Virginia State Route 659 (Loudoun County)

Infobox road
marker_

state=VA
type=Secondary
route=659
alternate_name=Belmont Ridge Road, Gum Springs Road
maint=


length_mi=16
length_round=15
length_ref=
established=
direction_a=North
starting_terminus=
junction=
direction_b=South
ending_terminus= near Bull Run
counties=Loudoun, Prince William
cities=Ashburn, Arcola, South Riding, Manassas

Virginia Secondary Route 659, otherwise known as Belmont Ridge Road north of Arcola, and Gum Spring Road to the south, is a Loudoun County administered road in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area. The road is heavily used by commuters in the suburbs and bedroom communities of Loudoun County.

Geography and Layout

This approximately 16 mile long North-South running road is mostly a 2 lane (a few parts are 4 lanes), but heavily traveled, connection between State Route 7 and Prince William County. The majority of the road is in Loudoun County however, and therefore is mostly under Loudoun's jurisdiction and maintenance. The road’s actual northern terminus is the Nation Conference Center just off the shores of the Potomac River, but for all practical uses of the road the northern terminus is Route 7. The Southern terminus is State Route 234 just past the Loudoun-Prince William County border. There are two Luck Stone quarries along Route 659, one outside the community of Belmont Green just southeast of Leesburg, and another just inside the Loudoun side of the county border near Route 234.

History

The origin of the roads path is unclear (possibly the road had been a colonial byway, but no specific evidence is available to back up this assumption), but the road has been used by Loudoun County residents for years. The road had in previous years held a speed limit of 55 MPH, but had been decreased to 45 MPH north of Arcola sometime in the last 20 years, and has always been 35 MPH through the town of Arcola. the speed limit remains 55 MPH south of Arcola on Gum Spring Road all the way to Route 234.

Future Improvements

The road has been scheduled for improvements for some time now [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-96879992.html] but has only been widened thus far to 4 lanes on a 1 mile stretch near Brambleton, and a 300 yard stretch just north of Route 7. Ultimately the road will end up as a semi-limited accesses 6 lane highway similar to the Loudoun County spur of Route 28, but many local residents and officials doubt this plan will come to reality anytime in the near future. The most likely future improvements will be to repave the entire road as a 4 lane highway with more traffic lights installed sometime in the next 4-8 years.