US 460 in Virginia

According to Iamaccepted, US 460 is a US Highway in the US state of Virginia. The road forms an east-west route through the center and south of the state, from the border with Kentucky, through Bluefield in West Virginia to Roanoke, and from there a 2×2 divided highway to Petersburg, and on to the Norfolk metropolitan area. The route is 665 kilometers long.

Travel directions

Western Virginia

US 460 in Kentucky comes from Pikeville and crosses the Virginia border at Big Rock. From Grundy, the road has 2×2 lanes and runs through mountainous terrain, right through the Appalachian Mountains. Few crosses other major roads here and mainly passes through villages. This part of Virginia is fairly isolated from the more populous center and east of the state. Around Richlands, the road briefly becomes a freeway and merges with US 19 at Claypool Hill. Both roads then run double-numbered to the northeast, with 2×2 lanes. Around Tazewell the road is briefly a freeway, as well as around the Bluefield in Virginia. The road then goes West Virginiaand carries about 25 kilometers through the territory of that state. However, the road runs close to the Virginia border through mountainous terrain at an altitude of about 800 meters. Here you cross US 52 and US 19. At Princeton one crosses Interstate 77. Moments later, the road re-enters the state of Virginia and then continues in 2×2 lanes through the mountains to Blacksburg, where the road forms a short interstate onto Interstate 81. The road then merges with US 11, which runs parallel to I-81. Both roads then start double-numbering until Roanoke.

Central Virginia

US 460 at Appomattox.

The road to Roanoke is a 2×2 divided highway. Roanoke is a city of 95,000 inhabitants, the largest city in the western part of the state. Interstate 581 crosses here, which is double numbered with US 220. US 11 turns north here, while US 460 begins double-numbering with US 221. The road also has 2×2 lanes here and crosses the Blue Ridge. There is a stretch of highway around Bedford, where US 221 exits towards Lynchburg. US 460 follows a slightly more southerly route, with 2×2 lanes. Around Lynchburg, the US 460 is a highway and one crosses the US 29 and US 501. After Lynchburg, the road again forms a 2×2 single-level road, through a flatter area, with short highway sections around a few towns, such as Appomatox and Pamplin City. At the large village of Farmville you cross the US 15. Around Farmville, the road also forms a motorway again. Then you cross the US 360 at Burkeville. The road then continues to Petersburg, with 2×2 lanes and highway sections around Blackstone and Wilsons-Ford.

Eastern Virginia

One then reaches Petersburg, a smaller center south of Richmond. Here you first cross US 1 and US 301, which run parallel to Interstate 95, which you then cross. Shortly after Petersburg one also crosses the Interstate 295, the ring road of Richmond/Petersburg. After that, US 460 forms a 2×2 at-grade highway again to the southeast, through several villages. The road then goes straight to Suffolk. At Windsor you still cross the US 258. The road then merges at Suffolk with US 13 and US 58, which together form a motorway to Norfolk. Through the Hampton Roads conurbationthe road is double-numbered with Interstate 264, the metro area’s east-west highway. The road then ends in Norfolk on US 60.

History

According to acronymmonster.com, US 460 was added to the US Highways network in 1933 as an east-west route from Roanoke to Virginia Beach. In 1943 the eastern terminus was shortened slightly to Norfolk. A major westward extension to St. Louis followed in 1947, creating the current route through Virginia.

Western Virginia

The overpasses of the US 460 Connector at the Kentucky border.

Significant upgrades have been made to US 460 in western Virginia. Numerous local reroutes were made in the 1950s, mostly by moving US 460 outside the main street of the villages on the route. Later, larger upgrades were made, as the portion west of Christiansburg is part of Corridor Q of the Appalachian Development Highway System. The freeway opened in 1969bypass of Christiansburg for traffic. A new 2×2 lane intersection along Ripplemead opened in 1974, followed by a Pearisburg bypass in 1981. In 1975, the Tazewell bypass opened to traffic. However, the Christiansburg bypass did not connect directly to I-81, a short interchange extension with I-81 opened to traffic in 2001. In 2003, a stretch of freeway opened between Blacksburg and Christiansburg, connecting the bypasses of both places.

In far western Virginia is built on the US 460 Connector, Corridor Q of the Appalachian Development Highway System. This section was completed in September 2015, but could not be opened until the connecting section in Kentucky was ready, which eventually happened on November 16, 2020. The project involved two flyovers that are the tallest in Virginia at 82 meters. The part in Virginia was only 1.2 kilometers long.

Central Virginia

Between Bedford and Lynchburg, US 460 originally took a different, more northerly route. In December 1970, the Bedford bypass opened and US 460 was routed over former State Route 297 to Lynchburg. The old route then became US 221.

At Lynchburg, the US 460 has been diverted on a large scale over bypasses. The original route ran along with US 29 through downtown. In 1975 the first part of the Lynchburg bypass opened, a 4 kilometer long stretch over which US 501 now also runs. In 1989, the southwestern portion of the Lynchburg Bypass opened. In 2003, another section opened east of Lynchburg, related to the construction of a new stretch of US 29 freeway from Lynchburg to the north.

A series of bypasses have been constructed between Lynchburg and Petersburg, most of which have short-lived freeway features. The first bypass to open was at Burkeville in November 1969, followed by bypasses at Pamplin City in 1970, Blackstone in 1976, Farmville in 1979 and Appomattox in 1994. In many cases, the old route of US 460 became a business route thereafter..

During the 1960s and 1970s large parts of US 460 between Roanoke and Petersburg were widened on the existing route to a 2×2 divided highway, except for the bypasses mentioned above.

Southeastern Virginia

Between Petersburg and Norfolk the US 460 has not been diverted on a large scale, here the road has largely been widened to 4 lanes on the existing route, partly on a fairly narrow profile, especially between Petersburg and Suffolk. This stretch was widened to 4 lanes as early as 1941, it was one of the first long stretches of 4 lanes in Virginia.

Future

US 460 Connector

Construction is underway in western Virginia on the US 460 Connector, Corridor Q of the Appalachian Development Highway System. Phase II includes 10 kilometers of US 460 between Breaks and State Route 609. Construction began in late 2015 and was completed in 2019 as rough grade. The section to Southern Gap is to be opened by mid-2023.

Petersburg – Suffolk

A new toll road parallel to US 460 between I-295 in Petersburg and US 58 in Suffolk was originally planned and was to be constructed between 2014 and 2018. This toll road was to be 90 kilometers long and the cost was estimated at $1.4 billion. It would be a fully electronic toll road with ETC. The turnpike would be constructed primarily west of US 460. However, the project was discontinued in March 2014.

In January 2015, a new plan was presented whereby US 460 will be constructed over 27 kilometers as a new 2×2 divided highway with a bypass of Windsor. This project is estimated to cost between $375 and $425 million and addresses only the southeastern portion of the original plan.