|
|
|
|
U.S. Route 250
|
| |
|
| |
U.S. Route 250 is a spur of U.S. Route 50. It currently runs for 514 miles (827 km) from Richmond, Virginia to Sandusky, Ohio. It passes through the states of Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio. It goes through the cities of Richmond, Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, Staunton, Virginia, and Wheeling, West Virginia. In West Virginia, the route is signed North/South. In Ohio and Virginia, the route is signed East/West.
250 in Virginia is an important highway that runs in a westerly direction from Richmond to cross into West Virginia.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'U.S. Route 250' Start a new discussion about 'U.S. Route 250' Answer questions from other users |
Encyclopedia
U.S. Route 250 is a spur of U.S. Route 50. It currently runs for 514 miles (827 km) from Richmond, Virginia to Sandusky, Ohio. It passes through the states of Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio. It goes through the cities of Richmond, Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, Staunton, Virginia, and Wheeling, West Virginia. In West Virginia, the route is signed North/South. In Ohio and Virginia, the route is signed East/West.
Route description
Virginia
U.S. 250 in Virginia is an important highway that runs in a westerly direction from Richmond to cross into West Virginia. Following two historical roadways from the 18th and 19th centuries, the Virginia portion was largely supplanted by the construction of Interstate 64 (I-64) in the 1960s and early 1970s, which parallels it between Richmond and Staunton.
For many years in the mid-20th century, a section of U.S. 250 east of Charlottesville featured a 3-laned design with a center suicide lane meant for passing in both directions. Neither direction had the right-of-way, and both directions were permitted to use the lane for passing. In the terrain of rolling hills, Head-on collisions with injuries and fatalities were common. After completion of I-64, the center lane markings were changed to eliminate two-way passing using the same section of roadway, and the frequency of head-on collisions decreased sharply.
Conversely, upon the completion of I-64, another section of U.S. 250 gained additional utilization for safety reasons. For many years, during extreme inclement weather conditions of snow and/or ice, at the crossing of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the truck traffic was diverted from the Interstate highway and routed through Rockfish Gap using the older roadway of U.S. 250.
Richmond to Charlottesville
U.S. 250 is known as Broad Street (or Broad Street Road) for its first in Richmond and Henrico County. From the Richmond area, the road roughly parallels Interstate 64 west through the Piedmont region of Virginia, passing through communities such as Short Pump, Oilville, Gum Springs, Hadensville, Zion Crossroads, and Keswick before reaching Charlottesville, the county seat of Albemarle County.
Charlottesville to Staunton
U.S. 250 approaches Charlottesville from Pantops Mountain and is named Richmond Road in the eastern portion of the city. It crosses the Rivanna River, where prior to the construction of Interstate 64, a northern bypass of the downtown area was constructed which is known locally as the "250 Bypass". The bypass section is mostly a limited access divided highway, with the exception of 4 intersections and a fire station, and merges into the city's western bypass of U.S. 29.
The older routing passes through the downtown area, it is routed on several different streets including High Street, W. Main Street and Preston Avenue. Notably, it passes directly through the campus of the University of Virginia. West of this area, U.S. 250 is known as Ivy Road as it is rejoined by the bypass portion at the intersection of the U.S. 29 western bypass of Charlottesville.
Gradually approaching the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains, it passes through the small communities of Ivy and Crozet.
U.S. 250 crosses the Blue Ridge Mountains Afton at Rockfish Gap where it divides the Blue Ridge Parkway from the Skyline Drive. It descends the western slope of the Blue Ridge to travel across the Shenandoah Valley through Waynesboro and Fishersville until it reaches Staunton, where it and I-64 intersect two major north-south routes, I-81 and U.S. 11.
Staunton to West Virginia
At Staunton, I-64 and U.S. 250 part ways. (I-64 turns south and is multiplexed with north-south Interstate 81 up the Valley to Lexington, where it again turns west). U.S. 250 follows an older and historic routing almost due west, that of the Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike.
U.S. 11 in Staunton was originally the Valley Pike, a north-south turnpike built beginning in 1834. The Valley Pike (also known as the Valley Turnpike) traveled along the Shenandoah Valley following an earlier Native American (aka "Indian") trail. At Staunton, the Valley Pike had an important junction with the Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike.
This turnpike was built during the second quarter of the 19th century to provide a roadway from Staunton to the Ohio River at Parkersburg in Wood County. Engineered by Claudius Crozet through the mountainous terrain, it was a toll road partially funded by the Virginia Board of Public Works
(as was the Valley Pike and many other road improvements in antebellum Virginia).
From Staunton, U.S. 250 continues west along the route of the Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike through Augusta County and passes through Monterey, Virginia in Highland County. Virginia's least-populated county has the highest mean elevation of any other county in the Commonwealth. Highland County it is called "Virginia's Little Switzerland," in reference to the steep mountains and valleys. At Allegheny Mountain, the Virginia-West Virginia state line is encountered, and US 250 crosses into Pocahontas County, West Virginia.
West Virginia
U.S. 250's northern entrance into West Virginia is via the Military Order of the Purple Heart Bridge from Bridgeport, Ohio onto Wheeling Island. It is briefly co-signed with U.S. Route 40. The route additionally co-signs with Interstate 70 and crosses the Ohio River on the Fort Henry Bridge in Wheeling, West Virginia. U.S. Route 250 then exits I-70 east of the Wheeling Tunnel and joins WV Route 2 one mile (1.6 km) later. In Moundsville, West Virginia, the route leaves WV Route 2 and departs toward Cameron, Mannington, and Fairmont. It finally intersects with its parent route, U.S. Highway 50 in Grafton and continues southward. The route moves through Philippi, and finally through Elkins. U.S. Route 250 intersects with U.S. Highway 33 and U.S. Highway 219 briefly in Elkins - which is the last major hub before the U.S. Route 250 winds its way through the Appalachian mountains to the Virginia border.
