7100 is now 286 (Richmond, Jefferson: commute, freeways, road)

[oneasterisk]

Wow they changed the PWC Parkway also. Not that I ever referred to it as 3000... Now I have to update my Garmin...

[pcity]

Originally Posted by snowdenscold

Why didn't they call it 710 instead of 286 - makes it more recognizable and would be pretty easy to change the signs (i.e. strip of green tape/paint).

That would go against the state numbering scheme.

The state uses numbers under 500 to indicate major thru routes, which the Fairfax County Parkway obviously is.

The routes above 500 are secondary routes.

[michgc]

Yeah, we were up there the night of the big storm, and we were wondering what the heck 286 was. My husband said, "you mean your friends on city-data didn't already have a thread about it?" I didn't remember seeing one, but when I came home, I saw that there was some discussion about it embedded in a nother thread that I missed: Too Many Construction Projects at One Time!!!!!!

[car54]

Originally Posted by pcity

...The routes above 500 are secondary routes.

That would be 600 and up that are secondary routes.

Two exceptions are Rt 895 (Pocahontas Parkway) which was planned as an Interstate but was later denied that designation.
The other is Rt 785.

[jzcrandall]

I was up there two weeks ago. I was heading east on Braddock Rd. from Centreville and I kept seeing signs for 286. It really threw me for a loop until I saw the "Old 7100" sign.

Someone mentioned that VDOT maintains roads in counties. This is true with the exception of Arlington and Henrico Counties.

[eastli84]

Here's hoping that new federal funding will fix the traffic jam every morning on 95 South/286 South due to terrible stop light sequencing!

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by pcity

That would go against the state numbering scheme.

The state uses numbers under 500 to indicate major thru routes, which the Fairfax County Parkway obviously is.

The routes above 500 are secondary routes.

I wouldn't really consider the two lane Route 235 here in Mount Vernon as a major thru route. But whatever floats their boat.

Since it's "The" Fairfax County Parkway, shouldn't we call it "The" 286? I've always been curious why people around here drop the article in front of road numbers.

[pcity]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

Since it's "The" Fairfax County Parkway, shouldn't we call it "The" 286? I've always been curious why people around here drop the article in front of road numbers.

"The" before a route number is a California thing. It's not done anywhere else.

Think of it this way: "286" is shorthand for "State Route 286" not "The State Route 286". It doesn't make sense to add a definite article to an abbreviation where none exists in the non-abbreviated form.

Also, the actual name of the road is "Fairfax County Parkway", not "The Fairfax County Parkway", though you do see some references to "the Fairfax County Parkway", which I suppose is not incorrect. Still, around here, it is more likely you'll hear people forego the definite article before the name ("Fairfax County Parkway") than add a definite article before the number ("the 286").

[saganista]

You can drive up and down the length of "the 95" and never hear anyone refer to it as that. Maybe not entirely a California thing, but the "the" with route numbers is regional west-coast syntax at best. Neither do we here speak of THE Arlington Boulevard or THE South 17th Street, but we do have THE Beltway, and curiously perhaps, THE BW and GW Parkways. To be consistent, perhaps it should be THE Fairax County Parkway -- not to mention THE Reston Parkway and THE Herndon Parkway -- but I wouldn't bet that any of those catches on around here.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by pcity

"The" before a route number is a California thing. It's not done anywhere else.

Think of it this way: "286" is shorthand for "State Route 286" not "The State Route 286". It doesn't make sense to add a definite article to an abbreviation where none exists in the non-abbreviated form.

Also, the actual name of the road is "Fairfax County Parkway", not "The Fairfax County Parkway", though you do see some references to "the Fairfax County Parkway", which I suppose is not incorrect. Still, around here, it is more likely you'll hear people forego the definite article before the name ("Fairfax County Parkway") than add a definite article before the number ("the 286").

Like everything else that starts in CA, it'll get here eventually. It's also odd that many of the freeways here don't have names.