U.S. Route 29 in Virginia

This article is about the section of U.S. Route 29 in Virginia. For the entire route, see U.S. Route 29.

U.S. Route 29
Route information
Maintained by VDOT
Length:	248.00 mi (399.12 km)
Existed:	1931 – present
Major junctions
South end:	US 29 near Reidsville, NC
	US 58 in Danville US 460 near Lynchburg I‑64 near Charlottesville US 250 in Charlottesville US 33 near Ruckersville US 522 near Culpeper US 17 near Warrenton US 15 in Gainesville US 50 in Fairfax I‑66 in Arlington
North end:	US 29 in Washington, DC
Highway system
United States Numbered Highways List Bannered Divided Replaced Virginia Routes Interstate U.S. Primary Secondary Byways History Turnpikes ← SR 28 SR 30 → ← I‑664 SR 785 SR 895 →

U.S. Route 29 (US 29) is a major north–south route in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It covers 248 miles (399 km) from the North Carolina border at the city of Danville to the Key Bridge in Washington, D.C.. US 29 roughly bisects Virginia into eastern and western halves, and along with Interstate 81 in western Virginia, and 85/95 farther east, provides one of the major north–south routes through the Commonwealth.

For much of its length, US 29 in Virginia is known as the Seminole Trail. Through Northern Virginia, it is known as Lee Highway, except in Falls Church, where it acts as the east/west divider for city streets and is called North or South Washington Street. On April 7, 1993 the Virginia General Assembly officially designated the entire length of US 29 from the North Carolina border to the Potomac River as the "29th Infantry Division Memorial Highway" in honor of that Army unit, which, along with the 1st Infantry Division, formed the spearhead of the American infantry that landed on the morning of 6 June 1944 on Omaha Beach in Normandy as part of the invasion of France to liberate that country during World War II. These divisions next fought their way across France, and into Germany. In addition, the name of this highway serves to honor many members of the Virginia Army National Guard who serve as part of this National Guard Division today. Signs indicating this designation have been placed periodically on both sides of US 29.

For most of its route through Virginia, US 29 has been constructed to be at least four lanes along its route, with the two short exceptions being where the highway passes through Manassas National Battlefield Park, where it is two lanes wide for approximately three miles, and through Fairfax and Arlington counties, where it is sometimes wider.

US 29 entering Virginia from North Carolina; The Bus/Byp split, Bus. entering, and Byp. entering.

US 29 in Virginia has probably the most highway by-pass routes in the entire state, having eleven of these around various cities and towns. These bypasses are around Danville, Chatham, Gretna, Hurt-Altavista, Lynchburg-Madison Heights-Amherst, Lovingston, Charlottesville, Madison, Culpeper, Remington, and Warrenton. In addition, Interstate 66 serves for the most part as a by-pass of Manassas and also Fairfax and Arlington.

Route description

US 29 enters Virginia in Danville from North Carolina, immediately splitting into business and by-pass routes. US 29 joins the Danville Expressway and US 58 around the east side of Danville, entering Pittsylvania County, and re-merging with the business route north of town in Blairs. Along the southeastern quadrant of the Danville Expressway between the North Carolina border and US 360, the route is designated as part of unsigned State Route 785 for 7.39 mi (11.89 km). Created c. 2000, SR 785 is numbered in contradiction to the conventional system of numbering in the state, where primary routes are numbered less than 600 and secondary routes at or above this number. It is numbered as such because it is part of the planned Interstate 785, which will run south along US 29 to Interstate 85 in Greensboro, North Carolina, and is only one of two routes of this type. The other is Route 895 in Richmond for similar reasons.

US 29 then continues north where it splits into business and by-pass routes for Chatham, Gretna, and Hurt before entering Campbell County.

US 29 outside of Gainesville, Virginia

The next major city is Lynchburg. US 29 joins the US 460 by-pass of Lynchburg, splitting from it just before entering Amherst County. US 29 again by-passes Madison Heights and Amherst as an expressway, and enters Nelson County and passes the town of Lovingston and enters into Albemarle County. The route then continues north to Charlottesville, intersecting Interstate 64 and by-passing downtown Charlottesville. US 29 rejoins its congested business route just north of downtown, continuing north as a 6 lane road through Charlottesville's business district. Past Charlottesville, it converts back to 4 lanes and continues through Greene and Madison Counties, and then turns north-east toward Culpeper. US 15 joins US 29 around Culpeper, and heads to Warrenton, entering Northern Virginia.

US 29 / 15 is joined by US 17 south of Warrenton in Fauquier County, and continues around the town, with US 17 splitting off. US 29/15 continues mostly eastward to Gainesville where US 15 splits and US 29 intersects Interstate 66 for the first time. US 29 continues into Fairfax County, where it passes along the boundary of the city of Falls Church, where the road has two different names. The portion of the street running northbound is located in the City of Falls Church is called Washington Boulevard, and has different street addresses than the other side running southbound in Fairfax County, where it is named Lee Highway. The road continues into Arlington, having intersected I-66 five more times before crossing into the District.

