Virginia State Route 28

US 17 near Bealeton
 SR 234 in Manassas

State Route 28 is a primary state highway that traverses the counties of Loudoun, Fairfax, Prince William, and Fauquier in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is a major artery through Northern Virginia.

Route

Loudoun County

Route 28 begins as a six lane freeway at VA 7 in Sterling in a complete interchange. It is known as Sully Road through this stretch, although within Loudoun County it is co-designated as Darrell Green Boulevard, after former Washington Redskins player Darrell Green.^[2] Heading south, Route 28 passes the Dulles Town Center shopping mall and through the industrial and commercial areas of Dulles.

The next interchange is a partial cloverleaf serving Nokes Boulevard and the Dulles Town Center, followed by an elaborate interchange with Route 625, Waxpool Road and Church Road, which lead into Ashburn and Sterling, respectively. This interchange features two exits for Waxpool Road from the northbound lanes of Route 28: a left flyover and right loop ramp. Continuing south through Loudoun County, Route 28 has interchanges with Sterling Boulevard and Old Ox Road, the latter servicing nearby Herndon. The final interchange in Loudoun County is the Dulles Toll/Access Road and Dulles Greenway, State Route 267, near Dulles International Airport.

Fairfax County

Entering Fairfax County, Route 28 heads south along the eastern edge of the airport. The next interchanges are for Frying Pan Road in Herndon, McLearen Road, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (an annex of the National Air and Space Museum), and US 50 in Chantilly. Route 28 travels past Chantilly to Centreville through a single-point urban interchange with Willard Road and a cloverleaf interchange with Westfields Boulevard.

After the interchange with Westfields Boulevard, Route 28 transitions from a freeway to an expressway with both interchanges and at-grade intersections. Upon reaching Centreville, Route 28 intersects Interstate 66 and US 29 at partial cloverleafs, though the interchange with I-66 has traffic signals on mainline Route 28. After US 29, Route 28 changes designation from Sully Road to Centreville Road and becomes a suburban arterial with only at-grade intersections, narrowing to four lanes after an intersection with Machen Road.

Prince William County

Route 28 crosses over Bull Run into Prince William County, transitioning from a divided to an undivided highway. The road briefly enters the City of Manassas Park before continuing into the City of Manassas. Route 28 is a main thoroughfare through Manassas and separates into Church and Center Streets. Route 28 rejoins in front of a Confederate cemetery.

VDOT has plans to create an interchange between Wellington Road and Route 28, mostly to grade-separate the crossing of Route 28 with nearby railroad tracks. This $18.3 million project was certified under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on October 5, 2009, and the contract was awarded on July 14, 2010.^[3]

After leaving Manassas, Route 28 becomes Nokesville Road. The final interchange on Route 28 is SR 234 (Prince William Parkway) south of Manassas.

The road narrows from four lanes to two lanes before entering Nokesville.

Fauquier County

Route 28 enters Fauquier County and changes names to Catlett Road. Route 28 is two lanes throughout rural Fauquier County with a speed limit of 45 mph (70 km/h) and passes by farms and agricultural areas. Not far from the Prince William county border Route 28 passes the Waat Bodang Temple.

Historically, the Catlett Fire Department Parade would close Route 28 for several hours each spring, however, this practice was discontinued as traffic became heavier in the 1990s. Most of the way through Fauquier County Route 28 runs parallel to railroad tracks in order to serve the towns that are placed along them. Several historal markers can be seen along Route 28 as it passes through Fauquier including Supreme Court Justice John Marshall's birth place and the raid on Catlett Station. For many years the old bridge for Route 28 could be seen just outside of Catlett.

Route 28 intersects US 17 about three miles (5 km) from its terminus and ends at busy US 29/US 15 just north of Culpeper County.

Improvement project

In 1987, Virginia authorized the creation of special tax districts to finance transportation improvements. Fairfax and Loudoun Counties quickly formed the first transportation improvement district in the Commonwealth, by imposing a 20 cent per $100 dollar real estate surcharge on commercial and industrial property located near Route 28. The surcharge financed bonds to pay for improvements to Route 28. From 1988 to 1991, 14 miles of Route 28 were widened from two lanes to six lanes and interchanges were built at Routes 50, 7 and the Dulles Toll Road.^[4]

In September 2002, VDOT, the Clark Construction Group, Inc. and Shirley Contracting Company, LLC signed the Route 28 Corridor Improvements Comprehensive Agreement that provided a combined commitment of approximately $200 million in improvements over the following four years. Under this phase, six at-grade, signalized intersections were replaced with high-capacity grade-separated interchanges. Ultimate plans call for construction of a total of ten interchanges and widening Route 28 to eight lanes. The final four interchanges were completed by Spring 2010. The these interchanges were also financed by the tax surcharge.^[4]

The completion schedule for each funded interchange and roadway is as follows:

• Air & Space Museum Parkway Interchange - Completed Summer 2004
• Route 625 Interchange - Completed

• Rt. 625 Interchange (Waxpool/Church Roads), Flyover Bridge & Waxpool Road widening - Completed Fall 2005
• Church Road Widening and W&OD Trail Bridge - Completed Fall 2006

• Route 606 Interchange (Old Ox Road) - Completed Spring 2005
• Route 662 Interchange (Westfields Boulevard) - Completed Fall 2005
• Route 668 Interchange (McLearen Road) - Completed Spring 2006
• Route 846 Interchange (Sterling Boulevard) - Completed Spring 2007
• Route 607 (Loudoun County Parkway) - Completed Summer 2006
• Route 657 (Centreville Road) - Completed Fall 2007
• Pacific Boulevard (between Sterling Blvd. and Cedar Green Rd.) - Completed Spring 2007
• Willard Road Interchange - Completed Summer 2009
• Route 608 Interchange (Frying Pan Road) - Completed Spring 2010
• Innovation Avenue - Phase I [Partial Interchange] (Center for Innovative Technology) - Completed Fall 2007
• Route 1793 Interchange (Nokes Boulevard/Dulles Town Center) - Completed Summer 2009
• Pacific Boulevard (between Severn Way and Nokes Blvd.) - Fall 2009
• Braddock/Walney Roads and Route 28 Intersection - Completed Spring 2007^[5]
• Innovation Avenue - Phase II [Full Interchange] (Center for Innovative Technology) - Construction began Fall 2011.
• Atlantic Boulevard (extension to Church Road) - Construction began Spring 2010.

Clark is currently studying the widening of Route 28 to eight lanes and will file a proposal in the fall of 2010 expected to cover at least 30% of the 6-lane stretch.^[6] For a decade there have also been proposals to extend Route 28 to north to connect it with Interstate 370 in Gaithersburg, Maryland over a Techway Bridge across the Potomac River.^[7]

Major intersections

References

1. ^ Former VA 25 to VA 30
2. ^ https://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?031+sum+sb1004
3. ^ ARRA Project Tracking Sheet p. 11. Retrieved May 29, 2011
4. ^ ^{a b} http://www.28freeway.com/projectoverview.html The Route 28 Corridor Improvement Project
5. ^ http://www.28freeway.com/project-map/13-Braddock-Walney.html The Route 28 Corridor Improvement Project
6. ^ http://www.28freeway.com/images/8lanewideningstudy.pdf Retrieved 2010-08-02.
7. ^ Cetron, Ari (September 28, 2005). "Three Men and a Bridge". Vienna Connection Newspaper. http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=274111&paper=73&cat=109. Retrieved 2010-08-01. 

External links

• The Route 28 Corridor Improvement Project