From SR 28's southern terminus to
Nokesville, it is a two-lane rural highway, called
Catlett Road through Fauquier County and
Nokesville Road in Prince William County where it becomes a four-lane divided highway up to
Manassas. Through downtown Manassas, the route follows one-way streets, with VA 28 westbound following
Church Street and eastbound following
Center Street and
Zebedee Street. From thereon to
Centreville in Fairfax County, the road is called
Centreville Road. Between Fairfax and Loudoun Counties up to its northern terminus, VA 28 is a six-lane freeway called
Sully Road.
Fauquier County Route 28 starts as Catlett Road at busy
US 29/
US 15 in Fauquier County just north of
Culpeper County, and intersects
US 17 about from its beginning. It is two lanes throughout rural Fauquier County with a speed limit of and passes by farms and agricultural areas. Most of the way through Fauquier County Route 28 runs parallel to
Norfolk Southern railroad tracks in order to serve the towns that are placed along them. Several historical markers can be seen along Route 28 as it passes through Fauquier including Supreme Court Justice
John Marshall's birthplace and the raid on Catlett Station. For many years the old bridge for Route 28 could be seen just outside
Catlett. Historically, the Catlett Fire Department Parade would close Route 28 for several hours each spring, however, this practice was discontinued as traffic became heavier in the 1990s.
Prince William County Upon entering Prince William County at
Nokesville, SR 28 changes its name to Nokesville Road. At Nokesville, it expands from two to four lanes before reaching
SR 215 at Fitzwater Drive (SR 652). Further north, it reaches its first grade-separated
interchange at
SR 234/
Prince William Parkway, south of the City of
Manassas. The next interchange is at
Wellington Road in Manassas, mostly to
grade-separate the crossing of SR 28 with nearby railroad tracks. This interchange was built as an $18.3 million project and certified under the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on October 5, 2009. The contract for construction of this interchange was awarded on July 14, 2010. SR 28 is a main thoroughfare through Manassas, and separates into a
one-way pair of Church and Center Streets in front of a
Confederate cemetery. The split routes run through the center of the city and rejoin several blocks later, merging into Centreville Road. The road passes briefly through
Manassas Park and then passes through
Yorkshire as SR 28 leaves Prince William County where crossing
Bull Run into
Centreville, Fairfax County.
Fairfax County VA 28/Centreville Road enters Fairfax County at
Centreville, at which point it transitions from an
undivided to a
divided highway. It starts as a suburban arterial with only at-grade intersections, widening to six lanes at an intersection with Machen Road on the south side of Centreville. In the middle of Centreville, VA 28 transitions into Sully Road and becomes a fully controlled-access
freeway, where it crosses
U.S. Route 29 at a
partial cloverleaf interchange and
Interstate 66 at a
system interchange with flyovers. Up until 2020, the section of VA 28 between Centreville and Chantilly had signalized intersections at I 66,
Braddock Road (SR 620), and
Ellanor C. Lawrence Park and was only built to
expressway standards. The intersections of since been replaced by overpasses and flyovers as part of the
Transform 66 project, which included several improvements to the I 66 corridor through the late 2010s and early 2020s. After a
cloverleaf interchange with
Westfields Boulevard (SR 662), Route 28 enters
Chantilly. The highway travels through a
single-point urban interchange with Willard Road and continues through Chantilly. Route 28 then enters
Oak Hill and heads north along the eastern edge of the
Washington Dulles International Airport. The next interchanges are for
US 50 in Chantilly, the
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (an annex of the
National Air and Space Museum), McLearen Road, and Frying Pan Road on the south end of
Herndon. The road then exits into Loudoun County.
Loudoun County The first interchange in Loudoun County is at the entrance to
Dulles Airport, with access to the airport itself, to the Dulles Toll/Access Road (
State Route 267) and Dulles Greenway, and to Innovation Avenue (
State Route 209). Continuing north through Loudoun County, Route 28 has interchanges with Old Ox Road and Sterling Boulevard, the former also servicing Herndon. The next interchange is an elaborate interchange with Route 625, Waxpool Road and Church Road, which lead into
Ashburn and
Sterling, respectively. This interchange features two exits for Waxpool Road from the northbound lanes of Route 28: a left flyover and right loop ramp. Heading north, Route 28 passes through the industrial and commercial areas of
Dulles. It is still known as Sully Road through this stretch, although within Loudoun County it is co-designated as
Darrell Green Boulevard, after the former
Washington Commanders Hall of Famer (the team's official headquarters is in Ashburn), whose uniform number was 28. A northbound-only, exit-only ramp at
Warp Drive is followed by a
partial cloverleaf serving Gloucester Parkway and Nokes Boulevard. This interchange leads to both Ashburn and the
Dulles Town Center shopping mall. Route 28 ends at
VA 7 in Sterling in a complete
directional T interchange. ==History==