, the numbering begins from the location where the road begins in the south or west. As with all guidelines for Interstate routes, however, numerous exceptions exist. Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County , or simply Arlington ,
21414-465: The original 1956 plan and several stretches that did not fully conform with federal standards . The construction of the Interstate Highway System cost approximately $ 114 billion (equivalent to $ 618 billion in 2023). The system has continued to expand and grow as additional federal funding has provided for new routes to be added, and many future Interstate Highways are currently either being planned or under construction. Though heavily funded by
21580-482: The owner of the property, chose not pay the tax in person. She instead sent an agent on her behalf, but Union officials refused to accept it. As a result of the 1862 law, the U.S. federal government confiscated the property, and transformed it into a military cemetery. After the Civil War ended and his parents died, George Washington Custis Lee , the Lees' eldest son, initiated a federal legal action in an attempt to recover
21746-633: The planning phase between them. In 1966, the FHWA designated the entire Interstate Highway System as part of the larger Pan-American Highway System, and at least two proposed Interstate expansions were initiated to help trade with Canada and Mexico spurred by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Long-term plans for I-69 , which currently exists in several separate completed segments (the largest of which are in Indiana and Texas ),
21912-503: The political boundaries of Alexandria County. During the American Civil War , Virginia seceded from the Union following a statewide referendum on May 23, 1861; the voters from Alexandria County approved secession by a vote of 958–48. The vote indicates the degree to which its only town, Alexandria, was pro-secession and pro-Confederate. Rural county residents outside Alexandria were largely Union loyalists and voted against secession. For
22078-411: The prefix H . There are three one-digit routes in the state ( H-1 , H-2 , and H-3 ) and one auxiliary route ( H-201 ). These Interstates connect several military and naval bases together, as well as the important communities spread across Oahu, and especially within the urban core of Honolulu . Both Alaska and Puerto Rico also have public highways that receive 90 percent of their funding from
22244-423: The property. In December 1882, the U.S. Supreme Court found that the U.S. federal government illegally confiscated the property without due process, and the property was returned to Custis Lee. In 1883, the U.S. Congress purchased the property from Lee for its fair market value of $ 150,000, whereupon the property became a military reservation and eventually Arlington National Cemetery . Although Arlington House
22410-568: The railway and transit advocates fought to keep the railroad open and delayed work on the highway. During that time, on November 10, 1967, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) announced that it had come to an agreement with the Highway Department that would give them a two-year option to buy a five-mile (8.0 km) stretch of the right-of-way from Glebe Road to the Beltway, where I-66
22576-477: The retrocession offer. Virginia legislators were concerned that Alexandria County residents had not been properly included in the retrocession proceedings. After months of debate, on March 13, 1847, the Virginia General Assembly voted to formally accept the retrocession legislation. In 1852, the Virginia legislature voted to incorporate a portion of Alexandria County as the City of Alexandria, which until then had been administered only as an unincorporated town within
22742-677: The route Interstate 66N, a move opposed by AASHTO . In Virginia, I-266 would have split off from I-66 just east of the present SR 124 (Spout Run Parkway) exit. From there, it would have followed an expanded Spout Run Parkway, crossed the George Washington Memorial Parkway , and crossed the Potomac River across a new bridge that would have been called the Three Sisters Bridge . Upon entering D.C., it would have followed Canal Road and an expanded US 29 (Whitehurst Freeway) to rejoin I-66 at K Street . I-266
22908-524: The route, without regard to the route number. For instance, I-190 in Massachusetts is labeled north–south, while I-195 in New Jersey is labeled east–west. Some looped Interstate routes use inner–outer directions instead of compass directions, when the use of compass directions would create ambiguity. Due to the large number of these routes, auxiliary route numbers may be repeated in different states along
23074-419: The same numbers, which is generally disallowed under highway administration guidelines. Several two-digit numbers are shared between unconnected road segments at opposite ends of the country for various reasons. Some such highways are incomplete Interstates (such as I-69 and I-74 ) and some just happen to share route designations (such as I-76 , I-84 , I‑86 , I-87 , and I-88 ). Some of these were due to
23240-503: The same roadway are signed as traveling in opposite directions; one such wrong-way concurrency is found between Wytheville and Fort Chiswell , Virginia, where I‑81 north and I‑77 south are equivalent (with that section of road traveling almost due east), as are I‑81 south and I‑77 north. Auxiliary Interstate Highways are circumferential, radial, or spur highways that principally serve urban areas . These types of Interstate Highways are given three-digit route numbers, which consist of
