The Attempt to Fix Virginia Signage Featuring WillWeaverRVA

[Takumi]

I've seen quite a few adopt-a-highway signs on non-VDOT streets over the years.

[plain]

There's a US 1/301 SOUTH posting now at the entrance ramp to the Lee Bridge from S. 2nd St. I couldn't get a pic but here's the location, it's above this bicycle route shield.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/knrXNfPyedbLE64k9

[WillWeaverRVA]

There's a US 1/301 SOUTH posting now at the entrance ramp to the Lee Bridge from S. 2nd St. I couldn't get a pic but here's the location, it's above this bicycle route shield.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/knrXNfPyedbLE64k9

Interesting. I had requested it but Richmond told me no. Then I found out someone else requested it too, I guess they told me no because they'd already done it.

[WillWeaverRVA]

This is kind of random but I submitted several requests to VDOT using their contact form. They will be installing signs for VA 393 in Prince William County (the NOVA Manassas Campus) in the next 30 days. VA 393 hasn't been posted since the mid-1990s.

Unfortunately I'm out of luck on VA 213 in Manassas Park - VDOT won't even post signs near VA 213, even in locations that are not within Manassas Park, although there are now multiple "begin" and "end state maintenance" signs up. Manassas Park and then-Delegate Danica Roem already told me there's no interest in signing VA 213...which means it should probably be decommissioned, but what do I know?

[plain]

N. 9th St at VA 33 in Richmond

Image from today



SM-A156U

[WillWeaverRVA]

N. 9th St at VA 33 in Richmond

Image from today



SM-A156U

I didn't request a sign there so I can't take credit for that! 

[plain]

I'm pretty sure you set off the chain of events 

[WillWeaverRVA]

The VDOT engineer who contacted me the other day about VA 393 contacted me today about VA 394 (NOVA Woodbridge campus). All 394 shields were removed when the entrance to Freedom High School was built and he's going to reinstall them along SR 638 in the next 30 days.

[Takumi]

The VDOT engineer who contacted me the other day about VA 393 contacted me today about VA 394 (NOVA Woodbridge campus). All 394 shields were removed when the entrance to Freedom High School was built and he's going to reinstall them along SR 638 in the next 30 days.

Any word from any other jurisdictions?

[WillWeaverRVA]

The VDOT engineer who contacted me the other day about VA 393 contacted me today about VA 394 (NOVA Woodbridge campus). All 394 shields were removed when the entrance to Freedom High School was built and he's going to reinstall them along SR 638 in the next 30 days.

Any word from any other jurisdictions?

So here are all the requests I put in during the past couple of days:

- Sign VA 393 at Northern Virginia Community College (Manassas): Yes, they'll sign it (advance signage with shields on VA 234) in the next 30 days

- Sign VA 394 at Northern Virginia Community College (Woodbridge): Yes, they'll sign it (advance signage with shields on SR 638) in the next 30 days

- Sign VA 213 in some part of Prince William County just outside Manassas Park: No, Manassas Drive is a Manassas Park city street despite its primary designation and it's up to the city to sign it. It's been a while since I contacted Manassas Park so maybe I'll reach out again and see if they'll post signs at the VA 213/VA 28 intersection since there were once signs there.

- Sign VA 324 at Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center (namely Chatsworth Avenue): No, we don't want people to think the road is open to the public (even though most other correctional facilities in the state are signed somehow). I contacted Chesterfield County about the street name sign and never got a reply.

- Sign VA 327 at Virginia State University: haven't heard back

- Sign VA 366 at Brightpoint Community College: haven't heard back

- Sign VA 120 & VA 123 at their intersection just before the Chain Bridge: This intersection is going to be rebuilt soon in a joint VDOT/Arlington County project and signage will be posted once it's done. I thought about contacting DCDOT to post VA 120 and VA 123 on the other side of the Chain Bridge but realized that has a snowball's chance in hell of happening.

I will say, the engineer who called me back about the signage in Northern Virginia was a really nice guy and wasn't weirded out at all by my requests. He seemed pretty enthusiastic about it, actually, and he was very helpful.

[WillWeaverRVA]

Okay, I laughed at the thread title. 

[Takumi]

Did you ever ask about VA 410 in Powhatan? I think that would be worthy of being posted, especially since the nearby VA 313 (which is for a much different, less public, facility) at least gets a white rectangle. (My ultimate fantasy would be for it to get a "To" posting from US 522, but one thing at a time.)

[74/171FAN]

Did you ever ask about VA 410 in Powhatan? I think that would be worthy of being posted, especially since the nearby VA 313 (which is for a much different, less public, facility) at least gets a white rectangle. (My ultimate fantasy would be for it to get a "To" posting from US 522, but one thing at a time.)

It was done for the former VA 392 on US 58/US 221 so there is a case for it.  Of course, the "TO VA 410" would have to be on US 522 at SR 617.

[oscar]

I submitted some 311 requests to Hampton regarding signing US 258 and VA 143 on or near Fort Monroe since the area is under city jurisdiction now (despite there being some VA 9xxxx routes there), and the VDOT ArcGIS map shows US 258 and VA 143 running on McNair Drive on Fort Monroe as a useless concurrency before ending near the Chamberlin Hotel.

And that didn't take long, all the requests are shown as cancelled.

Maybe because Fort Monroe is now under National Park Service jurisdiction rather than city or DOD jurisdiction, and perhaps NPS doesn't feel route signage within their park is a priority (even to the point of letting local sign crews place route markers there)?