U.S. 250 in West Virginia includes the Philippi Covered Bridge at Philippi, the only covered bridge in the U.S. Federal Highway system.
Ohio
In Ohio, U.S. 250 is an important cross-state corridor linking Bridgeport (on the Ohio River) to Sandusky (on Lake Erie). From a regional/traffic perspective, the route can roughly be divided into four sections linking major regions and routes of the state:
Bridgeport to Cadiz
Heading westbound, U.S. 250 enters Bridgeport along with US 40 by crossing the backchannel of the Ohio River from Wheeling, West Virginia. (US 250 runs north/south in West Virginia, whereas it runs east/west in Ohio.)
Immediately after crossing the Ohio River, U.S. 250 interchanges with OH 7 and splits away from US 40. For approximately the next , U.S. 250 runs diagonally northwest to Cadiz. For much of this distance, the road is surrounded by houses, runs on ridge tops, and has a generally poor alignment.
The poor alignment of this section of the highway, along with the fact that it runs through Cadiz as opposed to bypassing it, limits the usefulness of this section of the road as a through route. To resolve these issues, the Ohio Department of Transportation is developing plans to construct a Super 2 replacement for this route. A bypass of Cadiz was planned for construction in 2004, although it has not been built as of 2008. The new route is to roughly parallel OH 9 and OH 331, running from Cadiz to a point near Saint Clairsville. At this point, it is expected that US 250 will be realigned to follow I-70 east to Wheeling, West Virginia.
Cadiz to Dover
Heading west from Cadiz, US 250 is briefly concurrent with US 22 along the Cadiz bypass. After the bypass, U.S. 250 picks up as a 2-lane road heading northwest. This route is generally of good quality, although the state is studying replacement or upgrade through its Macro-Corridors Project. Approximately half-way between Cadiz and Dennison, US 250 follows Tappan Lake for several miles on a series of causeways built during the construction of the lake in the 1930s.
At Dennison, OH 800 joins US 250 for a brief distance along the Dennison/Uhrichsville bypass, and then on a nearly-all freeway route to New Philadelphia. Just south of downtown New Philadelphia, OH 800 leaves the freeway. Approximately west, U.S. 250 joins I-77 for north on a bypass of New Philadelphia and Dover.
Strasburg to Wooster
Immediately after leaving Interstate 77, US 250 travels through the town of Strasburg. About west of Strasburg, U.S. 250 intersects with OH 21. Here traffic splits, following OH 21 north toward Massillon or stays west on US 250 toward Wooster. This stretch of US 250 bypassing Strasburg has been proposed for a bypass, but the project has not been selected for further work as of 2008.
Near Wooster, US 250 joins first OH 83 north and then US 30 west freeways to bypass its original alignment through downtown Wooster.
Wooster to Norwalk
From Wooster, US 250 heads in a generally northwest direction toward Ashland and then Norwalk. Much of the route is rural, but carries a high level of truck and regular traffic.
Norwalk to Sandusky
The final section of US 250, from Norwalk to Sandusky, is the most heavily developed section of the road. This part of the route carries much traffic connecting to the Ohio Turnpike, and during the summer, people bound for Cedar Point.
History
Earlier roads, funding conflicts
Between Short Pump and Staunton, U.S. 250 largely follows the routing of the Three Notch'd Road (or the Three Chopt Road) , which had been established in the Colony of Virginia between Richmond and the Shenandoah Valley by the 1740s. Most likely, the road followed an ancient Monacan trail from Orapax (east of Richmond) to the western Shenandoah Valley. This well-planned route required only one major river crossing, the Rivanna at Charlottesville, with inns or taverns spaced about apart.
The route west of Staunton was built about 100 years later as a toll road, the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike. In the second quarter of the 19th century, it became a major gateway into Virginia's "Trans-Allegheny" region, which presented much greater challenges to transportation than did less rugged portions of the state. In that region, navigable waterways were unavailable and canals impractical. Wheeled vehicles in the form of wagons, and later, motor vehicles needed to pass through with passengers and freight. It became part of the main trade route for salt and other commodities in the early 19th century. As the American Civil War broke out, the route became very important and was defended by Stonewall Jackson's troops at the Battle of McDowell in 1862.
The portion of the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike west of Allegheny Mountain (almost all of it) became part of West Virginia in 1863. Virginia's pre-War debt became a major issue after the American Civil War, as millions of dollars of debt remained for infrastructure improvements, some of which were now located in the new state of West Virginia, including most of the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike. Political divisions in Virginia on this issue resulted in creation of a new major political group in the late 1870s, the Readjuster Party, a coalition of Democrats, Republicans, and African-Americans seeking a reduction in Virginia's prewar debt by allocating an appropriate portion to the new State of West Virginia.
For several decades, Virginia and West Virginia disputed the new state's share of the Virginia government's debt. The issue was finally settled in 1915, when the United States Supreme Court ruled that West Virginia owed Virginia $12,393,929.50. The final installment of this sum was paid off in 1939.
U.S. Highway system, numbering
U.S. Route 250 was created in 1928 and was originally routed from U.S. Route 50 in Grafton, West Virginia north/west to Norwalk, Ohio. In 1932, the route was expanded west to Sandusky, Ohio. In 1934, the route was expanded southward and eastward to Richmond, Virginia.
|
| |
|
|