History

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.

The Gainesville Interchange project is taking place at interchange between Lee Highway (US 29) and the Custis Memorial Highway (I-66). The project is to include interchanges at many other heavily traveled roads in the area due to the rapid growth in development in Gainesville and Haymarket. Reasoning for this is because of the lack or road development to accommodate the new heavy traffic in the area. The plan includes an interchange design to ease traffic flow on Lee Highway on to I-66. Lee Highway is also planned to be widened. There will also be an interchange at the junction with Linton Hall Road (SR 619). What was once a two-lane country road is now a four lane suburban highway. The project started in early 2007 and is expected to be completed in 2013. As of June 2010 the interchange between I-66 and US 29 is complete. Land has been acquired by VDOT at the intersection of US 29 and Linton Hall Road/SR 619.As of fall 2014 the Linton Hall Road intersection still remains under construction.

Charlottesville Bypass

A western Route 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.

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.

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 the federal court ruled in favor of VDOT on the suit but required the agency to complete a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement 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 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 Route 29 Charlottesville Bypass project were suspended in March 2014 following notification from the Federal Highway Administration that a new Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement 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.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
City of Danville				I‑785 / US 29 south – Greensboro, Charlotte SR 785 begins	Southern terminus of US 29 in Virginia; North Carolina state line
				US 29 Bus. north / US 58 west – Danville, Martinsville	interchange; south end of US 58 overlap
				Corning Drive	interchange; southbound exit and northbound entrance
				Elizabeth Street	right-in/right-out intersection with no direct access across US 29
				SR 86 (South Main Street) – Yanceyville, Chapel Hill	interchange
				SR 737 (Goodyear Boulevard)	interchange
				River Park Drive - Dan Daniel Memorial Park	interchange
				US 58 east / US 360 / US 58 Bus. west (South Boston Road) – Danville, South Boston, Richmond SR 785 ends Future I‑785 ends	interchange; north end of concurrency with US 58
Pittsylvania	​			SR 41 (East Franklin Turnpike) to SR 360 – Danville, Halifax	interchange
	​			SR 726 to US 29 Bus. – Blairs, Danville	interchange; northbound exit and southbound entrance
	​			US 29 Bus. south to SR 726 – Blairs, Danville	interchange; southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Chatham			US 29 Bus. north – Chatham	interchange; northbound exit and southbound entrance
	​			SR 57 – Chatham, South Boston	interchange
	​			SR 685 – Chatham	interchange
	​			US 29 Bus. south to SR 57 west – Chatham	interchange
	​			US 29 Bus. north – Gretna	interchange; northbound exit and southbound entrance
	​			SR 40 – Gretna, Rocky Mount	interchange
	​			US 29 Bus. south – Gretna	interchange; southbound exit and northbound entrance
	​			US 29 Bus. north – Hurt	interchange
	​			SR 924 – Hurt	interchange
Campbell	​			SR 43 – Altavista, Leesville	interchange
	​			SR 714 – Altavista	interchange
	Altavista			SR 711 (Clarion Road)	interchange
	​			US 29 Bus. south – Altavista	interchange
	Yellow Branch			SR 24 (Colonial Highway) – Evington, Rustburg, Smith Mountain Lake
	​			US 460 west / US 29 Bus. north (Wards Road) – Lynchburg, Roanoke	interchange; south end of concurrency with US 460
City of Lynchburg				To SR 670 / Candlers Mountain Road / University Boulevard – Liberty University	Interchange
				US 501 north (Candlers Mountain Road) – Buena Vista	interchange; south end of concurrency with US 501
				US 501 south / US 460 Bus. west / US 501 Bus. north (Campbell Avenue) – South Boston	interchange; north end of concurrency with US 501
Campbell	​			US 460 east (Richmond Highway) – Appomattox	interchange; north end of concurrency with US 460
Amherst	​			SR 210 west – Madison Heights, Downtown Lynchburg	interchange
	​			SR 130 west – Madison Heights	interchange
	Sweet Briar			US 29 Bus. – Madison Heights, Amherst	interchange
	Amherst			US 60 – Amherst, Lexington, Richmond	interchange
				US 29 Bus. south / SR 739 – Amherst	interchange; former SR 150 north
	​			SR 739 (Napier Loop / Tye River Road)	former SR 150 south
	​			SR 151 north (Patrick Henry Highway) – Piney River, Afton, Wintergreen
Nelson	Colleen			SR 56 west (Tye Brook Highway) – Piney River	South end of concurrency with SR 56
