The
Virginia State Highway System is an integrated system of roads maintained by the
Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). As of 2005, the VDOT maintains of state highways — the third largest system in the
United States, after
Texas and
North Carolina.
Interstate 95 and
Interstate 81 are the two major north–south highways through Virginia.
The Capital Beltway, Interstate 495 crosses the Potomac River in Alexandria and
McLean. The
Springfield Interchange at the junction of I-95,
I-395, and the Capital Beltway, in
Springfield, Virginia, south of Washington, D.C. has been reconstructed to improve traffic flow; widening of
Woodrow Wilson Bridge was finished in mid-2008.
Interstate 66, another heavily traveled route into Washington, DC, connects the Capital Beltway to I-81 at
Front Royal, Virginia.
Interstate 64 runs east–west through the state, from the terminus in Virginia's southeast in
Chesapeake running northwest into
Richmond, then west through
Charlottesville and into West Virginia and beyond.
Interstate 77 runs north–south through the state running from the North Carolina state line, goes through
Wytheville heads through the
Big Walker Mountain and then reaches the West Virginia state line.
Interstate highways Virginia has an extensive network of
Interstate Highways. The Interstate Highways, totaling in
Virginia, Primary routes are generally given numbers under 600. The two exceptions -
State Route 785 and
State Route 895 - are numbered as
Interstate Highway spurs. Major U.S. highways in Virginia include:
Secondary highways Virginia has of secondary routes. These roads, numbered 600 and up, receive less funding than primary routes. Numbers are only unique within each county, though routes that cross county lines generally keep their numbers. Under the provisions of the
Byrd Road Act of 1932, the secondary roads in most of Virginia's counties are maintained by the
Virginia Department of Transportation, an arrangement that a 1998 study found " unusual among the 50 states." (The study also identified such issues as drainage, speed limits, and planning and coordination of roads with development as those local leaders felt should be within their control). The streets and roads in two counties,
Arlington and
Henrico, as well as some of the incorporated towns, and all of the independent cities are maintained by the various localities. In the early 21st century, the
Virginia General Assembly was considering legislation to allow some additional counties (most likely those in fast-growing areas) to choose to resume control and care for the secondary highways within their boundaries.
National parkways Several national parkways are located in Virginia. These include: •
Blue Ridge Parkway •
Colonial Parkway •
George Washington Memorial Parkway •
Skyline Drive Beltways and bypasses Northern Virginia The
Capital Beltway circles
Washington D.C. through
Northern Virginia,
Maryland, and a tiny edge of the
District of Columbia. The road is signed with Inner Loop and Outer Loop designations.
Hampton Roads The
Hampton Roads Beltway extends on a long loop through the region, crossing the harbor on two toll-free
bridge-tunnel facilities. These crossings are the
Hampton Roads Bridge–Tunnel between
Phoebus in Hampton and
Willoughby Spit in Norfolk and the
Monitor–Merrimac Memorial Bridge–Tunnel between Newport News and Suffolk. The Beltway connects with another Interstate highway and three arterial U.S. Highways at
Bower's Hill near the northeastern edge of the
Great Dismal Swamp. The road is signed with Inner Loop and Outer Loop designations. Also in Hampton Roads, the Williamsburg area has
State Route 199, a semi-circular limited access roadway also named the Humelsine Parkway, which is sometimes locally referred to as the "Williamsburg Beltway."
Richmond The
Richmond area does not officially have a beltway. However, it has two roads that effectively form portions of a beltway, though they do not completely encircle Richmond. These are
Interstate 295 in the northwest, northern, and eastern portions, and
State Route 288 in the southwest and western areas.
Staunton Staunton, Virginia's
Staunton Beltway is a freeway-style 5-10 mile beltway highway making a complete circle around the city, except for about where it merges on with Interstate 81. The road is currently a 2 lane road, except for some areas to the far east and far west. In the future, the road will be expanded into a full 4 lane road.
Bypasses Many urban areas in Virginia have roads that
bypass the central portions. In some cases, semi-circumferential roadways exist, such as
State Route 37 in the
Winchester area, and
State Route 199 in the
Williamsburg and
Historic Triangle area.
River and waterway crossings Major bridges, tunnels, and bridge-tunnels in
Virginia. When completed in 1928, it was the longest bridge in the world over water. In the Hampton Roads area, there are three bridge-tunnel complexes known as the
Hampton Roads Bridge–Tunnel, the
Monitor–Merrimac Memorial Bridge–Tunnel, and the
Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel in particular is a
toll facility that links the region with Virginia's
Eastern Shore, which carries
US 13. Completed in 1964, at over , it is the longest
bridge-tunnel in the world. Two tunnels and numerous bridges span portions of the
Elizabeth River. The
James River Bridge, opened in 1928, and rebuilt in the 1970s, spans the
James River near its mouth and north of the Monitor–Merrimac Memorial Bridge–Tunnel. Virginia has many crossings of its rivers and waterways. Listed alphabetically, some of the larger named crossings include: •
14th Street Bridge (I-395) (across Potomac River) •
American Legion Memorial Bridge on I-495 across Potomac River •
Arland D. Williams Jr. Memorial Bridge (part of the 14th St bridge complex, across Potomac River) •
Berkley Bridge on I-264 at Elizabeth River, Norfolk •
Boulevard Bridge in Richmond •
Downtown Tunnel joining Portsmouth and Norfolk •
Edward E. Willey Bridge (across James River) •
George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge (across York River) •
Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge (mostly in Maryland) •
Hampton Roads Bridge–Tunnel (across mouth of Hampton Roads joining cities of Hampton and Norfolk) •
James River Bridge (across James River) •
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Bridge joining cities of Petersburg and Colonial Heights •
Midtown Tunnel (joining Portsmouth and Norfolk) •
Monitor–Merrimac Memorial Bridge–Tunnel (across Hampton Roads between cities of Newport News and Suffolk) •
Pocahontas Parkway Bridge (across James River) •
Powhite Parkway Bridge (across James River) •
Robert E. Lee Memorial Bridge (across James River) •
Theodore Roosevelt Bridge (mostly in DC) (across Potomac River) •
Varina-Enon Bridge (across James River) •
Woodrow Wilson Bridge (mostly in DC and Maryland) •
Wilson Creek Bridge (a.k.a. The Smart Road Bridge) •
World War II Veterans Memorial Bridge (across James River)
Ferry systems Motor vehicle services The
Jamestown Ferry (also known as the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry) is an automobile
ferry system on the
James River connecting
Jamestown in
James City County with
Scotland in
Surry County. It carries
State Route 31. Operated by
VDOT, it is the only 24-hour state-run ferry operation in Virginia and has over 90 employees. It operates four ferryboats, the
Pocahontas, the
Williamsburg, the
Surry, and the
Virginia. The facility is toll-free. The VDOT operates other toll-free cable-guided ferries: the Merry Point ferry, which crosses the western end of the
Corrotoman River in
Lancaster County; the Sunnybank Ferry, crossing the
Little Wicomico River in
Northumberland County; and the
Hatton Ferry, one of the last two poled ferries in the
United States.
Pedestrian ferry services Additionally,
Hampton Roads Transit's Paddlewheel Ferry on the
Elizabeth River operates service (no motor vehicles) between
Portsmouth and
Norfolk and boasts the world's first
natural gas-powered pedestrian ferry. ==Commuter bus service==