Everyone knows that Lee Highway in Arlington is Route 29. They also know that Old Dominion Drive is Route 309. That is correct, except for two-thirds of a mile from Quincy to Wakefield Streets. In that stretch, the route numbers are exchanged. Reasons for that remain hidden.

Another surprise is found on that segment of Old Dominion Drive; well, actually under it. Overgrown, forgotten, and now with prison-quality gates at each end, there is a pedestrian tunnel.

Records of Virginia's Department of Transportation (VDOT) call the structure "a concrete arch pipe" and give it identification number "000-1030." The year of construction is not recorded. VDOT inspects the tunnel on a regular schedule. Thirty thousand drivers rolling above each day need not worry. No disaster movie crevice will open on the way to work some morning.

Arlington County staffs confirm VDOT's ownership, but otherwise have no records of the tunnel.

Why is the tunnel there? When was it built? Why is it closed? Available answers are linked to the nearby school building.

The Virginia Department of Historic Resources, in 2004, gained approval to list Stratford Junior High School on the National Register of Historic Places. Application File 000-9412 provides a definitive history of the property and its uses. The school was built in 1949 and opened February 1950.

The application recites: "Also of note is a non-historic stone-masonry pedestrian tunnel that runs under Old Dominion Drive. … Now blocked by a metal gate, the tunnel was initially intended to provide access from the adjacent neighborhood to the school grounds without requiring students to cross the busy street." Clearly, construction dates to 1949-1950.

Neither VDOT nor Arlington County records make note of when or why or by whom the tunnel was sealed. But sealed it was in September 1978 when the junior high school closed and was replaced by "alternative" high school H. B. Woodlawn.

Youngsters found the pipe to be perfect as a "hangout." Some with an artistic bent, and cans of spray paint, thought the walls deserved decoration. Whether due to accumulating litter or, literally, "handwriting on the wall," authorities barred both ends. Teens were not to be denied and entry remained possible for a period of years. With the relatively new and definitely sturdier gates in place, access now is ended.

Michael McMorrow

The connection