Shirlington Circle is a
roundabout interchangeA roundabout interchange is a type of interchange between a freeway and a minor road in which the ramps to and from the freeway mainlines converge at a single roundabout, which is grade-separated from the freeway lanes with bridges. A roundabout interchange is similar to a rotary interchange,...
connecting I-395 (
Shirley HighwayThe Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway was the first limited access freeway in the U.S. state of Virginia. Begun in 1946, the road was completed from Woodbridge, Virginia to the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River between Virginia and Washington, D.C., in 1952.- History :The Shirley Highway...
) with several surface roads in two
VirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. The geography and climate of the state are shaped by the Blue...
suburbSuburbs are defined in various different ways around the world. They can be the residential areas of a large city, or separate residential communities within commuting distance of a city. Some suburbs have a degree of political autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city...
s of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
capital of
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
—
Arlington CountyArlington County is a county of about 210,000 residents in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is located directly across the Potomac River to the southwest of Washington, D.C. Formerly part of the District of Columbia, the land now composing the county was retroceded to Virginia on July 9, 1846, in...
and
AlexandriaAlexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 128,283. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately 6 miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as...
. Although the circle is named after the Arlington County community of Shirlington, roughly half of it is located in Alexandria. The circle resembles
roundaboutA roundabout is one of several types of circular road junctions or intersections at which traffic is slowed down and enters a one-way stream around a central island. Technically these junctions sometimes are called modern roundabouts, in order to emphasize the distinction from older circular...
interchanges common in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
and
IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
but rare in the US.
The circle includes multiple access points including ramps (slip roads) to and from I-395 (Exit 6) both north and southbound as well as a reversible direction ramp that provides access to and from the reversible
high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanesIn transportation engineering and transportation planning, a high-occupancy vehicle lane is a lane reserved for vehicles with a driver and one or more passengers...
that run in the center of I-395.
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Shirlington Circle is a
roundabout interchangeA roundabout interchange is a type of interchange between a freeway and a minor road in which the ramps to and from the freeway mainlines converge at a single roundabout, which is grade-separated from the freeway lanes with bridges. A roundabout interchange is similar to a rotary interchange,...
connecting I-395 (
Shirley HighwayThe Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway was the first limited access freeway in the U.S. state of Virginia. Begun in 1946, the road was completed from Woodbridge, Virginia to the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River between Virginia and Washington, D.C., in 1952.- History :The Shirley Highway...
) with several surface roads in two
VirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. The geography and climate of the state are shaped by the Blue...
suburbSuburbs are defined in various different ways around the world. They can be the residential areas of a large city, or separate residential communities within commuting distance of a city. Some suburbs have a degree of political autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city...
s of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
capital of
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
—
Arlington CountyArlington County is a county of about 210,000 residents in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is located directly across the Potomac River to the southwest of Washington, D.C. Formerly part of the District of Columbia, the land now composing the county was retroceded to Virginia on July 9, 1846, in...
and
AlexandriaAlexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 128,283. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately 6 miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as...
. Although the circle is named after the Arlington County community of Shirlington, roughly half of it is located in Alexandria. The circle resembles
roundaboutA roundabout is one of several types of circular road junctions or intersections at which traffic is slowed down and enters a one-way stream around a central island. Technically these junctions sometimes are called modern roundabouts, in order to emphasize the distinction from older circular...
interchanges common in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
and
IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
but rare in the US.
The circle includes multiple access points including ramps (slip roads) to and from I-395 (Exit 6) both north and southbound as well as a reversible direction ramp that provides access to and from the reversible
high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanesIn transportation engineering and transportation planning, a high-occupancy vehicle lane is a lane reserved for vehicles with a driver and one or more passengers...
that run in the center of I-395. Four surface streets intersect with the circle; going counterclockwise (in the direction of traffic) from the north, they are:
- Shirlington Road, which forms the border between Arlington County and Alexandria to the north of I-395. (The road, however, enters Arlington County just to the north of the interchange.)
- Campbell Avenue (formerly 28th Street South) in Arlington County.
- Quaker Lane (State Route 402), which forms the border between Arlington County and Alexandria to the south of I-395.
- Gunston Road in Alexandria.
Traffic generally follows roundabout rules, i.e, traffic inside the circle has the right-of-way and traffic entering the circle must yield. However there are also
traffic lightTraffic lights, also known as stop lights, stoplight, traffic lamps, stop-and-go lights, robots or semaphore, are signaling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations to control competing flows of traffic.Traffic lights have been installed in most cities...
s and stop signs regulating traffic flow and the I-395 off-ramps enter the circle from the interior of the circle, requiring a left merge into the traffic circle.