The Attempt to Fix Virginia Signage Featuring WillWeaverRVA

[Takumi]

Yeah I'm most familiar with seeing SR 602 when it should be SR 36.

I think the initial plan was to have VA 36 continue following River Road to SR 659, and then follow that up to Beach Road where it would end at VA 153 at Winterpock. VDOT ended up pruning primary routes starting in the early 1940s, which included truncating VA 36 to Matoaca and removing VA 153 from Chesterfield County entirely (the reroute to Amelia happened a few years later...the whole thing looks shortsighted in retrospect given the explosive growth of that part of Chesterfield in recent decades). I wonder if maybe the old routing of 36 was still on the books somewhere. Notably even when Chesterfield was posting signs with SR 36 out that way, they always had signs that said SR 602 past that.

Oddly enough there is a SR 2000 shield on VA 10 in Enon that should be SR 691.

That's been there as far back as I can remember.

In the 90s there was a very, very old street blade on Branders Bridge Road in front of the school between VA 10 and SR 681 that still said West Hundred Road. At the time I thought it was just an error but I later on found out that VA 10 did use that segment long before I was born. I wonder if the transition to Iron Bridge Road was at Chalkley Road before current 10 was built if it was still signed as West Hundred Road on that segment.

[WillWeaverRVA]

Yeah I'm most familiar with seeing SR 602 when it should be SR 36.

I think the initial plan was to have VA 36 continue following River Road to SR 659, and then follow that up to Beach Road where it would end at VA 153 at Winterpock. VDOT ended up pruning primary routes starting in the early 1940s, which included truncating VA 36 to Matoaca and removing VA 153 from Chesterfield County entirely (the reroute to Amelia happened a few years later...the whole thing looks shortsighted in retrospect given the explosive growth of that part of Chesterfield in recent decades). I wonder if maybe the old routing of 36 was still on the books somewhere. Notably even when Chesterfield was posting signs with SR 36 out that way, they always had signs that said SR 602 past that.

Realistically, with the Nash Road extension now built, Chesterfield and VDOT ought to look at extending 36 up SR 602 and onto SR 636 to end at VA 10 so it doesn't just end in the middle of nowhere.

[Takumi]

Yeah I'm most familiar with seeing SR 602 when it should be SR 36.

I think the initial plan was to have VA 36 continue following River Road to SR 659, and then follow that up to Beach Road where it would end at VA 153 at Winterpock. VDOT ended up pruning primary routes starting in the early 1940s, which included truncating VA 36 to Matoaca and removing VA 153 from Chesterfield County entirely (the reroute to Amelia happened a few years later...the whole thing looks shortsighted in retrospect given the explosive growth of that part of Chesterfield in recent decades). I wonder if maybe the old routing of 36 was still on the books somewhere. Notably even when Chesterfield was posting signs with SR 36 out that way, they always had signs that said SR 602 past that.

Realistically, with the Nash Road extension now built, Chesterfield and VDOT ought to look at extending 36 up SR 602 and onto SR 636 to end at VA 10 so it doesn't just end in the middle of nowhere.

My first thought was that they ended it where it is because SR 669 is the access road to the dam at Lake Chesdin, but that wasn't built until 1967 while VA 36 was truncated to where it is in the 1940s. At the very least, that might be why they've kept it all these years. Extending it up Nash Road isn't a bad idea, but there are still a couple gnarly sections that realistically would need to be straightened out between River and Woodpecker to do so. The segment between Woodpecker and Beach has been cleaned up a bit as the Highlands and Woodland Pond subdivisions on each side of it have grown in the past couple decades. I don't think the Lake Margaret subdivision outgrowth on the south side of Woodpecker has quite made it to Nash Road yet.

[WillWeaverRVA]

As I expected, Hampton did not post anything I requested despite the fact that I have a friend who works in the city's government. Ah well.

[WillWeaverRVA]

other eastern shore:

VA 187 whose eastern end is not signed and the turn at SR 679 is poorly signed WB.
VA 179 is not posted AFAIK west of VA 126.  It should definitely be posted at SR 718 Pine St and at endpoint

GMSV still doesn't have coverage so can't determine if VA 180 is still poorly posted on both ends

Apple Look Around has coverage in some spots where GMSV doesn't (as of June 2025), and there is a VA 180 posting outside of Harborton where Harborton Road makes a sharp turn to head into town. There are also white rectangles in the town itself.

There is a signpost on Shore Drive in Harborton heading out of the harbor right where the pavement begins, and it may have once held a VA 180 shield.

VA 187 is still not posted after it turns onto SR 679 near Modest Town, though there is a SR 679 shield at the northern edge of town, where the ArcGIS map says VA 187 ends. It's also still unposted at its western end.

VA 179 actually is posted west of VA 126 just inside the Onancock town limits, and there are white rectangles in town, including at SR 718. The rectangles weren't there when GMSV was there in 2023. Sadly, Apple didn't make it to the harbor, so no idea if there's an end shield there.

[Mapmikey]

There is a signpost on Shore Drive in Harborton heading out of the harbor right where the pavement begins, and it may have once held a VA 180 shield.

This was a duplicate of the place name sign in that shot.  Here it is with the sign still on it in 2003 when Froggie was there.

[WillWeaverRVA]

There is a signpost on Shore Drive in Harborton heading out of the harbor right where the pavement begins, and it may have once held a VA 180 shield.

This was a duplicate of the place name sign in that shot.  Here it is with the sign still on it in 2003 when Froggie was there.

Ah, dang.

[WillWeaverRVA]

According to VDOT, VA 402 and VA 420 shields will be added to the sign plans for their relevant exits on I-395 and so while it will be a while before those signs need to be replaced, the next versions of those signs will include shields. In the meantime they will be surveying and potentially adding ground-based trailblazers and reassurance markers where possible.

[NE2]

But are they budgeting for sign theft?

[WillWeaverRVA]

But are they budgeting for sign theft?

Good question. I had recommended that they mount 420 shields typically used for ground-mounted signage on the gantries to help deter theft but they said they couldn't do that. So I hope I didn't just cause VDOT a case of reefer madness.