Old alignments of US 460 in WV and southwest VA

[Andrew T.]

U.S. 460 was commissioned in 1934, and did not extend west of Roanoke until 1947; replacing some pre-existing highways in the process and running concurrent with others (such as U.S. 219).  Much of the original routing was bypassed or expanded to four lanes as part of Appalachian Development Corridor Q in the 1970s.  460 was (and is) an important east-west transportation link in the place where I grew up, so I've always been interested in the highway...particularly the stretch between Bluefield and Blacksburg that I drove or rode on dozens of times over the years.

Alas, I haven't had the opportunity to be anywhere near this road for a couple years, but I have been busy on the computer.  After giving Inkscape a whirl, I made maps showing the present-day and old alignments in Mercer and Giles counties:



1:  The original alignment followed present-day U.S. 19 from the state line, followed by portions of WV 112, Country Girl Road (CR 19/33), and Green Valley Blue Prince Road (also CR 19/33, named after a now-abandoned shopping plaza) through to the intersection of WV 123 in Green Valley.  Portions were posted as a concurrency with U.S. 19, 52, and 21, and this sign assembly once appeared by the intersection with the rightmost gray line in Bluefield.



3:  Followed Shelter Road/Frontage Road.  This segment survived being widened into four lanes in the 1970s and was not bypassed until 1996; although its current status is as a two-lane road with very wide shoulders.

5:  Followed U.S. 19 northeast into downtown Princeton; ending somewhat ominously at the courthouse.  After a brief block-width one-way split (that also formed the original terminus of U.S. 219), it followed WV 20 along Mercer, Straley, and Thorn Streets.  These signs were once posted at the point where WV 20 split north (gray line at the right edge of the circle), and 460 continued along present-day WV 104 and Oakvale Road east of town.  This segment of highway once served as a commercial strip leading to the West Virginia Turnpike, and at one time there were many vintage motels and restaurants alongside.

6:  Segment 5 ultimately ends at an excavation cut for the present-day I-77/West Virginia Turnpike interchange.  A very short stub of old highway exists on the other side of the cut, accessible across from Greasy Ridge Road (CR 219/2).

7:  Followed Hilltop Drive (CR 460/1 and 460/2), Harmon Branch Road (CR 38/4), and Fountain Park Road (CR 460/5).  Due to truncations, the far west and east portions of this segment require backtracking to access.

8:  Followed Goodwins Chapel Road (CR 35), WV 112, and Goodwins Chapel Road (CR 460/6) through Oakvale and Kellysville.  The original alignment was built in parallel to the Virginian railroad tracks through part of this segment (blue dashed line), while the present-day four-lane highway is routed east of Kellysville over the original railroad grade.  (Present-day rail traffic between Kellysville and Narrows is switched over to a onetime-N&W line on the other side of the East and New rivers.)

9:  While the present-day alignment is the closest approximation of the historical route, extensive landscaping has been done.  At one time, the Virginian railroad went through a tunnel on this stretch while 460 was routed atop the hill overhead.  Both have since been obliterated by a rock cut.



9, 10:  I am not completely sure of how 460 was originally routed into Glen Lyn, Virginia from the west.  (The present-day alignment temporarily deviates from the original Virginian railroad grade near the state line, with a disused rock cut and bridge piers for the old railroad plainly visible.)  After that, the highway followed SR 1306 and SR 806 into Rich Creek; although the middle section of this segment is apparently no longer open to traffic.

11:  From Rich Creek through to Narrows, westbound traffic utilizes the original alignment while eastbound traffic makes use of the Virginian railroad grade.  Although the two sets of lanes run at close parallel to each other, the westbound highway is located higher up the bluff and is a lot curvier!  An active rail line resumes in Narrows.

12:  Followed VA 100 (N. Main St.), BUS 460/VA 100, and BUS 460 (Wenonah Ave.) through Pearisburg.  A short section near the interchange with the present-day highway is now a frontage road.  The original alignment continued north to Ripplemead along SR 636, eventually ending east of town at the piers to a now-gone bridge over the New River.  Although now disconnected from other stubs of the highway, an "Old Bridge Road" exists on the other side.

13:  Another disconnected stub of the original highway (truncated this time by landscaping for the present U.S. 460 bridge) followed SR 808.



15,17,19,21:  From Pembroke to the Montgomery County line, the present-day alignment stays very close to its original route; although some short segments have been straightened or bypassed.  The VA Highways Project specifies these as SR 1404 in Pembroke, SR 771 in Hoges Chapel, SR 777-778 in Sinking Creek, and SR 783 in Maybrook.

23:  Again, a curvy routing was replaced by a straighter cut.  I'm a little unclear about the precise routing through Newport:  I believe it followed SR 796, VA 42, and SR 797-8; though a separate "Old Newport Road" also exists nearby.

Any comments?  I might continue this for the entire stretch of Corridor Q eventually. 

[froggie]

Coulda saved yourself some trouble on the Virginia side...

[NE2]

Coulda saved yourself some trouble on the Virginia side...

The VA Highways Project specifies these as SR 1404 in Pembroke, SR 771 in Hoges Chapel, SR 777-778 in Sinking Creek, and SR 783 in Maybrook.

[Mapmikey]

I was in the Glen Lyn area recently documenting New River crossings past and present.  I never noticed it before but when I drove SR 649 from Narrows to Glen Lyn, upon arriving at US 460 there is an alignment (Ball Ave, behind the Exxon station) that carried 460 until it was 4-laned.  It curved at the state line to rejoin modern 460.

Old Newport Rd was bypassed prior to 1932 and thus was never US 460.

Mapmikey
Co-curator
www.vahighways.com

[Andrew T.]

Coulda saved yourself some trouble on the Virginia side...

Yes, that wound up being a source of information.  A good thing, too, since it brought my attention to a few bypasses I wouldn't have noticed otherwise!

I was in the Glen Lyn area recently documenting New River crossings past and present.  I never noticed it before but when I drove SR 649 from Narrows to Glen Lyn, upon arriving at US 460 there is an alignment (Ball Ave, behind the Exxon station) that carried 460 until it was 4-laned.  It curved at the state line to rejoin modern 460.

Thanks for the info.  One thing that interests me about Glen Lyn is that many maps show non-parallel bridges for eastbound and westbound traffic over the New River.  Presumably, eastbound traffic continued to use the original two-lane span for a while after the highway was four-laned; although this particular bridge no longer exists:

http://msrmaps.com/image.aspx?T=2&S=12&Z=17&X=640&Y=5169&W=1
http://msrmaps.com/image.aspx?T=1&S=12&Z=17&X=640&Y=5169&W=1

Old Newport Rd was bypassed prior to 1932 and thus was never US 460.

I've noticed a lot of cases (especially in West Virginia) where an "Xxxx Road" and an "Old Xxxx Road" run parallel to each other, a numbered highway is carried by the "Xxxx Road" alignment, and the alignment change occurred so long ago that I have no idea if the "Old Xxxx Road" lasted long enough to carry the number or not.  It's sometimes a bit frustrating!

[Mapmikey]

According to the National Bridge Database, the WB bridge was built in 1969 and the EB bridge in 1986.


Mapmikey