23406-469: The same time, an active abolitionist movement arose in Virginia that created a division on the question of slavery in the Virginia General Assembly . Pro-slavery Virginians recognized that if Alexandria were returned to Virginia, it could provide two new representatives who favored slavery in the state legislature. Some time after retrocession, during the American Civil War , this division led to
23572-531: The same time, the federal government wanted to pave the right-of-way from Washington Boulevard and Glebe Road to Rosslyn for an experimental busway, which Arlington County opposed, in part because they thought it might delay and add to the cost of I-66. A significant delay was encountered when the Arlington Coalition on Transportation (ACT) filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court in 1971 opposing
23738-465: The sections of the county that lie north and south of Arlington Boulevard . Places in Arlington are often identified by their location in one or the other. Much consideration is given to socioeconomic and demographic differences between these two portions of the county and the respective amounts of attention they receive in the way of public services. Arlington ranks fourth in the nation, immediately after Washington, D.C. , for park access and quality in
23904-484: The south of the old county line that had not been a part of the District of Columbia. On September 11, 2001 , five al-Qaeda hijackers deliberately crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon , killing 115 Pentagon employees and 10 contractors in the building, and all 53 passengers, six crew members, and five hijackers on board the aircraft. The coordinated attacks were the most deadly terrorist attack in world history. In 2009, Turnberry Tower, located in
24070-432: The southeast, and the national capital of Washington, D.C. to the northeast across the Potomac River , which forms the county's northern border. Minor's Hill and Upton's Hill represent the county's western borders. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 26.1 square miles (67.6 km ), 26.0 square miles (67.3 km ) of which is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km ) (0.4%) of which
24236-627: The state would defer to localities and in January 1956 announced plans to integrate Arlington schools. The state responded by suspending the county's right to an elected school board. The Arlington County Board , the ruling body for the county, appointed segregationists to the school board and blocked plans for desegregation. Lawyers for the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) filed suit on behalf of
24402-435: The two traverse the bridge. The "Custis Memorial Parkway" name commemorates the Custis family, several of whose members (including Martha Dandridge Custis Washington , George Washington Parke Custis , Eleanor "Nelly" Parke Custis Lewis and Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee ) played prominent roles in Northern Virginia 's history. Because of its terminus in the Shenandoah Valley , some early planning documents refer to I-66 as
24568-440: The war, complied by submitting a detailed network of 20,000 miles (32,000 km) of interconnected primary highways—the so-called Pershing Map . A boom in road construction followed throughout the decade of the 1920s, with such projects as the New York parkway system constructed as part of a new national highway system. As automobile traffic increased, planners saw a need for such an interconnected national system to supplement
24734-458: Was 57 mph (92 km/h) versus 37 mph (60 km/h) a year before. In 2017, construction began on the "Transform 66 Outside the Beltway" improvement project. The project added 22.5 miles (36.2 km) of new dynamically-tolled express lanes alongside I-66 from I-495 to University Boulevard in Gainesville. It also built new park and ride facilities, interchange improvements and 11 miles (18 km) of expanded multi-use trail. The project
24900-421: Was built from Washington, D.C. through Ballston ; Northern Virginia trolleys were a significant factor in the county's growth. In 1920, the trolley was named Arlington County , named after Arlington House , the home of the American Civil War Confederate general Robert E. Lee later seized by the Union in a tax sale, is located on the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery . In 1900, Blacks were more than
25066-417: Was canceled in 1972 in the face of community opposition during Washington, D.C.'s freeway revolts . Interstate Highway [REDACTED] The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways , commonly known as the Interstate Highway System , or the Eisenhower Interstate System , is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in
25232-422: Was canceled, it was later designed to connect to the Potomac River Freeway via the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge. On December 16, 1961, the first piece of I-66, an 8.6-mile-long (13.8 km) section from US 29 at Gainesville to US 29 at Centreville was opened. A disconnected 3.3-mile-long (5.3 km) section near Delaplane in Fauquier County opened next in May 1962. In July 1962,
25398-456: Was complete. SR 267 ( Dulles Access Road ) between I-66 and the airport opened in 1984. The Metrorail in the median of I-66 between Ballston and Vienna, another concession, opened on June 7, 1986. After opening, the restrictions on use began to loosen. In 1983, Virginia dropped the HOV requirement from 4 to 3 and then from 3 to 2 in 1994. In 1992, motorcycles were allowed. On October 9, 1999, Public Law 106-69 transferred from
