US 29 originated in 1931 as a replacement of
US 170 from Danville to Lynchburg. It was then added to
SR 18 between Lynchburg and Charlottesville and to
SR 28 between Charlottesville and Culpeper. The route originally ended at US 15 in Culpeper. In 1934, US 29 was extended to run concurrently with US 15 to Warrenton, and with
US 211 to Washington DC (US 211 now ends at
US 29 Bus. in Warrenton). The portion of what is now US 29 from the North Carolina state line to Warrenton was named the Seminole Trail by an act of the
Virginia General Assembly on February 16, 1928. Although it was apparently not part of the
National Auto Trails initiative early in the 20th century, the Seminole Trail is believed to have originated as part of an effort to promote the road as a through route to
Florida, home of the
Native American Seminole tribe. Many road maps of the 1930s and 1940s list the Seminole Trail on highways in Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, and ultimately Florida. In an October 4, 2006, meeting of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, the
University of Virginia athletic department and basketball coach
Dave Leitao suggested that Seminole Trail in Charlottesville should be renamed Cavalier Way. The board did not act on this suggestion.
Gainesville interchange The Gainesville interchange project took place at the interchange between the Lee Highway (US 29) and I-66 at the junction with Linton Hall Road (
SR 619) starting in July 2011, with board planning on it dating back to 2006. The project was worth $230 million (equivalent to $ in ) and included interchanges at many other heavily traveled roads in the area due to the rapid growth in development in
Gainesville and
Haymarket, along with it being a major area drivers departure off of I-66 to travel towards other major cities along the Lee Highway, such as Charlottesville. The reasoning for this inclusion of other interchanges is because of the lack of road development to accommodate the new heavy traffic in the area. The plan included a
single-point urban interchange design and bridges over train tracks to ease traffic flow on the Lee Highway onto I-66. The Lee Highway was also widened around the interchange to combat this issue. What was once a two-lane country road is now a four-lane suburban highway. Land was acquired by the
Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) at the intersection of US 29 and Linton Hall Road/SR 619. The entire project was completed and opened to the general public on July 9, 2015.
Charlottesville interchange (Rio Road) The Charlottesville interchange project took place at the intersection of US 29 and Rio Road/
SR 631, with construction starting in mid-2015 and ending in December 2016. A
diamond interchange was built, with two lanes from each direction of US 29, deemed the "local lanes", exiting from main traffic and meeting Rio Road at a traffic signal. The project cost $69.7 million (equivalent to $ in ).
Lynchburg interchange The Lynchburg interchange project took place at the intersection of US 29/US 460/US 501 and Odd Fellows Road, with construction starting in January 2016 and ending in August 2018. A diamond interchange was constructed at a cost of about $30 million (equivalent to $ in ). The interchange was built to reduce congestion on Candlers Mountain Drive/US 501 and to make access to Mayflower Drive/
SR 128 easier. As part of the construction,
roundabouts were constructed on Odd Fellows Road at its intersection with Mayflower Drive, west of the interchange, and Top Ridge Road, east of the interchange.
Charlottesville bypass A western US 29 bypass around Charlottesville was originally proposed in 1979. Engineering and environmental work on the project began in late 1984, and the location was approved by the
Commonwealth Transportation Board in 1990. until its destruction by
Hurricane Camille in 1969. Acquisition of
right-of-way for the project began in 1991 and continued until 2001. No additional right-of-way has been purchased since then. VDOT owns 36 properties that are currently leased and occupied. The bypass was projected to be long, from the US 250 bypass to current US 29 north of the South Fork
Rivanna River. It would have been two lanes in each direction with no other exits, to decrease possible interruption of commercial and residential growth in the area. In 1998, a lawsuit was filed challenging the project, alleging that the environmental impact review of the project violated the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). In 2001, a federal court ruled in favor of VDOT on the suit but required the agency to complete a supplemental
environmental impact statement (EIS) addressing the road's impacts on the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir and the mitigation to minimize those impacts. That document was completed and accepted by the
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in 2003. In 1996, the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) inserted language into its Transportation Improvement Program that prevented additional funds from being allocated to construction of the western bypass. That language was removed by the MPO Policy Board in July 2011. All activities on the US 29 Charlottesville bypass project were suspended in March 2014 following notification from the FHWA that a new supplemental EIS would be required before the environmental process could be completed. The new supplemental EIS was required due to the history of litigation and controversy associated with the project. ==Future==