SR 7 begins downtown in the
independent city of Winchester, as East Piccadilly Street at an intersection of Cameron Street (
Route 11/
Route 522), and it continues through the east end of the city, along North East Lane, National Avenue, and finally Berryville Avenue. SR 7 exits the city into surrounding
Frederick County, where its name changes to Berryville Pike and it becomes a four-lane highway. SR 7 continues across the overpass of
I-81 and then into
Clarke County. SR 7 enters Clarke County from Frederick County, crossing
Opequon Creek, and continues towards the town of
Berryville. Business SR 7 splits off just west of Berryville and passes through the town, while the main route bypasses the town to the north. Both routes cross
Route 340, and Business SR 7 rejoins SR 7 just east of the town. SR 7 crosses the
Shenandoah River and its name changes to the
Harry Flood Byrd Highway. SR 7 crosses the
Loudoun–Clarke county line and the
Appalachian Trail at the summit of
Snickers Gap in the
Blue Ridge Mountains. SR 7 descends out of the Blue Ridge Mountains and enters the rural western area of Loudoun County as Leesburg Pike at Snickers Gap. It intersects the northern end of the
Snickersville Turnpike, and then it passes just north of the village of
Bluemont (formerly Snickersville). Next SR 7 curves just south of
Jefferson County, West Virginia. SR 7 becomes a divided, limited-access highway with a speed limit of just west of
Round Hill, where another Business SR 7 splits off to serve the towns of Round Hill,
Purcellville, and
Hamilton, while the main road runs outside of the towns as a bypass. Business SR 7 rejoins the main road at the interchange with
SR 9 in
Paeonian Springs. SR 7 continues towards the well-developed eastern half of Loudoun County as a four-lane divided highway with some at-grade intersections, and it passes through
Clarke's Gap in
Catoctin Mountain. Another Business SR 7 splits off on the western side of
Leesburg, the
county seat of Loudoun County. The main road continues as the
Leesburg Bypass, and merges with the bypass of
Route 15 around the southern side of Leesburg, while the business route passes through town as Market Street. SR 7 Business intersects with King Street (Business Route 15) by the county
courthouse in the center of Leesburg. The
Virginia Department of Transportation has plans to widen the section of SR 7 between SR 9 and East Market Street. However, due to highway budget restrictions, this project was put on hold in June 2008. In December 2014, construction began on the widening of this section of SR 7. In addition to widening Westbound SR 7 from two to three lanes, the median was modified to limit left turns into and out of Roxbury Hall Road, Leeland Orchard Road, White Gate Place, and Beechnut Place. In addition to the work on SR 7,
roundabouts were installed at the interchange between SR 7 and SR 9. The southern roundabout combined the separate intersections of the on and off ramps from SR 7 and Colonial Highway/Dry Mill Road into one. The SR 7 bypass crosses the
Washington & Old Dominion Trail just before the US 15 bypass splits off from SR 7 in eastern Leesburg, and then SR 7 Bus. rejoins the main highway near the same location. SR 7 continues on through the eastern half of Leesburg, with six lanes. It crosses
Goose Creek and passes through
Ashburn. SR 7 was rebuilt as a
controlled-access highway through eastern portions of Loudoun County. To accomplish this,
highway interchanges were constructed replacing the ordinary intersections at
Belmont Ridge Road, Claiborne Parkway, Ashburn Village Boulevard, and
Loudoun County Parkway while closing the intersection of Lexington Drive. A new
overpass was constructed to carry Sycolin Road across SR 7 in Leesburg, which opened to traffic on August 11, 2014. An additional interchange was also opened at Battlefield Parkway in Leesburg on June 28, 2021. SR 7 continues as a
controlled-access freeway and passes by numerous
housing subdivisions, businesses, and shopping areas between an interchange with
SR 28 and the
Fairfax County line in
Sterling. SR 7 is named Leesburg Pike all the way across Fairfax County, where it is mainly a suburban route. It enters Fairfax County at the intersection of Dranesville Road (
SR 228), approximately half a mile west of the interchange with the
Fairfax County Parkway (SR 286) and Algonkian Parkway. It continues through Fairfax County, passing by subdivisions in
Great Falls,
Vienna, and
Reston. Then it passes through
Tysons, where it has interchanges with the Dulles Access and Toll Roads (
SR 267) and
SR 123. In between these two intersections, the
Washington Metro's Silver Line runs through its median. After passing south of the
Tysons Corner Center shopping mall, it interchanges with the Capital Beltway (
I-495) in
McLean and interchanges with
I-66 a half mile (0.8 km) west of the
West Falls Church Metro Station. SR 7 enters
Falls Church and becomes Broad Street and marks the north/south division for city streets. The road intersects with Washington Street (
US 29) in the city's center and crosses the
Washington & Old Dominion Trail in the city's west end. SR 7 re-enters Fairfax County as Leesburg Pike and passes through
Seven Corners, named for the five roads that intersect, including Hillwood Avenue (
SR 338) and
Arlington Boulevard (
Route 50), which is
grade separated from the rest of the intersection. From there, it travels to
Bailey's Crossroads, where it interchanges with Columbia Pike (
SR 244). SR 7 enters
Alexandria from Fairfax County and briefly forms the border between Alexandria and
Arlington County, and then interchanges with
I-395. It continues as
King Street through Alexandria, passing by
Alexandria City High School,
George Washington Masonic National Memorial,
Union Station (
Amtrak and
Virginia Railway Express), and the
King Street–Old Town Metro station. SR 7 ends at the
intersection of King Street and Washington Street (
SR 400) in
Old Town Alexandria, one quarter of a mile (0.4 km) west of the Potomac River. ==Future==