This report is from a daytrip around southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina on January 19, 2004.
Took advantage of a day off yesterday to make a quick roadtrip around the
region to check out some things.
First stop was the Virginia Beach Oceanfront (via US 60/Shore Dr and Atlantic
Ave). Pursuant to a thread from a few weeks ago, Virginia Beach has NOT yet
posted an END US 60 shield.
However, after continuing further along, via General Booth Blvd and part of
Princess Anne Rd, I noticed that there IS an END VA 149 shield at VA 165.
However, true to Virginia Beach form, the shields are oval rather than the
standard VA route shield.
Kept going on VA 165/North Landing Rd (then Mt. Pleasant Rd)...rather narrow for
such a busy highway...only 2 lanes, and they weren't even a full 12-ft lane
either. Turned left onto Centerville Tpk, and took that down to BUSINESS VA 168.
Much to my surprise, the BUS VA 168/Centerville Tpk intersection has no traffic
signal, which makes doing a left turn into a dicey prospect. Luckily, I found a
break. Another note about this intersection: the VA 168 trailblazers are
missing the BUSINESS banner.
BUS VA 168/Battlefield Blvd passes under the VA 168 Chesapeake Expressway just
north of the expressway's toll booth. There's a half-diamond at BUS VA 168
to/from the south, and the trailblazers to head south on VA 168 include a TOLL
banner.
BUS VA 168 eventually dumps into VA 168 north of the Northwest River, and the
4-lane route south of there is partially on the old alignment, and partially on
new alignment. In fact, there's an abandoned part of the old highway just north
of the state line.
Continuing on into NC, NC 168 is a route I've taken before, but didn't really
report on. The whole route down to US 158 is a 5-lane undivided section, which I
found mildly interesting that NCDOT went with that rather than a narrow 4-lane
divided section. There's another abandoned part of the old highway, just south
of where NC 168 crosses the railroad. Further south, the NC 168/US 158
intersection has VERY LARGE shields going southbound.
I took US 158 south to NC 136, snapping a picture of the locally-infamous "I Got
My Crabs At Dirty Dicks" billboard. At the US 158/NC 136 intersection, the only
difference over when NC 136 was NC 3 is that the NC 3 shields have been
replaced. Going southbound, you still have no advance warning that your
approaching the intersection until you're at the intersection itself. In fact,
the NC 136 shields at the intersection look old...almost as if they were taken
from the old route.
NC 136 still has no END shields, and only 1 reassurance shield in each
direction. However, trailblazer signage is a bit improved...with trailblazers at
the two intersections where NC 136 turns...something I don't remember there
being with NC 3.
Headed back out to US 158 and headed north...stopped off at an antique store
enroute and scored a trio of NC 71-72 maps, plus a 1955 Rand McNally atlas.
Further north, at Coinjock, I left the bypass (which is a 4-lane undivided with
a high bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway) and took a side trip into town.
The old US 158 route through the town is in fairly good shape...it's a dead-end,
so being primarily local traffic probably helps it in this regard. At the
Intracoastal Waterway, the bridge abutments for the old bridge are still in
place on both sides, though the bridge itself is of course gone. Given that this
is the Intracoastal Waterway, I'm assuming the old bridge was a drawbridge.
Approaching the intersection with NC 168, there are overhead BGS. I turned left
to satay on US 158, and took that 2-lane road west to NC 343, where I opted
north to South Mills, at which point I crossed the Dismal Swamp Canal on an old
(and narrow) drawbridge along BUS US 17. A brief run on SB US 17, then I
took the old route across the Pasquotank River (across a rather non-descript
concrete highway bridge). At this point, I took US 158 back to US 17 and headed
north.
Construction activity was ongoing after crossing the state line on the US 17
widening project in southern Chesapeake. A number of earthmovers and graders
were in operation as I followed along. It's very noticeable now where the
roadbeds will be for the new alignment. Construction activity is such now
to where there are only two cross-roads open across the construction zone...both
controlled by flaggers: Ballahack Rd and Cortland Rd. All other cross-streets
are detoured to these two roads or to Dominion Blvd on the north end.
After passing the north end of the construction zone, I took a local shortcut up
to VA 165/Cedar Rd, then took that west to "Deep Creek" (a part of Chesapeake).
After crossing another old drawbridge over the Dismal Swamp Canal (along another
BUS US 17), I headed north to I-64 and west to US 58.
Decided to wait until later to check some things in Suffolk...wound up taking US
58 out west almost to Franklin...to the former-VA 260/now-US 258 east of
Franklin. "MGSes" (Medium Green Signs) have been added along WB US 58
approaching the interchange, but there still is no Exit sign at the gore, nor
are there route shield trailblazers at the gore now (like there used to be). At
the end of the offramp, the BEGIN/END VA 189 shields still exist, though the
former BEGIN/END VA 260 shields have only been replaced by a NB US 258
reassurance shield.
US 258 is a nice drive....2 lanes, but with left turn lanes at most
intersections. Four bridges across the newer, opened-last-year stretch: two
across waterways, one over the railroad, and one over SR 616 (the last bridge to
be completed). At the US 258/BUS US 58 intersection, the traffic signal still
favors BUS US 58.
Headed east on BUS US 58 back towards Suffolk...there's a relatively newer (note
not NEW) overpass over the Seaboard RR at Carrsville, right next to an at-grade
crossing which may have been the former, pre-bridge crossing. Been through
Holland before, so nothing really exciting there. At the BUS 58/US 58 junction
east of Holland, for those of you who haven't been on US 58 yet, EB BUS 58
crosses under the WB mainline lanes, then merges into the EB mainline from the
left.
From here, I headed over to check out the entrance to the Washington Ditch path
in the Great Dismal Swamp. Route there consisted of US 58, SR 647 (parts of
which were being overlayed), VA 32, SR 759, and SR 642 to the entrance. The
ditch (and many other ditches within the swamp) is part of the Great Dismal
Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, and is maintained by the US Fish and Wildlife
Service. I didn't venture in too far...just parked my car to look at the kiosks,
then headed back.
Back out via SR 642, SR 674, SR 705, and SR 646 to US 13/VA 32, and on up to
Suffolk to try and solve the "VA 32 enigma". When the SW Suffolk Bypass was
opened, US 13 was rerouted to it, and signage updated, but signage is unclear as
to whether VA 32 follows the bypass now. My run yesterday did not find any
answers. Signage on US 58 at the SW Bypass indicates "TO VA 32", nor are there
any VA 32 shields along either the SW Bypass or the US 58 Bypass. Furthermore,
signage at the US 58-VA 10/32 interchange indicates VA 32 going through town.
However, signage at the US 13 end of the SW Bypass clearly shows a "BUSINESS VA
32" going into town, while there is also a SB overhead BGS on N Main St (before
one gets to the Nansemond River) that also shows a BUS VA 32. And so, the
mystery continues until someone gets a confirmation from VDOT.
That was the end of most of my trip...I spend the rest of the time taking
backroads back home...and also clinched US 17 through the Hampton Roads area (I
was missing most of US 17's run through Portsmouth).
Back to the Roadtrip Report Archive
Back to Magnolia Meanderings
(C) 2007, Adam Froehlig