Arlington County, Virginia

Transportation

Airports

Arlington County is the home of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

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Public Transportation

Arlington County is served by the Orange, Blue, and Yellow Lines of the Washington Metro. Additionally, it is served by Virginia Railway Express (commuter rail), Metrobus (regional public bus), and a local public bus system Arlington Transit (ART).

Related Topics:
Orange - Blue - Yellow Line - Washington Metro - Virginia Railway Express - Metrobus

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Roads in Arlington

Length of roads in county

According to a rough estimation provided to one of the editors of this article in a 2005 E-mail by an engineering office of Arlington County, there are approximately 559 miles of roads in the county.

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Maintenance of roads

Arlington County is one of only two counties in Virginia which maintain their own roads (with the exception of primary state highways, including U.S. Highways and Interstates), the other being Henrico County outside the State Capital of Richmond. This special status was due to the existence of county highway departments prior to the creation of the state agency which is now VDOT in 1927, and the assumption of local roads by that agency in 1932. The control of the roads system is considered a powerful advantage for community urban planners, who can require developers to contribute to funding needed for road needs serving their projects.

Related Topics:
Henrico County - Richmond - VDOT - 1927 - 1932

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Addressing and street-naming conventions

Arlington is divided into two sections by the east-west US 50 (Arlington Boulevard), which divides streets into "north" and "south" designations. The streets are named in the following manner. East-west streets are numbered, radiating outwards from Route 50; most numbers have one "street" and one "road" on each side of Route 50. North-south streets are alphabetical from east to west, with streets beginning with the letters A through W (as X, Y, and Z are skipped). When the end of the alphabet is reached it starts over from the beginning, but each street name will now have one more syllable than in the previous set. Ball Street (one syllable 'B') is the easternmost street and Arizona Street is the westernmost (four syllable 'A').

Related Topics:
US 50 - Arlington Boulevard - Named

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The numbered and alphabetical streets described in the preceding paragraph are designated as though Arlington County were laid out on a consistent grid plan, which for the most part it is not. Originally, the various communities in the county had independent street-naming conventions. However, when county officials asked the United States Postal Service to place the entire county in a single "Arlington, Virginia" postal area, the USPS refused to do so until the county had a unified addressing system, which the county developed in 1932. For that reason, and also because Arlington is hilly, it is common for streets to terminate and continue later on in another location.

Related Topics:
Grid plan - United States Postal Service - Addressing system - 1932

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Arterial routes

This does not apply to the main arteries (none of which are "streets"). The north-south arteries from east to west are US 1 (Jefferson Davis Highway), Walter Reed Drive, Glebe Road, George Mason Drive and Carlin Springs Road. The east-west arteries from north to south are Williamsburg Boulevard, Yorktown Boulevard, Lee Highway (US 29), Wilson Boulevard, US 50 (Arlington Boulevard), Columbia Pike and Four Mile Run Drive.

Related Topics:
US 1 - Jefferson Davis Highway - Walter Reed Drive - Glebe Road - George Mason Drive - Carlin Springs Road - Williamsburg Boulevard - Yorktown Boulevard - Lee Highway - US 29 - Wilson Boulevard - US 50 - Arlington Boulevard - Columbia Pike - Four Mile Run Drive

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Another main artery, Washington Boulevard, used to be a cow path, and runs both east-west and north-south. It runs east-west through most of the county between Wilson Boulevard and Lee Highway. When it gets to the east side of town, it turns south and crosses US-50 and becomes VA 27, a freeway, before crossing Columbia Pike and intersecting with I-395. It then turns back northeast and runs past the Pentagon to end at the George Washington Memorial Parkway.

Related Topics:
Washington Boulevard - VA 27 - Freeway - Columbia Pike - I-395 - The Pentagon - George Washington Memorial Parkway

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