I went down there toward the end of March, saw no US 258 or VA 143 signs on fort property.

[WillWeaverRVA]

Did you ever ask about VA 410 in Powhatan? I think that would be worthy of being posted, especially since the nearby VA 313 (which is for a much different, less public, facility) at least gets a white rectangle. (My ultimate fantasy would be for it to get a "To" posting from US 522, but one thing at a time.)

I'll ask about it tomorrow.

[WillWeaverRVA]

I submitted some 311 requests to Hampton regarding signing US 258 and VA 143 on or near Fort Monroe since the area is under city jurisdiction now (despite there being some VA 9xxxx routes there), and the VDOT ArcGIS map shows US 258 and VA 143 running on McNair Drive on Fort Monroe as a useless concurrency before ending near the Chamberlin Hotel.

And that didn't take long, all the requests are shown as cancelled.

Maybe because Fort Monroe is now under National Park Service jurisdiction rather than city or DOD jurisdiction, and perhaps NPS doesn't feel route signage within their park is a priority (even to the point of letting local sign crews place route markers there)?

I went down there toward the end of March, saw no US 258 or VA 143 signs on fort property.

That's odd because there are lots of I-64 signs around. I was under the impression that the fort itself was NPS property, but the rest of the island is under the control of the Fort Monroe Authority, which is a joint city/state entity.

[WillWeaverRVA]

Did you ever ask about VA 410 in Powhatan? I think that would be worthy of being posted, especially since the nearby VA 313 (which is for a much different, less public, facility) at least gets a white rectangle. (My ultimate fantasy would be for it to get a "To" posting from US 522, but one thing at a time.)

Somehow I forgot to request signs for VA 410 and I just did it this morning.

[WillWeaverRVA]

There is now a VA 366 posting on a Chesterfield County street sign at Brightpoint Community College's Chester campus. No VDOT signs yet.

[wanderer2575]

I will say, the engineer who called me back about the signage in Northern Virginia was a really nice guy and wasn't weirded out at all by my requests. He seemed pretty enthusiastic about it, actually, and he was very helpful.

I very recently had the same experience with an engineer from MDOT (Michigan) when I wrote asking some "why?" questions about the freeway sign plans for an upcoming replacement project.  I think that quite a lot of them appreciate that there actually are some people who take a real interest in their others-perceive-it-as-geeky work.

[Takumi]

There is now a VA 366 posting on a Chesterfield County street sign at Brightpoint Community College's Chester campus. No VDOT signs yet.

Just saw it. It appears they put a pair of small decals with the route number onto the existing sign. Whatever, I'll take it.

[Takumi]

Did you ever hear back from Richmond about VA 315 and 399? As of tonight they remain unposted.

Eastbound Broad at Belvedere has a "TO EAST VA 33" trailblazer turning onto northbound Belvedere.

[WillWeaverRVA]

Did you ever hear back from Richmond about VA 315 and 399? As of tonight they remain unposted.

Eastbound Broad at Belvedere has a "TO EAST VA 33" trailblazer turning onto northbound Belvedere.

Haven't heard about 315 or 399 yet, not exactly getting my hopes up with it. The VA 33 trailblazer is brand new, there had been a US 33 shield there for quite a while.

I put in a few more requests last week - VA 197's turn from Saunders to Laburnum is no longer posted after some signs got knocked over a while ago, and there is also no signage for I-195 or I-64 at that intersection. I also requested signage for the VA 6 transition from Patterson to Kensington, as well as missing signage at the southern end of the VA 10/VA 161 concurrency.

Speaking of VA 161, southbound VA 161 approaching US 360 was erroneously signed as northbound VA 161 for several years and that has now been corrected.

GSV has been updating in parts of Richmond recently (there's a bunch of new content in South Richmond from March and April 2025), which is saving me a lot of trouble and seemingly aimless driving.

EDIT: The onramp from 2nd Street at Oregon Hill to the southbound Lee Bridge is now posted - previously it had only ever been posted for USBR 1.

[Takumi]

Haven't heard about 315 or 399 yet, not exactly getting my hopes up with it.

That sucks. I think if I had to pick one or the other, at least VA 315 has use as a through route and could justify being posted.

The VA 33 trailblazer is brand new, there had been a US 33 shield there for quite a while.

This makes me think that the reason the US/VA 33 transition point isn't posted correctly is because Richmond doesn't want the general public to use that route for whatever reason.

[WillWeaverRVA]

The VA 33 trailblazer is brand new, there had been a US 33 shield there for quite a while.

This makes me think that the reason the US/VA 33 transition point isn't posted correctly is because Richmond doesn't want the general public to use that route for whatever reason.

You're probably right, considering you can't even turn left from eastbound Broad onto Harrison (to begin down VA 33) or Hancock (to continue on US 33 until it ends at Leigh).

If it were up to me I'd truncate US 33 to US 250 since there is effectively now a gap in the designation (there's a GRTC Pulse station separating what is officially two segments of US 33), and even with the new mayoral administration, Richmond still seems averse to posting US 33 anywhere...except for roads that aren't US 33.

[74/171FAN]

If it were up to me I'd truncate US 33 to US 250 since there is effectively now a gap in the designation (there's a GRTC Pulse station separating what is officially two segments of US 33), and even with the new mayoral administration, Richmond still seems averse to posting US 33 anywhere...except for roads that aren't US 33.

I would still have US 33 end along US 250 along US 1/US 301 and VA 33's west end be on Leigh St at US 1/US 301.  Even signage along US 250 EB supports that idea even with the US 33 error.