25564-408: Was completed in November 2022. Construction on widening eastbound I-66 as part of the "Transform 66 Inside the Beltway" improvement project began in June 2018 and was completed in 2020. The project added a travel lane on eastbound I-66 between the Dulles Access Road and Fairfax Drive (exit 71) in Ballston, and provided a new ramp-to-ramp direct access connection from eastbound I-66 to
25730-419: Was declining, similar to what happened in other downtown centers. With the growth of these other suburbs, some planners and politicians pushed for highway expansion. The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 would have enabled that expansion in Arlington. The administrator of the National Capital Transportation Agency, economist C. Darwin Stolzenbach, saw the benefits of rapid transit for the region and oversaw plans for
25896-442: Was employed ahead of Hurricane Charley in the Tampa, Florida area and on the Gulf Coast before the landfall of Hurricane Ivan ; however, evacuation times there were no better than previous evacuation operations. Engineers began to apply lessons learned from the analysis of prior contraflow operations, including limiting exits, removing troopers (to keep traffic flowing instead of having drivers stop for directions), and improving
26062-438: Was established on the present site of the Pentagon; in that decade, Buckingham, Colonial Village, and other apartment communities also opened. World War II brought a boom to the county, but one that could not be met by new construction due to rationing imposed by the war effort. In October 1949, the University of Virginia in Charlottesville created an extension center in the county named Northern Virginia University Center of
26228-437: Was established, creating the first national road numbering system for cross-country travel. The roads were state-funded and maintained, and there were few national standards for road design. United States Numbered Highways ranged from two-lane country roads to multi-lane freeways. After Dwight D. Eisenhower became president in 1953, his administration developed a proposal for an interstate highway system, eventually resulting in
26394-405: Was first proposed in 1956 shortly after Congress established the Highway Trust Fund as a highway to connect Strasburg, Virginia , in the Shenandoah Valley with Washington, D.C.. During the planning stages, the Virginia Highway Department considered four possible locations for the highway inside the Beltway; in 1959, it settled on one that followed the Fairfax Drive–Bluemont Drive corridor between
26560-434: Was formed, the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority. Arlington officials renewed their push for a route that benefited the commercial corridor along Wilson Boulevard, which prevailed. There were neighborhood concerns that there would be high-density development along the corridor that would disrupt the character of old neighborhoods. With the population in the county declining, political leaders saw economic development as
26726-468: Was located in a different region of the United States. The E Street Expressway is a spur from I-66 into the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C. I-66 begins at a directional T interchange with I-81 near Middletown, Virginia . It heads east as a four-lane freeway and meets US 522 / US 340 at a partial cloverleaf interchange . The two routes head south to Front Royal and north to Lake Frederick . I-66 continues east and crosses
26892-422: Was proclaimed complete in 1992, but two of the original Interstates— I-95 and I-70 —were not continuous: both of these discontinuities were due to local opposition, which blocked efforts to build the necessary connections to fully complete the system. I-95 was made a continuous freeway in 2018, and thus I-70 remains the only original Interstate with a discontinuity. I-95 was discontinuous in New Jersey because of
27058-494: Was serving as Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe during World War II . In 1954, Eisenhower appointed General Lucius D. Clay to head a committee charged with proposing an interstate highway system plan. Summing up motivations for the construction of such a system, Clay stated, It was evident we needed better highways. We needed them for safety, to accommodate more automobiles. We needed them for defense purposes, if that should ever be necessary. And we needed them for
27224-482: Was simultaneously rebranded as National Landing . By 2020, single-family detached homes accounted for nearly 75% of zoned property in Arlington. In 2023, the Arlington County city council unanimously approved a modest zoning change to permit sixplexes (so-called " missing middle " housing) on lots previously zoned exclusively for single-family homes. The change reversed exclusionary zoning laws that were initially erected to keep low-income people and minorities out of
27390-433: Was to be built, and run mass transit on the median of it. The W&OD ran its last train during the summer of 1968, clearing the way for construction to begin in Arlington County. While the state waited on the W&OD, work continued elsewhere. The Theodore Roosevelt Bridge opened on June 23, 1964, and, in November of that year, the section from Centreville to the Beltway opened. A 0.2-mile (0.32 km) extension from
27556-518: Was to pass the Organic Act of 1801 , officially organizing the District of Columbia and placing the entire federal territory, including present-day Washington, D.C., Georgetown , and Alexandria under the exclusive control of Congress. The territory in the District was organized into two counties: the County of Washington to the east of the Potomac River and the County of Alexandria to the west. It included almost all of present-day Arlington County and part of present-day Alexandria. The Act established
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