Fairfax County Parkway
Primary State Highway in Fairfax County, Virginia
The Fairfax County Parkway, numbered State Route 286 (SR 286, formerly SR 7100), is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia, acting as an expressway in Fairfax County with a mix of interchanges and signalized and unsignalized intersections. Its alignment runs from southeast to northwest and roughly corresponds to part of the once-proposed Outer Beltway around Washington, D.C. The first segment of the roadway opened in 1987; the road was completed in 2010.
SR 286 is also known as the John F. (Jack) Herrity Parkway, designated by the Virginia General Assembly in 1995, and the Trooper Charles Mark Cosslett Memorial Highway, designated in 2010 as the final link through Fort Belvoir. Jack Herrity served for 12 years on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, and was instrumental in getting the road built. This name is ceremonial, and is rarely used by the public.
Route description
The Fairfax County Parkway and its branch to Franconia generally have interchanges at major roads, traffic signals at intermediate roads, and right-in/right-out (RIRO) intersections with minor roads and neighborhood streets. Along the main parkway (SR 286), there are 17 full or partial interchanges and 39 signals, with eleven of those signals at interchanges. In addition, there are many unsignalized intersections along the road, but none of these are driveways, since the road is limited-access. The road generally has a speed limit of 50 mph (80 km/h).
The south end of SR 286 begins at an intersection with US 1 at Accotink and heads northwest through Fort Belvoir, leaving the fort at a diamond interchange with Telegraph Road (SR 611), crossing I-95 at a full cloverleaf (exit 166), crossing over Fullerton Road, passing through interchanges with Boudinot Drive and Barta Road, and turning west through West Springfield at Rolling Road.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Fairfax County Parkway” is primary State Highway in Fairfax County, Virginia. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Fairfax, County and Parkway, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “primary State Highway in Fairfax County, Virginia” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2508184. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1987, 2010 and 1995.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Fairfax County Parkway”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Fairfax County Parkway primary sources, Fairfax County Parkway archive and Fairfax research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Fairfax County Parkway”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Fairfax County Parkway” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.