Virginia State Route 161
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| State Route 161 |
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| Belt Boulevard | |||||||||||||
| Length: | 14.04 mi[1][2] (22.6 km) | ||||||||||||
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| Formed: | 1933 | ||||||||||||
| South end: |  I-95 in southern Richmond |
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| Major junctions: |
 US 360 in Richmond SR 195 in Richmond |
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| North end: |  US 1 near Lakeside |
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State Route 161 is a primary state highway in and near Richmond, Virginia, United States. It extends from an interchange with Interstate 95 in the independent city of Richmond north to an intersection with U.S. Route 1 in the Lakeside area of central Henrico County. SR 161 is entirely located in Richmond and Henrico County.
When it was initially completed in the 1940s, a portion of the route was designated as the Belt Boulevard, as it formed a bypass of Richmond's most congested portion of U.S. Route 1 and the Robert E. Lee Memorial Bridge, crossing the James River instead on Richmond's privately owned Boulevard Bridge (a toll bridge). Both ends were at US 1 north and south of the city limits at that time. A large neon sign and arrow at the intersection of Terminal Avenue and Jefferson Davis Highway urged northbound motorists to consider the bypass.[citation needed]
The name Belt Boulevard was apparently derived from the "Belt Line" tracks of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad and Atlantic Coast Line Railroad which had also been built some years earlier to bypass a congestion point and river crossing in downtown Richmond.[citation needed] The road very roughly parallels the belt line railroad about a mile or so east for a large portion of its routing.
The Belt Boulevard as a bypass of Richmond was largely forgotten after the completion of the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike in 1958. However, a portion of the southern end of SR 161 retains the Belt Boulevard name, and it is in current use there. It also follows Westover Hills Boulevard south of the river. North of the river, for some distance, the road is simply known as Boulevard (or "The Boulevard"), and it is a major north-south thoroughfare. Other northern sections follow Hermitage Road and Lakeside Avenue.
In 1970, the City of Richmond annexed most of the southern portion, which had been in Chesterfield County. Although it formerly followed Terminal Avenue, in the 1990s, Belt Boulevard was extended to meet Bells Road, which the route now follows to meet Interstate 95 (at exit 69).
Major intersections and points on SR 161 are (south to north):
- Interstate 95 at exit 69 in Richmond
- U.S. Route 1 and U.S. Route 301 in Richmond
- State Route 10 near Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center (in Richmond) (multiplexed for about 3 blocks)
- U.S. Route 360 in Richmond (at former McGuire Circle)
- U.S. Route 60 in Richmond
- Boulevard Bridge across the James River (toll bridge)
- State Route 147 in Richmond
- State Route 6 in Richmond
- Monument Avenue at Stonewall Jackson monument in Richmond
- U.S. Route 250 in Richmond
- Interstate 64/Interstate 95 at exit 78 in Richmond
- State Route 197 at A.P. Hill monument in Richmond
- Interstate 95 at exit 80 (Lakeside Avenue) in Richmond
- U.S. Route 1 in Henrico County
[edit] References
- ^ 2005 Virginia Department of Transportation Jurisdiction Report - Daily Traffic Volume Estimates - Chesterfield CountyPDF
- ^ 2005 Virginia Department of Transportation Jurisdiction Report - Daily Traffic Volume Estimates - Henrico CountyPDF
[edit] External links
| < SR 431 | District 4 State Routes 1928-1933 |
SR 433 > |
