U.S. Route 421 in Virginia

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For the earlier extension of US 421 into Virginia, see U.S. Route 421 (Virginia 1930s).

U.S. Route 421

Formed:

ca. 1950

South end:

US 421/SR 34 in Bristol, TN

Major
junctions:

US 23 in Weber City

US 58 Alt. in Pennington Gap

North end:

US 421 near Harlan, KY

Virginia Routes
< SR 420		SR 457 >
Primary - Secondary - History

U.S. Route 421 in Virginia is signed north-south, but runs mainly west as it travels "north" from the Tennessee state line in Bristol to southeast Kentucky. Most of it is concurrent with U.S. Route 58; it is only separate from Bristol west to Interstate 81 (US 58 uses I-81 around Bristol) and from Dot northwest into Kentucky.

[edit] History

The majority of US 421 in Virginia, from Pennington Gap east to Bristol, was designated as part of State Route 10 in 1918; the rest was not a state highway until the late 1920s. The east (south) three miles (5 km) were added as State Route 104 in 1928, taking it to the present State Route 352 junction at Stone Creek; St. Charles (accessed via SR 352) was used as the eventual end.^[1] However, it was instead extended west to the Kentucky state line, with 2.25 miles (3.5 km) added in 1931^[2] and the rest, another 2.25 miles, in 1932.^[3] (SR 352 was added in 1942, completing the route to St. Charles.^[4])

In the 1933 renumbering, SR 104 became State Route 65. It was soon extended southeast along former SR 10 from Pennington Gap to Dot, when U.S. Route 58 was removed from it in favor of a shorter alignment.^[5] SR 65 became part of State Route 66, which continued east from Dot to south of St. Paul along former State Route 70, in the 1940 renumbering, as Kentucky had taken over its continuation as Kentucky Route 66.^[6]

In the meantime, the route from Cumberland Gap to Bristol had been through several changes in numbering. It was assigned U.S. Route 411 in 1926, renumbered as part of U.S. Route 58 in the early 1930s, and supplemented with U.S. Route 421 from the 1930s to the late 1940s.^[7] By 1951,^[8] US 421 had re-entered Virginia, this time splitting from US 58 at Dot to cross into Kentucky, causing State Route 66 to be truncated at Clinchport. US 58 was moved to Interstate 81 between Bristol and Abingdon by the end of 1965,^[9] leaving US 421 on its own from I-81 west of Bristol to U.S. Route 11W at the intersection of State Street and Euclid Avenue west of downtown Bristol. (Its easternmost several blocks on State Street (east of U.S. Route 11E) had also been separate since its creation in the 1930s.)

[edit] Routing in Bristol

The earliest alignment in Bristol came to the state line on Pennsylvania Avenue in Bristol, Tennessee (still US 421 today) and turned west on State Street to end at U.S. Route 11E a few blocks later, at or near Edgemont Avenue. This was initially part of U.S. Route 321 but soon became US 421. When it was extended west, it was taken along US 11E to Piedmont Avenue (U.S. Route 11) and U.S. Route 11W to Euclid Avenue, where it curved northwest onto what had been U.S. Route 411. Soon U.S. Route 58 came in from the northeast along with US 11, leaving only the piece east of US 11E on its own.^[10]^[11]

A traffic survey resulted in the creation of a one-way pair in 1952, where southbound US 421 used Shelby Street, a block south of State Street in Tennessee, between Ninth Street (Commonwealth Avenue) and Fourth Street (Edgemont Avenue). US 58 eastbound moved to the same alignment, but turned north at Seventh Street to reach Piedmont Avenue.^[12] With the completion of Euclid Avenue in 1967, US 421 was realigned again to use Euclid Avenue from the west end of State Street northeast (with US 58 and other routes) to Piedmont Avenue. There it turned southeast on Piedmont Avenue and Mary Street and southwest on Goodson Street, crossing the state line directly onto Pennsylvania Avenue. This had been State Route 76-Y along Mary Street east of Oakview Avenue (old U.S. Route 11, new State Route 113) and part of State Route 76 along Goodson Street.^[13] The present alignment of US 421 through Bristol, using Commonwealth Avenue, Goode Street, Piedmont Avenue, Cumberland Street, Randall Street, and State Street, was adopted in 1984, at the same time as U.S. Route 11/19 Truck was established along much of the same routing.^[14]