List of unused highways in Virginia

An unused highway may reference a highway or highway ramp that was partially or fully constructed but was unused^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]} or later closed.^[10][11][12] An unused ramp can be referred to as a stub ramp,^[13] stub street,^[2][14][15] stub-out,^[2] or simply stub.^[16][17] The following is a list:

Virginia

• The Cumberland Gap Tunnel replaced the two lane U.S. Highway 25E over the Gap to allow four lanes of traffic to travel the route. The existing road was closed except for a short section used by The National Park Service. The pavement was recently removed for more of a historic look

Blacksburg

• West of town, on the western slope of Brush Mountain, an old section of U.S. Route 460 remains south of the present-day U.S. 460 in Jefferson National Forest. The old section is just 2 lanes, while the present-day U.S. 460 is a four lane divided highway.
• The Virginia Smart Road is currently a 2.2-mile (3.5 km) stretch of road with turn-around loops at either end, which is used for the testing of pavement technologies and new transportation technologies. Eventually, the road will be extended to a total of 5.7 miles (9.2 km), which will directly connect U.S. Route 460 in Blacksburg to Interstate 81 with an interchange near mile marker 121; however, there is no set time frame for completion. Several stub ramps and overpasses to nowhere are constructed at the U.S. 460 interchange, while grading and pavement stubs are present all throughout the roadway.

Bristol

• Interstate 381 was formerly a directional T interchange with its parent Interstate 81 with a matching left entrance and exit to and from southbound I-81 respectively. In 1996, the left movements were eliminated by moving the southbound through lanes next to the northbound lanes. The position of flyover exit and entrance ramps, however, were not changed, leaving vestiges of this former configuration. The exit approach is a single lane, then immediately expands to two lanes after it separates from the main lanes. The former southbound lanes are still graded and have a chain with signs marking it "CLOSED."

Chesapeake

• There are several ramp stubs with grading at the interchange of Interstate 664 and Pughsville Road, suggesting the possibility of upgrading the interchange into a full cloverleaf (it is currently a partial cloverleaf with traffic lights).

Danville

• U.S. Route 29 has an interchange that leads to State Route 360 to the east and is planned to connect with an extension of State Route 41 headed west.^[18] State Route 41 currently ends at State Route 293 (Main Street). Stubs and grading hint at the proposed alignment if State Route 41 is ever extended.

• North of town, at the interchange of U.S. Route 29 and U.S. Route 29 Business, the former U.S. Route 29 northbound lanes still exist following a 1998 realignment to bypass the city to the east.^[19] The southbound lanes are now an offramp for U.S. 29 Business.

• On the Danville Expressway (U.S. Route 29/U.S. Route 58) west of the Holland Road overpass are stub ramps for future ramps to be built.^[18]

Richmond

• At the northern end of the Interstate 295 partial beltway in Short Pump, at the interchange with Interstate 64, the roadway of I-295 continues beyond the cloverleaf ramps for a few hundred feet into the weeds. This was presumably built with the assumption that I-295 would extend from there,^[20] perhaps to ultimately complete an entire loop around Richmond. But instead, State Route 288 would eventually be built to serve as the western arc around the city.

• At the Interstate 95/State Route 150/State Route 895 interchange, ramp stubs exist for two eventual connections between I-95 and State Route 895.^[21] Currently, eastbound State Route 895 cannot be accessed from southbound I-95. I-95 and State Route 895 could be considered the de facto southeastern loop of Richmond, filling in the missing gap left by the cancellation and subsequent reroute of Interstate 295.

Springfield

• There is a stretch of now unused highway on Interstate 95 Northbound that is about 0.6 miles long. The old lanes still have lane and shoulder paint. Currently Exit 169-B uses the right lane of the unused highway as an exit ramp for traffic heading towards SR 644 West. Portions of the unused highway have also been used by VDOT to store construction equipment.

Suffolk

• East of the town where US 460/58/13 intersect with US 460 Bus./58 Bus./13 Bus. stubs exist that continue south for a few hundred feet.

See also

• List of ghost towns in Virginia

References