	Lovingston			US 29 Bus. north / SR 56 east (Front Street) – Lovingston, Shipman	North end of concurrency with SR 56
				US 29 Bus. south (Northside Lane) – Lovingston
	Woods Mill			SR 6 west (River Road) – Afton, Wintergreen	South end of concurrency with SR 6
	​			SR 6 east (Irish Road) – Scottsville, Schuyler	North end of concurrency with SR 6
Albemarle	Crossroads			SR 692 (Plank Road) – Batesville, North Garden	former SR 230 north
	​			I‑64 – Staunton, Richmond	I-64 exit 118
	​			US 29 Bus. north – Charlottesville	interchange
	​			US 250 west / US 250 Bus. east – Waynesboro, Charlottesville, Ivy	interchange; south end of concurrency with US 250
	​			To SR 601	interchange; southbound exit and northbound entrance
	​			Leonard Sandridge Road – University of Virginia	northbound access only
	​			SR 654 (Barracks Road)	interchange
City of Charlottesville				US 250 east / US 29 Bus. south (Emmet Street) – Richmond, University of Virginia	interchange; north end of concurrency with US 250
Albemarle	No major junctions
Greene	Ruckersville			US 33 (Spotswood Trail) – Harrisonburg, Richmond
	Burtonville			SR 609 (Fredericksburg Road)	former SR 243 west
Madison	​			SR 230 west (Wolftown–Hood Road) / SR 626 (Gibbs Road) – Stanardsville	South end of concurrency with SR 230
	​			SR 230 east / SR 231 south (Orange Road) – Gordonsville, Orange	North end of concurrency with SR 230; south end of concurrency with SR 231
	​			US 29 Bus. north / SR 231 north (South Main Street) – Madison, Shenandoah National Park, Skyline Drive, Historic Downtown Madison	North end of concurrency with SR 231; northbound exit and southbound entrance
	​				former SR 27
	​				former SR 230
	​
Culpeper	​			US 29 Bus. north / SR 299 south – Culpeper	interchange
	​			US 15 south / US 15 Bus. north – Culpeper, Orange	interchange; south end of concurrency with US 15
	​			US 522 / SR 3 – Mineral, Fredericksburg	interchange
	Inlet			US 15 Bus. south / US 29 Bus. south – Culpeper, Brandy Station	interchange
	​			US 15 Bus. north / US 29 Bus. north (Remington Road) – Remington
Fauquier	​			US 15 Bus. south / US 29 Bus. south (James Madison Street) – Remington
	​
	Opal				interchange; south end of concurrency with US 17
	​
	Warrenton				interchange
				US 17 north / US 15 Bus. south / US 29 Bus. south to I‑66 west / I‑81 / US 211 west – Winchester, Warrenton, Luray	interchange; north end of concurrency with US 17
	Buckland			SR 215 east (Vint Hill Road) – Vint Hill Farms Station, Lake Brittle
Prince William	​			US 15 north (James Madison Highway) – Leesburg	North end of concurrency with US 15
	Gainesville				Interchange under construction
				I‑66 – Front Royal, Washington	I-66 exit 43
	Manassas National Battlefield Park			SR 234 (Sudley Road) to I‑66 – Visitor Center, NVCC, Manassas
Fairfax	Bull Run
	Centreville			I‑66 – Washington, Front Royal	I-66 exit 52
				SR 28 to I‑66 east – Dulles Airport, Manassas	interchange
				Braddock Road (SR 620) / Old Centreville Road (SR 898)
	Willow Springs
	​				interchange
	Jermantown
City of Fairfax				US 50 west / SR 236 east (Fairfax Boulevard / Main Street) to I‑66 – Old Town Fairfax	South end of concurrency with US 50
				SR 123 (Chain Bridge Road) to I‑66
				US 50 east / SR 237 west (Fairfax Boulevard) / Old Lee Highway	Fairfax Circle (traffic circle with cut-through); north end of concurrency with US 50; south end of concurrency with SR 237
Fairfax	​			Blake Lane (SR 655) / Pickett Road
	Merrifield			SR 243 north (Nutley Street / SR 10272) to I‑66
				Gallows Road (SR 650)
	​			I‑495 Express south	interchange
City of Falls Church				SR 338 east (Hillwood Avenue)
				SR 7 (Broad Street)
Arlington	East Falls Church			SR 237 east (Fairfax Drive)	north end of concurrency with SR 237
				To I‑66 west / Washington Boulevard
	Glebewood			SR 120 (North Glebe Road) – Chain Bridge, Alexandria
	Waverly Hills			SR 309 west (Old Dominion Drive)	South end of concurrency with SR 309; no left turn northbound
				SR 309 east (Lee Highway) / to Lorcom Lane	North end of concurrency with SR 309
	Cherrydale			Lee Highway (SR 309 west)
	Lyon Village			I‑66 west – Front Royal, Dulles Airport	I-66 exit 72
				SR 124 east (Spout Run Parkway)
	Rosslyn			I‑66 west – Front Royal, Dulles Airport	I-66 exit 74; southbound exit and northbound entrance
				I‑66 east to I‑395 – Washington, Airport	I-66 exit 74
				George Washington Parkway north to I‑495	interchange; no southbound entrance
				US 29 north- Washington, D.C.	Northern terminus of US 29 in Virginia; District of Columbia boundary (Key Bridge over the Potomac River)
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

• Bannered routes of U.S. Route 29

External links

• Virginia Highways Project: US 29
• Great Virginia Drives - U.S. 29: The Seminole Trail

U.S. Route 29
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